Are you talking about the guy who tried hitting on Anna Kornikova in one episode and Trump’s receptionist after he was fired? If so, I believe he contemplated a Senate run at some point, but nothing came of it.
No, Raj was a Doper who handicapped the contestants every week. His comments were hilarious.
:smack: Mullinator is the Doper, Raj was the contestant you mentioned.
Here’s a thread with one of Mullinator’s ratings – post #61.
I’ll predict now that Dee will bring in John Rich to help raise money. Rich owes Dee the favor for helping him last season.
I don’t think what the charity is has ever played much of a role in fundraising tasks – people hit their friends up “for charity” and that’s that. Obviously it’s nice for the charities that get chosen to receive the money, but I’ve never seen the specifics of the charity add to or subtract from the success of a task.
waits for 10 immediate examples of exactly that
Penn Jillette has a colossal ego and will clash with Trump and the industry CEO’s, just like Gene Simmons did. You need to be a bit submissive around Trump and really sell those “Yes, Mr. Trumps.”
Cripes. As usual, I feel a need to snark a bit, but this time I’m forced to admit that I’ve never heard of only one of them (Dayana Mendoza) and may find myself watching more than one episode. With no snark.
I think that John Rich specifically was helped immensely by having a nationally-recognized charity, and all the associated big names that go with it. St. Jude’s pulls in unbelievable amounts of money, and has a gigantic horde of big donors. Being armed with just a handful of those names would give any project manager a distinct advantage in any fundraising task.
That’s not a knock on Rich - he did an absolutely amazing job last season. Matlin’s charity wasn’t nearly as recognizeable, and she managed to pull in a ridiculous amount of money as well. But one of her strengths was being able to immediately connect anyone in contact with her to the need for the charity, since she is also deaf.
John Rich pushed “it’s for the children” to get a ton of money for St. Jude’s just last season.
One more thing to be completely apathetic about.
Dee Snyder and Cheryl Tiegs are my favorites to win.
I’ve given up trying to handicap this before we see the contestants together and their charity. It makes a huge difference. Arsenio, for instance, on paper should rule when it comes to industry connections, and so forth - but the fact he’s been out of the spotlight suggests he did some damage. Snider is a good call, and he’s made an appearance previously - I think supporting John Rich last year - I think he’ll do well.
I like the cast. Takei should be fun to watch, and Gillette is really smart - but he’s a smartass, and if he rubs people the wrong way, he might go pretty quickly…
I’ve given up trying to handicap this before we see the contestants together and their charity. It makes a huge difference. Arsenio, for instance, on paper should rule when it comes to industry connections, and so forth - but the fact he’s been out of the spotlight suggests he did some damage. Snider is a good call, and he’s made an appearance previously - I think supporting John Rich last year - I think he’ll do well.
I like the cast. Takei should be fun to watch, and Gillette is really smart - but he’s a smartass, and if he rubs people the wrong way, he might go pretty quickly…
I believe he was already pre-selected as a Talent of the Week (it was a 7-Up commercial they had to film), and was assigned to Rich’s team, not that Rich selected Snyder for a generic event.
Actually, yes, John Rich said, “hey, I’m friends with Dee Snyder, why don’t I call him up and see if he’ll do this?” Dee was not preselected by the show. That’s why I thought his participation was especially cool (and I said at the time he would be a great apprentice).
Gotcha. I think I missed the beginning of that episode. How’d they get the old Jamaican dude?
I think someone on the team just remembered him from the 70s commercial and they looked him up and holy smokes he’s still around! They had quite a struggle getting that guy’s agent to agree to whatever contract they were throwing at him. It was up in the air right down to the final minute whether that guy would show up or not.
Tonight is the premiere. 
youtube has the introduction interviews for each celebrity. Click Dee’s link and you’ll see a list for all the others too.
Dee Snider
I’m picking either Dee or Arsenio for the win. Both really smart guys and I’m predicting that they’ll work their butts off on tasks.
Adam Carolla and Lisa Lampanelli talk about the Apprentice. Lots of very candid behind the scenes stuff about the show. They were careful to avoid spoilers but I learned a lot about what its like doing this crazy show.
Lisa’s interview starts about half-way into the pod cast.
http://www.adamcarolla.com/lisa-lampanelli/
I hope Adam stays on the Apprentice for awhile. I can’t wait to hear more of his comments about doing the Apprentice.
Season Premier in 12 more minutes. Anyone else out there watching?