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Archive through December 20, 2004

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Apprentice II: Episode 12/16/04 - FINALE - (Spoiler needed!!!): Archive through December 20, 2004 users admin

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Carlito
Member

03-26-2004

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 9:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Gen for the link.Maybe a sign of things to come where we the people say enough to all this staged reality stuff.This season was definately staged and scripted.Penguin chic you are so right in that it glorified all the negative behavior of corporate america and the petty politics, lying and manipulation that goes on.
Dont get me wrong,i liked the concept of the apprentice but i find the staging and scripting to be disgusting and insulting.I would love to see the best and brightest compete on a level playing field and have a true winner determined by objective results.Not have a coronation based on scripting and pre determined tasks that culminate with a fixed coronation of the person chosen and presented as the most popular.Its like the question the executive asked,would you rather be feared or liked by your subordinates.If you choose either answer you're dead if you do and dead if you dont.What you want to be is respected.You have to earn that respect by what you do and how you do something.
Trump and the producers need to wake up and stop presenting the public as a bunch of brain dead zombies who will watch such farces as this season.

Pinkgrrl
Member

12-15-2004

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 9:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Mssilhouette -- your post should be required reading for any reality viewer: it was insightful, hilarious and dead-on. Thanks for the perfect recap!

Mssilhouette
Member

07-11-2001

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 9:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Finale Fiasco - Part 2

I’ve gathered myself enough (read: ate hot food) to discuss the burning wreckage that was the live Finale.

My first question is: was this put live finale a task for the contestants of season 3? Because it sure seemed like a lot of first timer errors going on.

Let’s start with Trump and the camera when he finally reveals the audience. Wasn’t he supposed to be looking directly into the camera? I realize the camera couldn’t be directly in front of him, but shouldn’t he have turned his head enough to actually look at us.

So they pan the crowd everyone looks as if they’re the ones going for an interview. Seemed like they all picked business suits and skirts. Then we get to listen to the fawning and gushing and Trump calls out the host Regis in an impromptu but scripted moment.

If we haven’t already turned the channel, Trump showing mastery over all, directs Regis like he’s an usher boy at a theater and Regis hops to it. Pardon me but is Regis on Trump’s payroll or something? So we're treated to Regis hopping around from planted audience member to the next asking their opinion on who they'd like. This is necessary because Trump needs help in making decisions because all CEO and leaders need input from randomly chosen people with scripted comments to make a final decision.

We hear from a slew of people all jumping on the Super-Apprentice Kelly bandwagon. Leader...blah blah blah...he has the qualities...blah blah blah. We already know this song and our feet hurt from the dance.

Kelly humbly smiles and Jen looks as if someone told her that her dog died and then a truck backed over it. After the 3rd or 29th person gushed over Kelly, Jen should have just flashed a smile and panned for the cameras. Make a show of it, because no one likes a sourpuss especially when she dished out worse in the boardroom.

In the history of all reality shows, this had to be biggest stacked deck ever. Trump also didn't make the blow any easier for her by bringing in his executives to also delivery their rehearsed lines. One Chief Officer of Stage Fright froze in the spotlight and only managed to jab Jen once, but he was a sharp witted one. “Me no likey Jen…UGH!”

There's an old saying that goes: Don't dish it out if you can't take it…and what comes around goes around...and stop that before someone puts an eye out.

The other two apply to Jen, while she did defend herself in the boardroom of the past, she did it in a highly argumentative and frankly kinda nasty manner. I think at the finale she was getting a taste of that medicine and boy was it bitter! But hey you take those chances when you apply on the dotted line. I'm sure there's an abject humiliation clause in the Apprentice contract.

I do think it was really bad form of the producers not to at least give ample time to the Jen fans and friends.

In the end it was Kelly all the way. Even with Jen trying her best to interrupt and argue her way to a job, Trump wasn't having it. Well at least not unless ratings were involved and at that point I think even he was tired of the teasing and over processed anticipation.

With a final 3 second pause...Trump fired Jen and hired Kelly. Was it over then? Oh heck no we still had about 10 more minutes of mind numbing droning to go through while they pretended Kelly had a choice of where to work.

Las Vegas at a casino that's not even under construction, heck the original casino is still there.

Or in New York where the buildings are already underway and he'll have the same type of job Bill has....showroom boy for apartments in Trump's tower.

Of the few bright spots, the preview of The Contender looked interesting...I still want to know who thinks that an actor (i use the term loosely) who played boxer is qualified to judge people who box. That's like sending Arnold to lead a conference about cyborgs.

We also were treated to a preview of Apprentice 3 where its' brain vs brawn...oops Book smart vs street smart. Interesting concept, except that I'm sure the "street" people has some college experience but never finished.

So I predict Apprentice 4 will be Blacks (hair) vs Blondes or Tall vs Short or some other asinine combination. But it looks as if we’ll be treated to another round of commercials disguised as tasks. In the flash of business on Apprentice 3, I saw burger king. I see a new design for the Whopper…I’m thinking a GLOBE! Globe burgers….Yeah that’s cool!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a side note: I really hadn't planned to write so much. Who knew I was that annoyed.
To those who enjoyed my rant: I was happy to provide a little fun.

To those who didn't enjoy it: sorry to make you scroll so long :-)
}

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 11:31 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
great recap Mssilhouette! It was far better than that 3 hours of TV! (thankfully I had taped it and was able to FF thru a lot)

I wasn't rooting for either one, but I do think it was horrible the way Jen was treated during the live portion. All the Kelly praising and Jen bashing.

What I found to be the worst - is when Trump made his decision. He was totally making it seem like Jen was the winner by listing the negatives of Kelly (not sure if he's a leader, etc...) and then turns to Jen and looks as if he's going to say "You're hired!", and she even gives a little smile, and then the 3 second pause and "You're Fired!". My jaw dropped along with hers.
I thought that was really mean!!

Last year he didn't do that. He just did "You're Hired".
He went on to give Jen lots of praise, but that was after a good hour of her being "thrown under the bus".

I liked when he spoke with the fired group.
At least he told Stacy J "Say no more. You were terrific. And they all know it".

But when he was talking to Jen C about "her comment", she gave the same ole' babble that she's not prejudice, yadda, yadda, yadda (I have still not ever heard her actually apologize).
He then said "We all think you're terrific - we don't believe a word of what you say". (was that a dig?)
He then looks at Jen M. and said "I just want to say that Jennifer you are terrific. You have really played well , you're tough, you're smart, you're going to be a very very successful person".
Jen C right away says "Thank you very much Mr. Trump". and then she realizes the comment was directed to Jen M and her face is like OMG!
I was ROTFLMAO!

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 2:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I figure that little booboo shows us all how "in shock" Jen was. Her mind probably was almost in shutdown mode.

DT seemed to take pleasure in tormenting Jen before saying YOURE FIRED. GAK!!

OH and thx to the Troy update. SIGH, still cant pick out a college says to me that he doesnt want to take a chance on being a mediocre student. Wasnt he the guy who borrowed some money and started some kind of a financial lending company when just out of school?? His 'trust me' personality really lucked him out with the public.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 5:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
great recap Mssilhouette! It was far better than that 3 hours of TV!

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 8:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I wish we could have Apprentice 1 again, just with different high caliber apprentice candidates and different tasks.

Omarosa was on camera WAY too much during the finale.

I like Regis. But I didn't like him much on this show.

I have no hope for Ap. 3 being any good. Maybe Trump and Burnett will get wind of how disappointing Ap 2 was and get back to basics for Ap 4.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 9:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think they knew A2 sucked and that is why they rushed to do A3 so quickly.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 10:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
MisSil....loved your recap!!!! too funny!

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 10:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think they should add another twist to the A3:

get rid of someone from BOTH teams each week (kind of like RW/RR Battles of the Sexes)

THat would also keep it true to "book smart" vs "street smart". Because if one of the teams kills at the beginning, then are they going to move people to the other team - like they've been doing to even it out.

Plus, it would cut down on the amount of "infomercials" ...uh, I mean episodes that we have to watch

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 11:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Mis Sil...I am printing your 2 part recap and taking it to work, it was too funny!!

Jodied75
Member

08-26-2004

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 4:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My two cents:

I seriously thought there would be a twist at the end and DT would fire both of them, saying neither was good enough. In real life he wouldn't just hire the best of a bad bunch; he'd keep looking.

Things that turned my stomach this season:

All the commercialism. Every show featured a different product, and I wonder just how much DT, MB et al are making from the sponsors. At least in season one there were just a few products (remember Chicken soup eppy? In S2 it would have been prominently Campbell's or something), and they also focused on many aspects of business, it wasn't all marketing like this season.

The Women - UGH. They made me cringe. All of them. Actually only Stacie J garnered any respect from me, even if she was a little odd in the eightball incident.

Did anyone notice Lil' Stacy hardly said a word in the last task, and she said nothing at all at the reunion? The motormouth who was called out for yapping too much? Wonder what happened.

Regis - another UGH. Season one seemed more original and really about business. What does Regis have to do with anything?

The worst thing: Donald Trump himself. What is with all the bronze makeup and THAT HAIR? And his smarmy oily attitude is just gross. Never in a million years would his girlfriend be with him if he weren't rich. Who wants to bet she has a big pre-nup to sign, and he will conveniently split from her before it expires, like he did Marla?

One thing I liked this season: Carolyn K. I love her attitude, and I liked that she was more vocal and funny this time around. Remember when she was crying from laughing so hard watching the guys "help" the designer pick out fabric? She seemed more real this time, unlike the just stern fembot she was last time.

I also have to admit I loved Raj. He was over the top, but he was so funny.

Did anyone else wonder why nothing was ever said about Jennifer M taking credit for Ivana's idea? I thought that was very strange, especially for Ivana to stay quiet. That does not seem in character for her. Why did nobody call Jen out?

Like someone else said, it seems doubtful DT will ever hire anyone without post-secondary education. So why keep up the pretense? Sandy should have beat Jen M in final 2. I hope next season will be different. And thank god it's not men against women again!

sorry about that...

Weinermr
Member

08-18-2001

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 5:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
That's right, this is not truly a Trump job interview process, this is a TV show. With all the attendant hype and hoopla. We've seen who Donald Trump has working for him in management positions. It's not the Bill Rancics, the Kellys, or the Jens of the world. And it's surely not the Omarosas.

Tabbyking
Member

03-11-2002

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 9:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
"Of the few bright spots, the preview of The Contender looked interesting...I still want to know who thinks that an actor (i use the term loosely) who played boxer is qualified to judge people who box. That's like sending Arnold to lead a conference about cyborgs."

love the arnold comment/analogy!!!! i think sending him to our state capital is about the same thing...

as a further aside, i find it funny that the lieutenant governor is considered the 'acting governor' of our state. does this mean we have two 'acting governors'? LOL

Babyboo
Member

06-16-2003

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 11:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
As far as Regis Philbin, i think they needed him to host because DT is not good at that sort of thing, He is a business man, not an mc.

Hootyhoot
Member

12-18-2001

Sunday, December 19, 2004 - 7:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
But couldn't they get Kelly Ripa? Or Ellen DeGeneres?

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Sunday, December 19, 2004 - 9:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I finally sat thru the finale last night, and have one word: Excruciating. Three hours? Regis Philbin? Kelly love-fest? Totally and completely excruciating.

I get that MAYBE they needed an MC? But REE-GIS? (Sorry, he is on my major dislike list.) The Kelly love fest? Gag. I thought he WAS a robot. And I also think he's gonna just majorly die when he realizes he's a glorified salesperson for Trump's new building. (Note, too, he's gonna have much less time in the limelight as "The Apprentice" as the next one begins airing so soon. Heeheehee!)

But mostly... three hours for that? That was ridiculous. NBC is really REALLY scrambling trying to get their ratings back up. This season was not a "must see" season for The Apprentice to begin with. To cap off the season with a three hour finale was just ridiculous. The "fake" bits were ridiculous, too (although I did feel a smidgeon of pity for the COO who froze in front of the camera).

Excruciating.

Konamouse
Member

07-16-2001

Sunday, December 19, 2004 - 10:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Just a clarification of the Las Vegas project. Accord to our local news, this is suppose to be a high rise hotel/condo property - there will not be any casino. It will be built on the empty lot behind the New Frontier (an area being used as a parking lot for Venetian Grand Canal Shop employees right now). 1000 hotel rooms and 50 apartments (but apartment owners can put their units up for 'rent'). This is a big deal now in Las Vegas. High rise, high rent luxury apartments (Turnberry Towers, for example) with all the amenities (concierge, limo service, etc).

'squeek'

Mssilhouette
Member

07-11-2001

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 2:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks for clarifying that Kona, kinda sounds worse. I was wondering why he said Casino when his other one in Atlantic City is bankrupt.

Apprentice has become an hour long
Reali-merical and i fear it's only going to get worse. My kingdom for a task that involves something besides marketing. Perhaps fund raising (like Season 1) or company mergers..something hell anything but selling candy bars and toothpaste.



Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 7:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
16.9 million watch Apprentice 2 finale, fewer than last season's clip show.
The ridiculous overextended, audience-centered, cheesy, moronic three-hour finale of The Apprentice 2 backfired on NBC -- and not just among disappointed critics and fans. The show was watched by an average of 16.9 million viewers, 40 percent fewer than the average of 28 million who watched last season's finale. It "did not snag even as many viewers as had an 'Apprentice' clip show from the first edition. That show nailed 17.5 million viewers last spring and was the smallest Thursday audience for the show last season," The Washington Post reports. Worse, a rerun of CSI beat the second hour, which of course is when Donald Trump gave up control and let Regis take over. Get your rubber boots on, because NBC's press release about the finale spins these numbers in hilarious ways. It points out that the episode won "every Thursday half-hour in adults 18-49 and winning the night in all key demographics and total viewers," "gave NBC its highest Thursday primetime average since premiere week and its largest overall viewer total (excluding Olympics) since the May 13 finale of 'Frasier,'" and was "the highest-rated finale for an unscripted series in adults 18-49 since the finale of 'American Idol' on May 26 of last season." An updated press release says the show "generated a total audience of more than 30 million viewers who watched all or some of the telecast."

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/

Dalm_dad
Member

07-06-2004

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 9:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
You know, it just seems like everytime the network puts on a load of crap like this and we say when will the public rebel, the public does not rebel.

Pretty scary.

Dalm aka Steve.

Mssilhouette
Member

07-11-2001

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 9:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
"unscrpited series"...HA Now that's an oxymoron.

Jasper
Member

09-14-2000

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 10:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    

quote:

"unscrpited series"...HA Now that's an oxymoron.




My sentiments exactly, thank goodness for fastforward, dh and I were able to watch this three hour I am The Donald show in a bout an hour and fifteen.

As for AIII, I'll reserve judgement until I see a couple of excerpts, this wasn't for the most part a bad season, wasn't as good as the first, and I wish they would lose all the huge companies involvment and go back to selling lemonade.

Lexie_girl
Member

07-30-2004

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 12:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm with you 100% Jasper. I loved this show when they had to perform their own challenges on the street (so to speak). Corporations participating in challenges does nothing for me. I miss the selling of lemonade on street.

Jasper
Member

09-14-2000

Monday, December 20, 2004 - 12:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
It did seem like one big product placement and pat on the back for Donald. lol at Donald with all his where I am now stuff, don't get me wrong his new Vegas building is impressive, but I don't care. And is he going to patent his new phrase "you're terrific" I lost count how many times he said that.