The Apprentice -- 4/8

Cafe Society
61

It’s Bill’s game at this point to win or lose, and he’d have to fuck up majorly to lose. Look at what we’ve seen of the last challenge so far:

Harder task? Bill. I mean, what was the quote from Kwame’s task? “A successful event, to me, is one where the artist is taken care of from beginning to end.” Period. ALL they have to do is keep the singer happy. That’s it. As far as we know, anyway. Meanwhile, Bill’s team is putting up signs, deciding where to place cars, making gift baskets, yadda yadda yadda.

Biggest problems so far? Kwame. Granted, Omarosa is a HUGE cause of them, but as has been pointed out, it’s Kwame’s fault she’s even around. I’d say that losing the one person you’re supposed to be taking care of is a bigger deal than a landlord who’s grumpy about a miscommunication.

Handling the problems best so far? Bill. As has been discussed to death already.

It’s a total no-brainer. Like I said, unless Bill manages to set the golf course on fire or something, he’s got it in the bag.

I also think he was far and away the best performer in the interviews. I would have liked to see more of that part, but he seemed to be the only one who was able to carry on an intelligent conversation in that situation.

Go Bill.

62

Omarossa is clearly a mole, but who is the other one?

63

Bill chose first, so he was going to get Omarosa - no way around that. However, he didn’t need to get Heidi & Omarosa together. (which is what he did by picking Omarosa third). That was a mistake. Bill’s pick of Katrina (which forced them together) was very well done.

However, in the suite, Kwame should have fired her. He, Troy, and Heidi alone are better than the three of them and her. And that he won’t fire her is showing him to be a bad leader. She’s not merely not performing, she’s out and out failing, she needs to go.

Favorite moment, though was Nick saying that he was “well spoken.” He always sounds like he’s auditioning for Harry the Horse. It was just sad and funny - more funny, though. The interviews were great.

64

My favorite moment was Donald basically telling George to shut up. (“Let me finish!”) And he did so. Instantly, And for the rest of the board meeting.

Omarosa said:

Oh. Dear. Lord.

65

I thought, after the candidates left the room, Donald would turn to George and say “And for interrupting me? You’re fired.”

66

Holy cow. Not to be snide, but did you folks just start watching the show last week or something? Yes, she is that stupid, she is that clueless, she is that passive-aggressive, she is that much of a pathological fuck-up. The woman has shown herself, without fail, week after week (and now even in her post-show exploits), to be a frighteningly deluded menace. You don’t think she would shrug off a task-related phone call if she was enjoying a nice dinner, and then lie about it later and try to make someone else look bad?!

I could certainly buy into the idea that Kwame’s and Bill’s crises last night were manufactured by the producers… but that Jessica Simpson snafu would’ve happened to whomever Kwame’s unlucky helper had been. The Big O was just able to put her trademark psychotic stamp on things.

By the way, does anyone else feel that Amy got totally railroaded last night? I think Trump went against his gut in firing her; she shines in every performance up until very recently, but because his employees don’t think she came across as any great shakes, he just throws up his hands and dumps her. What about that old bitch spitting out something spiteful about her “perfect white teeth”?
Real objective crew you’ve got there, Donald.

67

I was a little annoyed that Donald wouldn’t let George say his piece, but whatever it was it was probably edited out as superflous material.

I bet they will come out with a First Season DVD. And they better have the behind the scenes and editting room floor cuts and The Interviews-Uncut. I think the interviews would be far more fascinating than the tasks at hand. I bet I will buy it.

What I find interesting about Omarosa is the fact that she is married. Her husband must be completely delusional about her abilities or something. After watching his wife lie on TV ( and I don’t think she is incompetant, she cannot possibly act that well) how could he not doubt anything she says in the future.

68

I thought their assessments of Amy were right on. She’s a fairly good organizer, which tends to make her shine in simple, specific, and focused tasks, but she’s not a good facilitator, which is necessary for dealing with big picture ideas and other executives. She came across to the interviewers as shallow because she really doesn’t have a business philosophy. Plus, I think it is only right that Donald trusted their judgment. They’ve worked for him a long time.

69

I liked that they did an interview hurdle as part of what is billed as “the world’s longest job interview.” Although a job interview is on one level a completely bogus, superficial situation, it is a good way to gauge a person’s ability to think on his/her feet and to see what kind of first impression s/he makes – both things that have some relevance to a high-level job of the sort at stake here.

70

To expand on what Amarinth said, Kwame didn’t choose Omarosa. If he’d picked Heidi or Katrina as his second pick, who would Bill have picked next–Omarosa? Oh, hell no. Omarosa was going to be on Kwame’s team by virtue of Kwame having the last pick.

So Kwame could choose her second, or he could leave her as the last person standing. And he knows Omarosa: is she likely to be a petty vengeful bitch who would fuck him over if he chose her last? Oh, hell yes.

Since he was going to get her on his team anyway, it was pretty canny to choose her second, so that she wouldn’t be the last person picked and nursing a nasty grudge through the whole competition.

Arguably, he could’ve picked Katrina second and Omarosa last, thinking that the Heid-Omarosa hatred would be worse than an Omarosa grudge. But I think what he did was actually pretty smart.

As for firing her, I suspect that the job instructions Trump handed him precluded that. In fact, I suspect that he was given specific duty packets that had to be assigned to each team member: he had to put one employee in charge of admissions during the show, one person in charge of backstage management (picking all the green M&Ms out of Simpson’s bowl, etc.), and one employee in charge of logistics.

If duties were divided like this for him, that’d explain why he didn’t just say, “Omarosa, great to have you on my team. Here’s five dollars, go buy yourself some ice cream while the rest of us do the work. I’ve taken out a restraining order against you, so you’re not allowed to come within 500 feet of any of us.” Instead of doing that, he gave her what he probably thought was the least fuckuppable job: sending a driver to the airport to pick up the band and the rock star.

Never underestimate incompetence.

Daniel
pissed that he’s gotten sucked into this show

71

I think I can speak for the entire country, regardless of party affiliation or feelings toward President Bush, Senator Kerry, or Mr. Nader, that we can all unite behind the idea that Omarosa is the worst conceivable presidential candidate. I honestly cannot think of another American citizen who I would not vote for over her.

In fact, I’m not sure I can think of a single American mammal who I wouldn’t prefer. Some trees, bushes, and fungi are looking pretty good too.

72

That makes sense, but as messed up as she is, I don’t think she would’ve reacted that way. Her way of thinking is to not admit or even recognize others’ disgust with her. She’d put that phony smile on and pretend that everyone still liked her- even a team leader who hadn’t wanted her.
Omarosa is pathologically destructive, and she’ll cling to anyone who hasn’t gotten into an out-and-out arguement with her.

73

Yes, you were needlessly snide. Read the substance of my second post.

No, Amy didn’t get “totally railroaded” last night. Listen again to the substance of what Trump’s senior executives said. The “perfect white teeth” remark was just their end-of-discussion rimshot, their slamdunk. I’m sure plenty was left on the editing room floor. Amy appeared to them as an empty suit, certainly not worthy of commanding a large complex organization. Doing business is partly about building relationships. Amy just rubbed too many people the wrong way. That said, she has a bright, bright future.

Kwame–not Asaroma–is to blame for his team’s problems. He could have marginalized the Crazy Bitch, but all he could muster when he discovered her (staged) treachery was a barely whispered: “You’re silly.”

Sadly, the Harvard MBA Who Looks Good on Paper has no balls, which I’m guessing is the absolute kiss of death with Trump. I mean, hell, you choose a conniving teamwrecker and then give her the rope to hang your entire team? Trump had already said Asaroma was a disaster and rubbed people the wrong way. The male event head said that pleasing Jessica Simpson was Job #1. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. Worse than having no balls, then, Kwame has terrible judgment, delegates poorly, avoids confrontations, and doesn’t learn from past mistakes. His hands-off approach may work in other settings, but doesn’t cut it in Trump’s rough-and-tumble world.

As another poster said, what really galls me is that, once again, there we find Kwame wining and dining in a four-star restaurant while the other team is scrambling like hell.

A last thought: Isn’t anyone surprised that neither Troy nor Heidi jumped down Heidi’s throat when they discovered her bullshit lie? Neither person is a shrinking violet, even if they aren’t project managers. My guess is that Trump’s handlers have given both clear instructions as to not interfering with Asaroma.

74

I’ve already erased the DVR, but I thought Bill picked last.

75

No – Heidi was the last person picked, and the camera focused on her humiliated smile for a couple of seconds so all us nerds could have uncomfortable flashbacks to fourth-grade gym class.

Again, Kwame didn’t pick Omarosa: he just chose WHEN to pick her. And I’m not even convinced that he had the option to marginalize her: his several comments about how much he would’ve liked to fire her made it come off like the rules prevented ditching a team member. It’s quite possible that he gave her the least important (or, rather, least difficult) assignment possible, thinking that she couldn’t screw up something so simple.

Daniel

76

Is she? I’ve known plenty of single women who have taken both parents’ last names, so that’s not necessarily proof.

If she is married, that guy must be the most P-whipped man ever born. He’d have to say to her every night, “of course you’re right, dear. All those other women are crazy/racist/whatever and can’t handle a strong woman such as yourself.”

77

Slam dunk, my ass. It was one business woman’s typical catty response to another who’s obviously smart and extremely capable.

My point, Carnac, was that as much faith as Trump obviously has in these associates of his, he seemed to uncharacteristically set aside his own personal conviction of Amy’s worth after witnessing it week after week. Take as many consultations as you want, but for a supposedly shoot-from-the-hip, go-with-your-gut kind of larger than life leader as Trump (or at least the persona he works to cultivate), the move struck me as oddly ballless.

78

I agree that Kwame was getting Omarosa by virtue of having the last pick. I think maybe he was counting on Bill not taking Katrina because of their unpleasant history together. Having Heidi and Omarosa back on the same team was probably not his first choice, but to Kwame’s credit, he did seem to do a reasonable job of keeping the two of them separate.

Delegating Omarosa the organizational tasks also was not necessarily the worst call - neither Troy nor Heidi have much patience with that, and Omarosa has shown some skill in that area. It also has the least people contact, which is good.

I suspect that they re-edited this episode after Omarosa started making noise off the show. To show that the reason she was fired was not because
“Trump and his cracker Klan company can’t handle a strong black woman who speaks her mind,” but because she’s a delusional and incompetent psychotic who can’t be trusted to organize a deck of cards.

79

Yup, she’s definitely married.

Her husband has never actually been seen in public, though.

'Nuff said.

80

Well put! We must all remember to concentrate on The Shallow on this board!