He takes them to Giants stadium to meet Jimmy Hoffa…
I believe they all go to sequesterdom.
At first I thought the batting cage was a great idea, but I guess it was just too “yooge” and it ended up impeding their sales.
Of the four firees, Mark probably got jobbed a little bit, but then again, he was the one who came up with the small ‘i’ in italian Intimidation, wasn’t he? He probably should have been canned just for that.
Markus was almost invisible this week and he probably dodged a bullet by getting switched to the winning team. Whatever he was trying to do with that machete and the Champagne bottle, I thought he was going to slice hisown hand open.
Yep, that was Mark. In fact, if I remember right he was responsible for most of the bad ideas on that task. The only thing I really saw him being good at is sucking up. He did it masterfully. Subtle & effective, at least among his team mates.
Yea, I think so. His snark is why I love him. I think he went wrong with not getting people to adapt to the “HUUGE” baseball diamond. He didn’t push people to be their best, but I don’t think he was the main reason why they lost, despite being PM(but, he should have taken SOME responsability for the loss). But, to Trump, such a mistake is clearly fatal and I’ll have to accept that. BUT, I adored Josh, so it was painful to see him go before Clay and Markus. GAH!
Jen M was the one who made the claim about sales, so her firing was correct. As for the other two, I didn’t mind them going so much.
The general idea was good though. Just poorly executed because there was too much emphasis on gaming instead of selling.
As for the silent cab ride, what could they do? What could they say?
Oooh, they could have snarkily pulled their jackets out from under each other’s asses. That would have been enough for me.
Ah, i forgot that part. i take back my charge. 
I can’t wait for the Raj ratings on this one.
Prior to this episode I had sort of thought that Josh might be a fairly strong candidate. he seemed bright and capable, and most of his snarking was against Markus, who would bring that out in anybody. He lost me, though, when he was shouting “you failed,” over and over again at Jen. It was true, sure, but he wasn’t the one to say it and as Carolyn pointed out, Josh failed too. It just seemed like piling on and ass-covering at that point.
So far,it still seems like Randal and Marshawn are getting the best edits and seem to be the most respected by their teams. Alla and Rebecca strike me as the next two in contention. I predict that Randal, Marshawn, Alla and Rebecca will make the final four.
It must be killing those Excel guys tonight that they all left before Markus did but he can’t keep avoiding losing teams forever.
That would have been funny.
Gotta say, though, just watching all four of them try to figure out where to look was pretty freakin’ funny.
I was hoping he’d shatter the neck, exploding a piece of glass right into that blonde chick’s eye.
So the boardroom got a “Holy crap!” out of me. The cab ride would have been more amusing if Beauty Queen Hair wasn’t so obviously trying not to laugh. Hey, guess what, dumbass? You just got FIRED! What’s so funny?
This show sucks, and that’s sad.
Do you suppose all four of them will do the talkshow rounds together? That might be great – they could continue on chanting ‘you failed’ at each other.
Also, I suppose you all noticed dear Jen flat out lied several times? The one she got called on, plus her claiming that none of them had anything to do with the concession food after a ten minute setup. Seems to me we got a shot or four of her chanting ‘hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts’ …
How many baseball bat sales does it take to equal one set of golf clubs? duh.
You’d think that would’ve been their starting point.
That was the best firing ever!
Trying to sell the radar guns was an especially dumb idea. Nobody impulse buys a radar gun. Unless you’re a coach there isn’t really much use for them and it’s hard to justify the expense.
Is it even possible for her to part her hair further over on the side? Her her irks me to no end. In the words of Laurie Notaro, “I want to kick her hair’s ass!”
Jen was getting very scary in the boardroom. I thought she was just a few seconds away from screaming hysterically and breaking down in tears. She just kept shouting and arguing and interrupting everyone, and the guys all got very quiet and let her rant. Didn’t save their sorry butts, but sure made her look unstable. And yes, it was very funny to see them all crammed into the back seat, with Jen slipping out of control every so slightly and smiling at the ridiculously awkward position they were in. I hope that next week we see the show start with a phone call to the survivors to let them know they can lock up and turn out the lights, ain’t nobody coming home.
I think for the first time this season, the Raj Ratings has a bone to pick with the firings. I’ll say more below, but I think 2 were justified. The other 2 occured either because Trump knew he needed to fire people to meet the season ending deadline or he was a bit pissy because his pre-heated chair on his private jet had a malfunction and was unable to toast his rear end to it’s normally accepted temperature. Overall, this episode was like the teens of the 1990’s, it left me feeling neither highs nor lows. Sure, one time screwed up, but the screw up wasn’t jaw droppingly obnoxious and the people were mostly forgettable. The other team did well, but I just don’t care enough about most of them at this point. And therein lies the issue with The Apprentice. Too much time on New York skyline art shots, rewards, answering Rhona’s calls, Trump’s message of the week, and staged shots with Trump’s meetings. Take those away and each episode could probably add 7 minutes of task related action of the candidates which is really why people watch this show in the first place. Give us those 7 minutes over 6 shows and we’d have another 42 minutes of hard action to learn about these people, judge their abilities, and become invested in their efforts. Mark Burnett has turned into Theo Epstein of the Boston Red Sox this year. A little coasting on past triumphs, too much time mucking around with the wrong components of what made you great, and a lack of a reaction when things started to spiral down the drain. As a bonus, that cab ride was comedy gold.
** Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska** - Or, these people are in a cold, lonely place with no hope for love or revival
Melissa, Chris, Jennifer W, Toral, Kristi - I think a case could be made for Kristi and Chris to be viewed as solid people on this show, which is usually more than can be said for early bootees.
Josh (TAR)- Dang, this was more of a bloodbath than when Troy McClure took Jimmy to Bovine University. Josh went from first to worst in my rankings, but in my defense while I said he had done well up to this point, his true future rested on his sting as PM. And, it was bad. His concept was actually a good one, it was just used for the wrong challenge. We’ve seen on this show in the past that a big attraction will suck away your sales. The batting cage concept would have been smart if the goal was to post a gain in people entering the store, time spent in the store, or customer attitude. But, when the goal is sales, you have small attractions that pull people through the sales floor and then spits them out on the sales floor. Just a really misguided effort. A deserved firing.
Jennifer M (BC)- Well, this wasn’t a shock. Whenever she speaks, she either seems on the verge of tears or of spinning wildly out of contol like Robin Williams when he ingested more coke than the population of a trendy Beverly Hills nightclub. Other than a nice body, she never really showed a reason that she belonged on this show. Sure, she said she could sell, lead, perform. But, at no point did her boasting translate into action. That’s like me saying I can fly, change colors, and travel through time. A deserved firing.
James (BB)- Undeserved firing #1. I don’t quite get why you got canned. Sure, the goal was to sell, but you performed well on your part of the task. There have been plenty of sales based tasks in the past where certain roles didn’t involve selling. I think Trump got so focused on the massive loss that he just wanted to chop off some heads.
Mark (N:N&J)- See James. You fulfilled your role. The ultimate responsibility for a poor plan goes to Josh. The failure to shift focus from a batting cage to pushing sales falls first on Josh, then on everyone else for not suggesting a shift. You missed doing that and so did everybody else. The safe people just happened to be selling to start with which is what saved them. You performed as well as they did at your job but were really a victim of circumstance.
Boot Camp - Or, in major need of a butt-kicking, but actual physical contact isn’t allowed
Markus (BC)- If only you were triplets then we could pass the time with 3 stoogish behavior. At this point you are just comedy relief.
Clay (N:N&J)- Bye Clay. You may last a while, but the honking horns of mockery have doomed you. Too many negative and high strung past moments combined with pretty much everyone deriding you even during the best of times does not equal ultimate victory. You are Tana-esque in that you may stay a while, but you’ve really been made fun of too much to be a respected final choice.
Big Brother - Or, beginning the downward spiral into ultimately being canceled
Adam (BB)- We still know so little about you.
Felisha (BB)- Once you realize she’s the bastard child of Nellie Olson and Patrick Swayze, you’ll be unable to see her doing anything but wearing a flowery print dress and bonnet and kicking rednecks butts in fights at the Double Deuce.
Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica - Or, ultimately harmless and forgettable fluff in need of a shot in the arm
** Brian ** (N:N&J)- You could still go either way. Your PM victory was due as much to a solid team as your leadership, but you have yet to really stumble. A lot of either people are digging their own graves at this point, but not enough for you to rise to the top. Bold actions are called for.
American Idol - Or, mostly positive so far but still in major danger of falling apart when a tough theme night comes around
Rebecca (N:N&J)- You have officially impressed Trump and you seem fairly competent. A lot of the people that took issue with you have been sent packing so you have more wiggle room. Rebecca (and those below this line) are my final 4.
Alla (AI)- A good win, especially since oddsmakers probably would have favored the other team for this particular task. The final 4 is seeming quite likely for you.
Survivor - Or, when they’re good, they are really good. But, there are enough rough spots to keep them from the top spot
Marshawn (S)- It’s odd. You always seem to lose and be involved in pretty major task errors, but it’s never really your fault and none of the stink sticks to you. Frankly, if you’ve survived this long without a single arrow, I don’t see what can bring you down before the end arrives.
The Amazing Race - Or, the king of the hill. A well oiled machine that shows no signs of slowing down unless a taxi gets in the way
Randal (TAR)- I get the feeling we haven’t been shown a lot of what you have done. There’s almost this sense that every other candidate knows you’re going to be at the end and they are just trying to fill the other spot. Like Marshawn, you seem impervious to idiocy. Unlike Marshawn, we have seen more positive things from you.
The Rancic-Perdew Corollary - Gee, ya think Markus is redeemable? Clay is also done. He’s not really an idiot or anything, but he’s been shown as too much Goofus and not enough Gallant. Adam is on the edge only because it seems unlikely he could make it this far, have nothing great shown about him, have his only memorable moment be singing, and still win. But, he’s not dead yet.
Seasonal Rankings Eh, screw the seasonal rankings, I’m dropping this segment. Season one is clearly the best, season 3 is clearly the worst. Season 2 was blah. I think this one is ultimately the 2nd best assuming the solid competitors make it to the end and Donald avoids idiotic firings on a whim. I don’t want to see weak candidates advancing.
Thanks, Mully – as always, the Raj Ratings have pushed the actual show down a notch in most entertaining pop culture moment of the week.
Hee!
So, they don’t have the show sheduled out to have one person fired every week? Doesn’t Trump still have 3 extra shows to fulfill now that three-too-many people got fired?
Oh, and I agree that Donald’s decision has more to do with it being “a big shocker” than genuinely feeling those four are bad candidates.
It’s looking to me like Randal is going to win.
Due to the holidays, I haven’t been able to watch this season. But dang! I’m a bit sorry I missed last night’s episode.
Didn’t DT take part in picking the contestants this season? Then he only has himself to blame, if he had to fire a whole squad at once.
I can go with James & Mark’s firings to be less deserved, but not totally undeserved. If I were only picking one it certainly wouldn’t be one of them, but they were far from good in this thing.
Wasn’t Baseball originally James’ idea? I think that’s where they really lost. Unlike golf or tennis, there’s just not that much in the way of an accessory market with baseball. And the real season for purchases is pretty small. Even without the screw-ups, they still probably would have lost. But it was his favorite, so why not push it. And I think the batting cage was his idea too. Not bad in theory, but it wound up being the beginning of the end as far as execution was concerned. I thought he might have the most promise of the 4 of them, but this did put a little stink on him.
The team that knew a lot less about sports picked the right one to sell, and did it for the right reason. And what it appeared they were selling a ton of was golf clothes, something you don’t have with baseball. Markus is most definitely useless as teats on a boar hog, but he was actually right this time. I guess even a stopped clock and all.
And Mark? Mark just bugged me. Has since the car task. He really should have been gone in week 2 instead of Chris, who was a much better candidate but had a weird loyalty to Mark. Mark was just god-awful that time. And seriously, am I the only one who was a little nauseated by he & Josh at dinner? Dang, get a room guys. Strikes me as a total suck-up. I can grudgingly admit he didn’t do as much wrong in THIS task, and like I said under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have fired him this time, but my general dislike won’t let me be sorry that he’s gone.
And it was good TV.
I also think Kristi would have just spanked Jen if she’d been around this week. And she’d have definitely said something about the sales situation. More so in hindsight, THAT was a bad firing.
You think maybe Donald got a call from the guys it Dick’s? “Hey Trump, your morons actually cost us money!”