Celebrity Apprentice (spring 2012) [edited title]

Cafe Society
221

I feel bad for Patricia. She seems to be the only woman on this show with any class. You can see in her face how disgusted she is with all the boardroom cattiness. That said, I find it admirable that she’s sticking up for her girl, Dayana, but she really doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on, in that regard.

Lisa, for all her posturing about the etiquette of communication when she was PM, certainly likes to talk over everyone else. Was it really necessary for her to bring the hate, when asked about how the women’s team performed? She could just as easily have followed the men’s lead and been laudatory of her team’s and PM’s efforts. Usually, you wait until you actually know that your team lost the task before you start slamming the other members.

Aubrey, of whom I’d never heard before this show, causes me much grief for a couple reasons. At first I found her to be way too mean-girl with her popularity contest attitude in the confessional shots. Then her take-charge performances and overall seeming intellect made me admire, and root for her. Then I googled some images of her and saw that this is quite the hot little number (moreso than I noticed from the show). But this week she knocked herself down a few pegs with her totally ignorant remarks about Tia’s age. What a turn-off. I seriously doubt the Trumps found that very endearing whatsoever. It amazes me how quickly these women, by and large, jump to attack each other, even though it’s pretty obvious that they aren’t on the chopping block.

It was frustrating to see everyone on the men’s team point to Paul as coming up with the concept. maybe he contributed more than was shown, but all I saw was him blurting out the catch-phrase. Is that really the concept? I like Paul, he has been pretty reserved in his criticisms, when solicited, and he has the creative side, and work ethic necessary for most tasks. He seemed pretty uncomfortable trying to defend himself last night. I think he’s much more likely to be aggressive with people he actually is in charge of, rather than those on this show, amongst whom he is only ‘just another member of the team’. He’s a pretty nice guy.

Penn was a big crybaby.

Kudos to Clay.

Way to go Lou! “We all gave 110%” was priceless! Lou, in some ways, is like a child. He just wants to be the center of attention. Funny to see him boogy-woogying with Clay in sweetsweet victory! LOL

222

Watched this episode. I see Penn’s working style as giving a critical review of the ideas in order to make sure what they do is the best it can be. But he definitely came off as a bit condescending, such as with the remark “hero is a slang word”. Basically, he has a loud and dominant personality. That’s one of the things, having watched a couple of his TV shows, is that he often comes off as overbearing.

I didn’t see Penn trying to make Lou fail, but he was a bit whiny when it didn’t go his way. He wasn’t spinning out ideas to help or ways to make the ideas offered better, he was just shooting them down. That may be the way his partnership with Teller usually works, but typically brainstorming operates in a “create as many ideas as you can” mode, then go through and weed through the ideas on second pass. The shooting down shouldn’t happen immediately, it shuts down the the creativity.

Paul may have only given them the catchphrase, but that was the basis for the idea. That sparked the concept of the “tough guy” challenging the camera, then flipping it and having Lou dance around with the apron on.

I’m happy that Lou did step up this episode. I like that Clay helped him with pronunciations, using his other experiences with children with speech issues to figure how to coach Lou to speak better. Clay and Arsenio really dug in to this challenge to make it the best they could, and Dee once again was a strong contributor. Penn seemed a bit mopey.

I feel that Dayana has been treated a bit unfairly by the rest of the team. Lisa in particular just comes off as catty jealous. She’s pretty, so she must be hated. She threw out a dozen ideas in the van, they didn’t seem that bad to me, certainly some of them could have been worked with. But instead the rest of them just ignored her. Then there was the script she wrote for her story about the mops. It was perfect, it was full of double entendre, it was witty. It certainly was not gross or explicit. It was definitely along the theme of comparing number of mops to number of lovers. It was the kind of thing if posted here on the dope would have won plenty of kudos. Maybe it was a bit strong for a corporate message. On the other hand, some corporate brands have gone racy and suggestive, especially with viral marketing. Think GoDaddy.com. I’m sure I’ve seen others that I can’t call to mind.

That’s the thing, OCedar wanted a viral marketing ad. Viral marketing needs something to stand out. Edgy is good for that.

I don’t think Dayana is incapable, I think she is marginalized by the rest of the team. At least Patricia recognizes that, probably because she feels a bit marginalized, too. I’m not sure what she contributed this round. I was expecting them to boot Dayana, just because some of them have been gunning for her for a while, but it looks like Tia got fed up with the cattiness. She could easily have pointed the finger at Dayana like everyone else as “the weakest player”, or Patricia or Teresa for not really contributing. But it looked to me like she just wanted out.

I think Lisa was right to call them on “everyone wanting to be in front”, except it seemed only aimed at Dayana. Because everyone else was used in the commercial, but they didn’t use her bit. They were deliberately excluding her, so she asked for a role. But previous episodes have had exactly that pattern, like Gotti getting all bitchy about being the stage manager instead of being in the show.

Aubrey really brought the bitch this time. She’s been a strong contributor, but she’s really mean.

Also, Tia’s question about if she took the blame and didn’t name anyone else, would Trump fire 2 people just proves the point that last week Trump wanted to fire Andretti, and just used Adam’s attitude as an excuse.

223

I really can’t fathom why Tia couldn’t simply name Aubrey and Lisa (those catty BITCHES!!!), and then fall on her sword in the final boardroom.

At least, then, the 2 biggest mouths on the team would have “Been Called to the Firing Line” on their resumes.

I also didn’t think Dayana’s suggestion was all that bad. I mean, sure, she’s laced it with racy innuendo, masturbation references and all, but how is that “not suitable to be repeated here, sir”, as Lisa so dramatically suggested? I thought Dayana’s offering was actually pretty damned clever! And comparing your mops to your number of sexual partners? That’s perfectly ok, Lisa? Did the execs not state pretty clearly, that sexy is all good with them???

224

Could someone tell me what Dayana’s suggestion was? I wans’t watching at that point.

225

I don’t think Penn came across as a total jerk. I think he got frustrated because the team was in no way doing the task assigned and he couldn’t get his position known. I think he seemed frustrated which is what I was when I was talking to the TV from my sofa. “Don’t these people know what a viral video is??” I was thinking if they let Penn contribute, he would have come up with something worthy of the assignment and not a “commercial”. Mops being thrown out of windows with cute puppies peeing on them or a goat butting the user of another mop brand into a mud puddle or something equally as ridiculous that gets forwarded a gazillion times.

226

I haven’t watched a ton of CA (or any Apprentice for that matter), but has anyone responded to the question, “Who would you fire if you lost?” with “It depends on why we lost, Mr Trump”

I know he’s just trying to drum up some drama, and it usually works, but that question kills me every time.

227

Penn claims on twitter he got hit and yelled at in the last episode. Does he say anymore in his podcast?

228

This was after the idea for the tagline of “What’s Your Number?” was proposed. The gimmick is to suggest they’re talking about lovers, but really talking about the number of mops used. This is already racy and suggestive. Tia was all over it, and nobody really said anything to object at the time. Patricia said something to the camera later about not liking it, but didn’t get that voiced at the time.

So each of them sat down to start writing up their own “story” - how many [del]sex partners [/del] mops they’ve had. Trying to blend racy and suggestive with marketing of the product. They’re going to do interviews for the camera. So Dayana pops up, really excited. She has her story. She reads it out, it is very racy and full of double entendres, but is perfectly on par for the stated theme. It is very creative. Everyone else says “that’s great” or whatever, then decide that hers is over the top and won’t use it. It was a couple paragraphs of material, so I don’t recall, and my google-fu doesn’t have a transcript.

The point is, they picked the theme of comparing mops to sex partners. Each of them did giggly interview bits where they suggested their numbers and played coy. She just did a better job of it. Damn Lisa is just jealous because Dayana is hot.

But that’s the thing, the O-Cedar folks wanted a “viral video” that was also going to be graded on informational content about the product. Both teams came up with a hybrid product that tried to be funny but also provide the informational content.

Honestly, I thought just watching the vids that the exec didn’t like when the men mentioned the owner could use any cleaning product, and the women’s did a better job of showing the features of the mop. But then in comments, the exec was not reacting to the line about using any cleaning product, he was reacting because he didn’t feel the men stressed the “green” nature of being able to use any cleaning product. And while he liked the women’s greater demo of the product, they didn’t really show it in use, whereas the men and Lou dancing around the kitchen using it. So I was thrown by the visible reactions from the exec vs his actual comments after they were shown. I actually said “There it is, the women have just won” when I saw his reactions. Clearly I misread him.

229

No, he has not been PM yet:

Summary of Project Manager (Loser, Winner, (Fired))

Week1 Patricia and Paul (Cheryl)
Week2 Lisa and Penn (Victoria)
Week3 George and Dayana (George)
Week4 Adam and Debbie (Adam)
Week5 Tia and Lou (Tia)

Week6 Project Manager spoilers:

from previews, Clay and Aubrey were sitting in the PM chairs in the boardroom

230

Yeah, Penn said it wasn’t like assault and battery hitting but that kind of jock casual violence and rough housing that he, personally, hates. He attributed it to Lou not being used to having people bigger than him around and trying to assert physical dominance.

231

No, he has not been PM yet: (fired)

Week1 Patricia and Paul (Cheryl)
Week2 Lisa and Penn (Victoria)
Week3 George and Dayana (George)
Week4 Adam and Debbie (Adam and Michael)
Week5 Tia and Lou (Tia)

Week6 PM spoilers:

from previews, Clay and Aubrey were sitting in the PM chairs in the boardroom

232

Hehe.

Nope. I used to listen to Loveline on the radio, and always thought Adam was charming in an assholish kind of way. Years later, when they tried the radio program on television on MTV (which was thankfully short-lived) I realized Adam was something of a fox. A bit of a mini-crush developed, but then I went back to wanting to shag Dr. Drew, so maybe I am unqualified to comment on who it is bizarre to have a crush on.

That sums it up. There was no explanation anyone could have given that would have made Trump get over the fact that he didn’t get his way.

Word. I like Penn, but he was being a big baby, and Clay handled it as well as I could have imagined. Brownie points for Clay.

Yes, and they were all terrible. The water breaking thing was gross. Her ideas weren’t any worse than the one they went with though. Wtf was the “What’s your number?” thing all about? Terrible concept. The mens’ team was pretty simplistic and unoriginal, but at least it worked.

Also, Aubrey is a bitch.

233

Somehow part of my response evaporated. One more thing;

Right! I understand wanting to go with the race car guy for branding, although Buick has fuckall to do with race cars, but they admitted that his stage presence was lackluster. So execs, you wanted to see more of the guy who sucked? Not a great defense for Andretti, no, but can they not see that perhaps it was a better idea to not go with the “Michael Andretti Presents: Buick” show?

234

Penn’s definition of brainstorming is the exact opposite of the actual definition of brainstorming. “Write it down, shoot it down” might work for Teller and him, but it’s certainly not the way to conduct creative activity in the business world. That he was only interested in participating in the “shoot it down” side of the operation really made him look bad. I don’t think he was trying to set Lou up for failure, I think he just wanted to distance himself from the concept in case of a loss.

I’m impressed with Clay. He’s smart and entertaining. I’d like to see more from Dee, he hasn’t had much opportunity to take center stage.

Looks like Aubrey and Clay are the PMs next week based on the preview.

235

So no one can remember what Dayana’s racy storyline was?

236

It starts here.

She mentions that she didn’t know what to do the first time but now she’s found one that fits her hand etc.

237

Ah - that’s good. Honestly, I don’t think that would have been too racy. The whole “what’s your number?” is far too vague, and doesn’t make the double-entendre work as well. Making you think she’s talking about a vibrator - that makes more sense in context.

238

Yeah, nothing X-rated, but is kind of “Okaaaay!”

So back to Aubrey being a bitch. Apparently Puff Diddy kicked her out of his (crappy) group for being impossible to work with. Surprising? Also, am I the only one who noticed the non mom-in-disastrous-car-accident lie? At one point she mentions she’s in the “cool” van and is used to being in the “cool” group (cos she’s really cool, guys!!!), but when called on being a typical sorority bitch she makes with the boo hoo story about how she was nerdy and picked on, so don’t judge her!

239

Lisa’s “we’re the creative ones” complaint rang really stupid to me.
Patricia was right, it isn’t just about who comes up with the concept, it is also about who can execute the plan. So, while it’s great to have someone who can come up with a concept, its more important that the plan comes together. Lisa’s saying that the people who do the work should be fired makes no logical sense to me.

240

I’m not sure there’s a lie in there, but yes, I did notice that she claimed to have been the nerdy excluded girl in school but now is flaunting the fact she’s in the cool van and was apparently a cheerleader. Something doesn’t add up.

Lisa didn’t say the people who do the work should be fired. She said don’t fire the people who actually do the work. Especially the work of coming up with ideas.

Her argument was if you fire the people who have ideas, then nobody will try to come up with ideas. That is valid. Of course you also have to have people execute the ideas. Lisa doesn’t feel like Dayana contributed to either of those. She also probably felt that way about Tia and Teresa. Maybe even Patricia. But Lisa’s opinion of the weakest link is Dayana. Lisa’s other comment is don’t talk over one another, except Lisa can talk over Dayana any time she wants. And don’t be a limelight hog and insist on everyone being the visible one on every task. Except it’s pretty harsh to exclude one of your teammates and then claim she should be fired because she didn’t do anything.