# The Apprentice, 10/7/04 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844 "2004-10-06T14:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/1 "2004-10-06T14:08:54Z")
So – this week we see the teams on QVC. I don’t want to engage in any wild speculation, but I’m guessing Mosaic will focus on the task and Apex will dissolve into a piranhalike feeding frenzy of self-destruction. The only real question is, what will be the effect of Pamela going back to the women’s team. Will she be able to slap them into shape? Will she be driven to suicidal despair? Will the harpies focus her on their new victim, or continue destroying the current team? Can’t wait to find out… ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/2 "2004-10-06T15:44:26Z")
My guess is that Pamela gets undermined by Apex’s ongoing petty bickering, she takes three ladies into the board room with her, and she teaches these ladies how to play the board room phase. Pamela is NOT the one who gets fired. OTOH, Apex might actually win, partly due to Pamela not being part of the mutual assassination society. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/3 "2004-10-06T16:07:28Z")
I think Apex will win for the most cynical reason: having them lose too many weeks in a row is bad TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/4 "2004-10-06T16:32:50Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I think Apex will win for the most cynical reason: having them lose too many weeks in a row is bad TV. I’m inclined to agree with you, but how many weeks in a row did the guys’ team lose last season? I bet Apex hasn’t beat their initial losing streak yet. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/5 "2004-10-06T16:33:18Z")
Here’s an odd question… Considering that the Apprentice has been pre-taped, wouldn’t the Apprentices already have been on QVC? (I’m assuming that the task was to sell the most, so that would have already been done). Is there a tape of them out theredoing the whole schtick? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/6 "2004-10-06T16:37:26Z")
Not a stupid question at all, **stpauler**. I thought about that when I was writing the OP, but didn’t want to insult my fellow dopers by suggesting that any of them might ever watch QVC and thus have seen it. A bootleg tape, though … hmmm … ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/7 "2004-10-06T19:14:31Z")
> [@Moody Bastard](#): > > I’m inclined to agree with you, but how many weeks in a row did the guys’ team lose last season? I bet Apex hasn’t beat their initial losing streak yet. The guys as a team lost the first four weeks, necessitating a team switch to even things up. After that, women were fired for 7 straight weeks, although as parts of mixed-gender teams. The spoilers have the guys losing this week due to pricing issues, but the spoiler also has a key portion of the women’s selling choice (knives) incorrect. So take that with a grain of salt. I’ll guess the guys lose, for no reason other than it seems like the chicks would realize that their current path is doomed and would actually make some type of fundamental change to right the ship. The dudes, while they have won 3 in a row, don’t exactly strike me as a superstar team that will avoid mistakes. They have won more due to the women being as effective as a licorice sword. There are at least 3 guys that seem like easy pickin’s at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/8 "2004-10-08T01:02:36Z")
Oh and The O’Jays rock! Or maybe they R&B. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/9 "2004-10-08T01:07:59Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Oh and The O’Jays rock! Or maybe they R&B. Ummmm…okay. Just checking in to say – eight minutes into the episode and I’m in heaven. Pamela laying down the law on the bus, and Maria and Stacey competeing to see which of them can be a bigger idiot… Damn I love this show. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/10 "2004-10-08T01:16:34Z")
“Supply and demand, Raj.” “I’m familiar with the concept.” The best part so far is watching Pamela tear into Stacy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/11 "2004-10-08T01:22:19Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Just checking in to say – eight minutes into the episode and I’m in heaven. Pamela laying down the law on the bus, and Maria and Stacey competeing to see which of them can be a bigger idiot… On behalf of lawyers everywhere, I apologize for the existence of Stacy. And frankly, twenty minutes into the episode, she doesn’t strike me as a particularly good lawyer – she sees only legal problems, which is only half of the equation. The other half is _figuring out a solution to the problem so the businesspeople can get their fucking business done_. And guess which half of the equation is more valued? Watching Pam lay the smack down is fun, though. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/12 "2004-10-08T01:23:20Z")
I think Pamela is doing quite a good job of taking control of the women, efficiently assigning definable tasks with tangible accountability and not taking any crap from anyone. I’m kind of surprised because Pam had not struck me as necessarily showing good leadership qualities when she was with the men. Also, the women showed a much better choice of product then the men did. A god cleaning product will kick the crap out of a niche, yuppie cooking product any day of the week. How many people really care about panini as opposed to cleaning their walls? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/13 "2004-10-08T01:24:58Z")
Also: Trump watching QVC in his office? Classic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/14 "2004-10-08T01:28:57Z")
$10.42 Omfg. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/15 "2004-10-08T01:30:41Z")
> [@Dewey Cheatem Undhow](#): > > Also: Trump watching QVC in his office? Classic. 🙂 That was fabulous. I feel bad for the women’s team. That was a small loss but it sure looked devestating, emotionally. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/16 "2004-10-08T01:31:07Z")
Who KNEW I would feel sorry for the women? DaaaaaaaaAAAAAAg. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/17 "2004-10-08T01:33:18Z")
Props to Raj for taking taking a shot a getting a date with Kournikova. I agree with him that what the hell, you might as well _try_ at least. “I’m a man of not too much humility.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/18 "2004-10-08T01:33:32Z")
They lost by one sale. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/19 "2004-10-08T01:35:28Z")
I feel bad for the women too, and I don’t even know who to blame. I think Pamela did about as well as she could have. I guess I’d have to say the onscreen sales team just didn’t quite hustle enough to win. The guys always hustle their asses off. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844/20 "2004-10-08T01:35:30Z")
Best. Reward Sequence. Ever. Behold, I am entertained. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-10-7-04/267844.md?page=2)