Thanks for saving me the trouble. 
If it’s because he “only” took on the pm role twice (same as Arsenio and Aubrey) that will be…unfortunate. However, his answer to John Rich about not bringing his best to the game yet was not a smart one.
Oh my god, this episode was HILARIOUS! I was dying throughout. I don’t know which was funnier, the irony rolling off of Lisa, the demonstration of exactly why Teresa is not a contender, or Aubrey playing up this round both with Farouk and with inserting her control over Teresa and the project.
Right out of the gate, Dayana is not gone 2 minutes and already Lisa is serving up another round of lady hate. She started immediately “joking” about Teresa not being that bright. Right. A point that was not lost on Teresa, not that it did her a bit of good.
What I took away is that Lisa is a Bitch Bitch Bitch! No, not because she played hardball on the negotiations and clearly had Teresa outclassed. Admittedly the immediately confrontational nature she took first turned me off a little, but it was just smart strategy, which was acknowledged by Eric when he showed up to have Aubrey, Arsenio, and Teresa whining about it. No, what earns her that title is her blantant dropping of the b-word for no reason, and worse, labeling the model Alice as a “whore” for no bigger reason than needing a word to describe the woman in question. She is on camera talking about how Teresa was a dreadful negotiator by spilling her hand on which models she wanted, and Lisa goes on to say “Teresa wanted that whore so bad” or something to that effect. WHORE? Really? After you chewed out Aresenio for his supposed misogyny for cursing out Aubrey, you then drop the W-bomb about a model whose only infraction was having the misfortune of being in a set of pictures for you to negotiate over? Yeah, way to be the beacon for female dignity.
Once again, Lisa wears her insecurity on her sleeve. “Ooh, she’s beautiful, let’s call her a whore.” :rolleyes:
Then we get to the ad campaign for the hairdryer. Now I have no clue why a hairdryer needs a touch screen. It would be nice for someone to explain to me how a touchscreen offers improvement in a hairdryer over the standard button arrangement. Is that part of how it can be lighter weight? Does it somehow allow for a wider variety of setting combinations between heat level and airflow? Who knows, nobody said anything about it. You would think an ad campaign extolling the virtues of the “world’s first touchscreen hairdryer” could tell me why a hairdryer needs a touchscreen, but nobody did that at all.
Okay, so we have a product, and we have at least some virtues - it is lighter weight, it is therefore safer because you’re less likely to get carpal tunnel or something (:rolleyes:). So Lisa comes up with an ad strategy of showing the women, and then showing their inner side is different than their outer side. “There’s more inside than just the appearance. Who else is underestimated this way? Women.” OMG, HILARIOUS! Do you hear what is coming out of your mouth? Did you apply that in any way to, say, Dayana? Or that model Alice you were so ready to W-bomb? Huh, Lisa?
Next, Lisa is going to get wardrobe while Clay takes the models to the studio to set up for the pictures. But since Lisa apparently has no fashion sense, she takes one of the models with her to help. (That was actually a great idea, Clay. Too bad it didn’t help.) Meanwhile, Clay gets to the studio and doesn’t actually have much idea of what they want for backdrops and such, and is suddenly overwhelmed with requests for decisions. Anyway, he shovels pretty hard to keep things flowing while waiting for the PM to show up.
Meanwhile, we have team Teresa and their interview with Farouk. First was the original task assignment, where Farouk talks about his CHI color line, and all attention immediately falls on Aubrey. So Farouk asks if her color is a CHI product, and Aubrey has the audacity to state it’s all natural. 
Farouk audibly choked on that response.
Then in their meeting, Farouk shows off his red CHI boots, and fawns over Aubrey some more. Stick your tongue back in your mouth. So Aubrey comes up with the ad campaign to use CHI as in the voodoo energy woo crap and thus put the models in yoga poses with the hairdryer. Okay. Wasn’t it also Aubrey’s idea that the ad should just be pictures, no words, to sell their product? Which Teresa blindly accepted, because she has no leadership ability. Hey Aubrey, what part of “we have a revolutionary new product that we want to market on it’s new features, so make us a 4 page ad layout that extolls those features” says “let’s not use any words”?
The negotiation for models goes down. Poor Teresa, outgunned and outclassed, had to go running to [del]mommy[/del] Aubrey twice to get instructions, before getting maneuvered into the worst decision this season. Yes, worse that blowing up a balloon full of cash in the park and making people fight over the money.
“We absolutely need this redhead.” So now you’re stuck with two guys, one of them with short hair, to put in your yoga ad. Fortunately, they adapted and reached out to other contacts and drug in different models, like duh duh duh… Aubrey herself. “Hey, do you want me to do it?” Out of the blue, Aubrey inserts herself into the photo shoot. Which ended up a good play, because when Alice, the redhead they fought so hard to get, showed up, her hair wasn’t the vibrant red from the photo, but was practically blond. More joyous irony.
Then comes the presentation, where Teresa stumbles over her lines, but Aubrey and Arsenio play theirs well. Lisa and Clay come in, and they also have a good oral presentation for their ad layout.
As far as the results go, Lisa and Clay had the right content and a good idea with the inside vs outside being in contrast. The ad execs weren’t thrilled with the photos or clothing chosen (oops, Lisa), but the content was much better than [del]Teresa[/del] Aubrey’s team’s, which had interesting yoga pics of hot chicks, but nothing describing the hairdryer at all. No words to explain that it had a touchscreen, that it was lighter, that is was a lot quieter. All that was in the oral presentation to the execs, but they were told they were creating a print ad. It kinda needed to be in print.
No surprise on the winning team, no surprise on who was fired. Sure, Teresa tried to claim that Arsenio didn’t to anything, but he did, and he had a valid point that many of the staff couldn’t tell Teresa was supposed to be in charge. I also watched as Aubrey struggled to stay out and not say anything negative about Teresa, which was odd given how vocal she is about everyone else’s shortcomings. She could easily have backed up Arsenio’s statements that Teresa didn’t do any leading. It was her idea, her concept, she found replacement models, she actually became one of the models. She even sat around with her boobs out just to reward the camera crew for following her around so much.
Then the surprise boardroom callback, and the interviews with last year’s champions. I had forgotten that part. So we get John Rich and Marlee Matlin.
John pushed hard, maneuvered Clay into saying something less than the best phrasing, then turned it against him.
I’m glad Marlee called Lisa out on her behavior. More fun as Lisa justifies her crying and her screaming fits and blasts of vile hatred as not being out of control and knowing when to use her emotions. Um, right. Glad Trump finally agreed on that score.
I can sort of agree with Clay that being up front about how you feel is better than being two-faced (cough Aubrey cough), but there’s still no justification for the total visciousness thrown at Dayana especially. Arsenio got picked on for his one tirade against Aubrey, for which he apologized and was genuinely contrite. Lisa screamed and insulted and was just plain nasty all over Dayana constantly, when she wasn’t tearing into Lou Ferrigno.
No, that wasn’t pointed out. I only recall a couple - the sandwich gig and the tour guide. They called up friends for the launch party gig with the Appletini thing, but it wasn’t a donation collection task. They also didn’t show anyone standing up to John for blasting them for not fighting to be PM more. Weren’t there more competitors this year? So yeah, nobody raised anywhere near as much money this year, but the game was different this year.
But this show was hilarious!
Someone already said, I spotted it. (I would have spoilered, but since it was stated already.) The layout of the contestants in the boardroom was
Arsenio, Aubrey, Lisa, Clay.
Arsenio and Aubrey were on Trump’s left, Lisa and Clay on his right. Trump fired Lisa, with Clay farther to the right.
The preview showed “you’re fired” with Trump facing right. Only Clay remained on that side.
So it looks like the match up will be Arsenio vs Aubrey. But don’t worry, Clay is back, along with many of the others.
I think that was an unfair misinterpretation of what Clay was saying. John asked him if he had given everything he had already, and what Clay was trying to say was that he wasn’t burnt out, that he was still strong for the finale. But John took it to mean that Clay was holding back and not giving his all.
Good gods, this episode was classic Aubrey. There was so much Aubreytastic narcissism that I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to shoot her, or to keep feeding her ego so that I may continue [del]torturing[/del] entertaining myself by scoffing at barely believable self-absorption. Some almost verbatim paraphrases of this crazy child:
[ul]
[li]During the shoot: Let’s get a tight shot because Farouk told me I have pretty eyes.[/li][li]Reflecting on the shoot:* I look so good as a hair model!*[/li][li]In the boardroom, when asked to assess her teammates’ performances: I was too busy kicking ass to notice what other people contributed.[/li][/ul]
Mary, Jesus and Joseph! I did like that both Marlee and John sniffed the horse shit on her breath right away, though then again, that isn’t hard to do. I think John got to her. Did I detect a *leetle *bit of a voice cracking when he grilled her? I think I did. Lastly, regarding the Red Menace, so what if Teresa hadn’t sucked at negotiating models you would have gotten the ones you wanted? Your team didn’t lose because of the photos of the models; they lost because the ad contained absolutely no information about the product. You know, *your *idea.
With that out of the way, a question, some statements, and an exuberant exclamation: Is Teresa retarded? She could barely read a script off a card, plus I’m not sure how someone can be “famous” for just hanging out and have the inverse of charisma. “And that’s our presentation. Tada!” I’m not sure what the fuck that was, but it was awful. And our dear Lisa… she is gone! Hurrah!
I’ll field this one – there is absolutely zero advantage to this feature whatsoever, other than looking fancy. You’re welcome.
That hairdryer had some good design features.
- Lighter weight
- much quieter (not that we heard a demo, just heard Arsenio pretending he was the dryer)
- dries in half the time
Now I don’t know if those are real or not, but that is what Farouk said, and that is what they echoed.
As an engineer, I am trying to see if a touchscreen could play into any of those features. I don’t see how a touchscreen can make a hairdryer quieter. That’s all a function of the blower motor and fan. I don’t see how the touchscreen can make the dryer dry faster. That is mostly a function of the heat and airflow. I cannot conceive how either of those is affected by a touchscreen.
That leaves the weight issue. I’m a mechanical engineer, but I’ve worked with some electronics in hardware. Circuit boards can be lightweight. Modern IC chips are tiny and integrate a lot of function in very little weight. But manual buttons on dryers don’t take up much weight, either, being of plastic. It is conceivable that a touchscreen with circuit board is less weight than a combination of two or three multiposition mechanical switches. But a sizeable fraction of the weight? Again, the bulk of the weight is the fan and motor, especially the motor.
So from the objective actual innovations and improved design features, I cannot see the touchscreen contributing.
But it’s a touchscreen, it* must* be cool!
You know what always grates on me the most about this show, when the contestants praise Trump for his business smarts and acumen. The guy is one of the worlds greatest con men, that is for sure, but he is no Warren Buffett. I would love it if one of them shot back at Trump when he criticized them, “well it’s not like I swindled folks out of millions of dollars, or was forced out of dozens of companies, or managed to lose money in a casino, which is almost impossible.”
I’m wondering if the cost of manufacture is dramatically lessened by having a touchscreen, instead of multiple buttons, dials, or other moving parts? Each one of those things is yet another component, needing to be attached, incorporated into the design, both stylistically, and ergonomically, and of some measure of durability.
Seems to me that the touchscreen option likely makes for a cheaper unit, for the manufacturer. Electronics of all kinds are getting more inexpensive by the day.
Also, although I think Aubrey is a somewhat less-than-classy lady, I refuse to believe/give up hope this season can possibly end without her somehow ending up in a swimsuit.
Just now started watching it. DVR because of Survivor.
LMAO at Aubrey O’Day getting fired
LMAO at Aubrey O’Day getting picked last in the school yard pick.
HEE HAW! And then she said, let the Haters Hate! BWAAAHHH!
My favorite parts of the show tonight. Doesn’t take her long to start running off at the mouth again, though.
I totally missed the first hour and a half (Sherlock) – what reason did Trump give for firing her?
(When I tuned it about 10:20, Clay was talking and it was immediately clear that he was a finalist; then it switched to Aubrey talking and I thought “oh fuck” for a minute, then realized she was just a member of Arsenio’s team.)
What a little bitch she is. “I owe Debbie my respect as my elder, and I’m sure there are some people who prefer her music.”
I was pretty surprised Aubrey got the axe. Pleasantly surprised!
Although it wasn’t stated, my SO and I sort of get the impression that the reason Aubrey was fired was due to her lack of conviction, with regard to her charity work. When Trump mentions her youth, and inexperience, I think he was just softening the blow. When Trump mentioned very nebulously that Marlee Matlin and John Rich both saw her as “transparent”, I think it becomes a little more clear that they could smell her bullshit a mile away. She is on CA to self-promote, kick-start her career (again?), gain more twitter followers.
Aubrey’s egocentricism and look-at-me attitude are, I think, what Matlin and Rich were seeing. Her anti-bullying charity is just oh-so trendy and hip. She’s a talented girl, no doubt, but when John Rich and Marlee Matlin say you are transparent, you might want to take it to heart; it’s not like these two individuals aren’t wildly successful, mature intelligent entertainers who happen to know a thing or two about charity work, and being emotionally and personally involved with their chosen charities. Aubrey just can’t see how she could possibly be wrong about anything negatively mentioned about her in the least, and it will be difficult for her to grow as a human being because of it.
I really felt bad for poor Clay, having to deal with the idiot-ego Debbie Gibson has become. Hey! Debbie! Let the man make his fucking decision and quit being such a rag about it. Clay didn’t even want the walls painted to begin with, but leave it to Aubrey to not be able to allow the boss a decision that countermands her idea, not to mention Debbie jumping on-board to enable her. I didn’t mind Debbie before she was fired, but I could not stand her last night. How bad is it, that she has nothing on the line for this task, but refuses to relent when the only person who DOES have something on the line, the Project Manager, the Boss of the task disagrees gasp! with her?
As soon as Arsenio/Adam decided to roll with the idea of shooting video on the west coast, I grunted. Bad idea, to rely on something being done without actually having your physical hands-on. Any number of things could go wrong. You pretty much are hoping for the best, rather than having a hand in the production? Not smart, Arsenio.
And someone please tell me: have these people never heard of a nifty thing that’s been around for while, called Facetime? Why didn’t they just direct the damned video shoot via their cell-phones? The whole waiting for the video thing seemed pretty stupid, and technologically ancient, to me.
Trump commented that both Marlee Matlin and John Rich felt that she was “A very good chess player, but a very inexperienced chess player. And very transparent.” (Which I thought was a pretty good summation of her character.) Aubrey of course disputed this, and called herself “honest” (!) and “undeveloped,” claiming she hopes she dies undeveloped. Trump didn’t really give a specific reason, other than to once again praise her for her beauty and intelligence, while saying " . . . and you are transparent. But I just think you’re gonna have a fantastic career. Aubrey, you’re fired."
Aubrey doesn’t seem to understand what “transparent” means. In her final confessional, she rants, “Whoever called me transparent, #$%! them. I think, of all the words I could be called - and many are true - transparent isn’t the word. There’s nothing see-through about me. I’m somebody that stands in your face and is so bright and shines so big, that you’re either intimidated, you’re annoyed, or you’re . . . in love.” So . . . kudos to the kid for at least understanding that she’s annoying - but at the same time, minus major points for believing obnoxious is the opposite of transparent. No honey, it doesn’t mean we can’t see you, it means we see right through your crude machinations and know exactly what you have in mind - yourself, at all times.
I thought the “schoolyard picks” for the returning players were interesting. Arsenio quickly decided to go with a comedy theme and Clay went for music. Even so, I wondered that Arsenio chose Adam first over Penn, given Penn’s acknowledged mastery of MC duties. Clay showed a bit of maturity in taking Penn first even given their somewhat troubled history (even if his voice-over acknowledged he was doing it to impress Trump, he did also acknowledge Penn’s intelligence).
Yes, exactly. For once, Trump was smart enough to pay attention to his advisers (we’ll just ignore for the moment that Trump himself is hardly opaque).
Yeah, as soon as Adam suggested that, I knew something was going to go wrong. Then when he later admits (in a confessional, not to Arsenio) that his guys are actually podcast guys, not video guys, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope they’re able to salvage something for that PSA; it was a pretty good idea.
Like a brilliant woman once said, “Haters gotta drink their Hateraid.”
And we found out that Aubrey has no clue what “transparent” means. However, you’re wrong but right about her charity work. Aubrey has a long history of charity work and I believe is dedicated to philanthropy but the problem is that it is all over the map with this cause here and that cause there; whereas with Arsenio and Clay, their work is very focused on one thing.
In today’s age of smartphones and video chatting. Why oh why wouldn’t you have someone at least take a picture of the monitor?
“Here’s Magic, facing camera left like you wanted.”
And it’s gotta come back to bite Arsenio that Lisa is giving money to their opponent. Even if she’s donating an equal amount, it brings up the question that she’s not doing everything possible to help her PM win.
For the same reason it is impossible to take a picture of a sketch and send it to Clay via Debbie Gibson.
I was wondering if it was some kind of trick or trap. Why would she give money to the opposing team? Or at least she should have been more secretive about it.
I’m pretty sure there’s a strong chance the footage thing is being over-played. I wouldn’t be surprised if they simply included the first take by mistake, in addition to the final one later, but we’ll see.
In either case, I agree they method in which they conveyed the idea was beyond stupid. Why didn’t they just film the scene quickly with a stand-in and send it to them as a template? I seriously wonder if there isn’t some producer intervention in order to increase the potential for mistakes. I mean, it seems a little suspicious that of the seasons I’ve seen, both teams always had seemingly major hurdle to overcome for the final task.
There must be another camera that Magic turns to in that shot. The file from that camera is probably still uploading. Otherwise, Corolla’s team, podcasters or not, is beyond dumb.
Clay really is micromanaging. He probably should have just let Aubrey and Debbie handle the interior design at the venue. And let Debbie’s cousin paint the damn wall. If it’s horrible, it will probably take less than an hour to cover it up with white, which is exactly what he’ll have without the mural. I gotta believe the commercial, the performance and the fundraising are what really matters here. If he does well on those, he won’t lose because of a wall mural.