The Apprentice -- 3/20/06

It’s delicious! Microwaved with a plop of peanutbutter mixed in. As a cold cereal it’s just okay, but much better than original Grape Nuts.

I guess at some point this was going to happen. Brent seemed to figure out Synergy’s M.O. and was happy to be marginalized, then scoot on Easy Street.

Having said that, Tammy sucked. How bad could Brent have been presenting? Granted, he ain’t eye candy, but he is able to string together words competently. She could have assigned him a few words. She would have gotten props for managing Brent.

I fucking hate Mandrea. Real classy, your “I’m a multimillionaire and you earn $50,000 a year” comment. Tacky bitch. Brent’s late - so she decides to pick a fight there and then? What a Heather. And the gasping when someone had the audacity to suggest that Tammy was a better manager than her? Mine eyes doth roll…

DrF has it right. Brent drew attention to himself by going on the offensive and his ridiculous hyperbole. Tammy treated you like an ass but you couldn’t come up with a better term than “stank?” He could have busted out with a diatribe on lookism or the discrimination he experienced as A Person Of Size (thanks, Southwest Airlines). I also disliked that he lied and said that Tammy said he was too fat to present. He could certainly think that was the reason he was marginalized, and say that.

Well, I figured that after that ghastly botched presentation, Sean had signed his own death warrant – till Brent went for the jugular when he hadn’t even crossed Trump’s horizon. I got the impression that Ivanka really, really, REALLY didn’t like him, either; and since she could eviscerate him with impunity and without interruption, it was quite enjoyable to watch her do it.

I just wish I could stop being embarrassed on everyone’s behalf at the presentations. Because while the materials themselves may be fine, the presentations are invariably cringeworthy.

Really? Watching people make asses of themselves is the attraction of these shows for me. :wink:

Tammy didn’t say that though, and Sean backed her up on that point. What she said is that for a product like Grape Nuts, it would be best to have a presenter who is physically fit.

I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I’m with her on this point. I’d say the same thing about someone with a sallow complexion, or who was utterly emaciated. There may be some products for which Brent would be an effective pitchman, but for healthy cereal, he’d be less than ideal.

Also, I don’t think their concept was horrible; it just wasn’t all that good. It’s possible that they did discuss the lackluster concept, but that this was simply edited out. Let’s not be hasty, folks. Let’s not be quick to assume that they placed all the blame on Brent alone.

Like it or not, he was a disruptive influence. I think they had a legitimate grievance against him, even if he wasn’t the primary reason why they lost this particular task. Couple that with his obnoxious behavior in the boardroom, and I think that dismissing him was an entirely reasonable decision.

I agree with some of that, but not all.

Yeah, her comment about Brent’s income was uncalled for. One’s income level is not a measure of one’s ability to contribute. And it was certainly inappropriate for her to act outraged that someone thought Tammy was a better manager.

Having said that, I don’t see that she was specifically picking a fight with Brent. Rather, they were in a hurry, and Brent was dragging along. I don’t think that was a situation where an extra measure of diplomacy would have accomplished very much.

But how does it compare to corned beef hash with three poached eggs?

I’ve already forgotten the boardroom sequence, but it looked like Trump engineered Brent’s firing. There were a few questions about the graphic design and the slogan, and Trump dumped on Sean (anybody else think he looks like Billy Zane?) for the lousy presentation.

But no one was blaming Brent for anything.

When it looked like Brent might not be the whipping boy this week, Trump started asking them how he did. You could just see the lights go on in their heads. “Hey, Trump doesn’t like this guy either. Remember last task, and the task before that, when Trump called him a disaster?” Hmmmmm.

The Brent finished himself off, with the stank and smell and general crudeness. What an oaf.

Auntie Pam - If I recall correctly, Trump asked Brent abount Andrea’s leadership, as he’d asked everyone else. Brent said she “stank”, and that he could still smell her over there. He sank himself before anyone else had a chance to jump on the boat, although they all did, rightly seeing him as Trump’s chosen prey.

StG

Ok commentary in no particular order:

  • Charmaine - there’s no crying in The Apprentice. Get over yourself.

  • What was up with the snuggle bugs in the loft? Did I accidentally flip over to Real World 46?

  • Brent - when no one addresses you in the boardroom you have to keep your fool mouth shut! Not that I’m sad you’re gone. And you really should work on those insults before you try to use them. They’re a bunch of… people… who aren’t very good… and smelly… buh?

I agree.

I disagree. True, they had a legitimate grievance against him, but suck it up and compete, people. Granted, they all act like a bunch of whiny maggots, but he had nothing to do with losing the task- that was the fault of Ms. Multi-millions. Although his boardroom behavior was obnoxious, that alone doesn’t create a business failure- they’re being led by the most obnoxious boob of them all. I think he should have been kept around until he legitimately crashed and burned.

He did legitamitely crash and burn… in the boardroom. If he would have kept his gaping maw shut there’s no way he would have been fired.

I’ve got to agree with Slacker on this one – he went on the offensive at the wrong moment. Trump was already thinking “no one likes this guy” – and Brent chose that moment to pipe up and a) emphasize that point, and b) make it clear why.

His saying “plenty of people like me” was, as Trump pointed out, completely irrelevant – if the people he has to work with at this particular time don’t like him, that’s an actual, business problem. I don’t necessarily like all my coworkers, but when it’s active dislike, it really does cause problems.

See, I don’t think we can say that he had nothing to do with their loss. Someone who’s a distraction, a negative influence and a general leech on morale can deeply hinder a team’s effectiveness, either in subtle or in overt ways.

He was by no means the primary reason why they lost this task (that would be their concept), nor was he the secondary or tertiary reasons (their casting and their graphic design). But could they have produced better work if he wasn’t around, or if he had proven himself to be a better contributor? Possibly so.

That is an accurate summary and assessment.

Oh, I dunno. I kinda like Lenny. I think it would be funny if Trump hired someone who appeared to have Russian Mafia connections!

I agree with JThunder. Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. Brent’s summary dismissal was the right decision at the right time. I tend to pull for the underdog, but Brent was no underdog. My opinion: he is one of those people who attempts to capitalize on perceptions that he helps create. He wants people to dislike him. He feeds off the energy. It’s a coping mechanism that he discovered at a young age. He’s like the old bag lady around these parts who rides her electric wheelchair into traffic, snarls at people, and screams obscenities around kids. Any negative reaction to her is met with a smarmy and snarling accusation that you hate her just because she’s “a cripple”.

Although the end result of this week was Brent being fired, I think they went about it in completely the wrong way. What if they had won this week?

They should have been unanimous in their support for Brent as Project Manager, and given him a great effort. If it ended badly, as I think we can all agree it would have, Brent takes the fall. If not, then maybe the team could come to some sort of detente as far as he’s concerned, and come away that much stronger.

Ah. The Sam Solovey gambit.

So Brent’s gonna show up at the finale with a Samsonite(R) suitcase stuffed with cash?