Apprentice: Martha Stewart and Apprentice season 4 discussions

[jbmagic]

Apprentice season 4 with donald trump starts Thursday night.

"A battle in the fitness business." Episode #401.
The teams battle it out in the fitness business; the winning manager deals with a new ``exemption'' rule and the first candidate is fired."



and Apprentice 1: Martha Stewart starts Tonight Wednesday.

"Once Upon a Time"
The 16 candidates divide into two teams and each must rewrite a classic fairy tale, making the stories relevant to modern children."

[Galaxy]

A terrible show I thought.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

A terrible show I thought.

Eh. I had low expectations, so it was better than I thought. I was just going to watch this one to give it a shot, but now I'm going to watch at least one more.

[Lorena]

I really enjoyed Martha's Apprentice... she seems more personable with the contestants than The Donald.

I'm definitely gonna give this show a shot

[Raiders Army]

One of the new Donald apprentices was a stripper.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

One of the new Donald apprentices was a stripper.

I'm curious, which one?

[Raiders Army]

SEPTEMBER 12--The newest season of NBC's "The Apprentice" doesn't debut until next week, but we've already made our pick for Donald Trump's next flunky. Meet Alla Wartenberg, whose network bio describes her as a 31-year-old Russian expat who has made millions running a chain of Las Vegas spas. Left off Alla's online c.v. is her work at the Palomino Club, a Sin City strip joint where the female talent works topless and bottomless. Wartenberg (nee Kosova) once hustled $40 lap dances under the pseudonym Ecstasy (just "X" to her friends). It was during her Palomino days that Wartenberg developed a "pretty platonic relationship" with a regular named Robert Acremant, a California businessman who would pay her between $500-1500 (and sometimes more) for an evening's worth of dances and company in the private Lipstick Lounge. She occasionally would have dinner with Acremant, who once gave her a pair of diamond earrings and also provided Wartenberg with about $500 to gamble. It was this courtship of Wartenberg, investigators would later contend, that drove a desperate Acremant--who needed money to spend on his favorite Vegas stripper--to plot the 1995 robbery of two Oregon women. That attempted heist ended with Acremant killing the duo. He also murdered Scott George, a California friend, in a second botched 1995 robbery bid. Convicted in the slayings, Acremant has been sentenced to death in both California and Oregon, where he is currently imprisoned. According to investigators, Acremant considered Wartenberg his girlfriend, while she saw him as nothing more than a cash machine, a pleasant mark with whom she shared her phone number, but no intimacies. According to Wartenberg, during Acremant's last Vegas visit, in December 1995, he pulled a handgun and stun gun on her as they were parked in a car. As she testified in August 2002 at Acremant's trial for the George killing, he was "panicking and freaking out, telling me that he, you know, he was very upset with me because I never loved him. I just used him for money." Wartenberg escaped unscathed, though she told jurors she was left "emotionally injured and scarred for life" by Acremant, who "led me to believe that he was either in the mob or...one of those big business guys, FBI, I don't know." Below you'll find excerpts from her Tulare County Superior Court testimony, during which Wartenberg spoke of her stripper days and her killer client.

Courtesy of The Smoking Gun: hxxp://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0912051alla1.html

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

I really enjoyed Martha's Apprentice... she seems more personable with the contestants than The Donald.

I'm definitely gonna give this show a shot

I found the tasks and Martha's personality boring.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Courtesy of The Smoking Gun: hxxp://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0912051alla1.html

That is going to be interesting. I wonder how much will come during the show?

[Solecismic]

Just a clone of the Trump version. I think NBC is making a huge mistake putting these on back to back. The show was weakening already.

Casting still looks ridiculously bad.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Just a clone of the Trump version. I think NBC is making a huge mistake putting these on back to back. The show was weakening already.

Casting still looks ridiculously bad.

Yeap...

I know Trump had a much bigger hand in selecting the people this year. Hope it works. I think that he needs to expand the show, and diverse the tasks more. Maybe send them to other countries (see how the deal with foreign customers, markets, customers, ect).

[Galaxy]

Casting and tasks looks weak again...

[Raiders Army]

I'd give this show a chance. Trump picked 17 out of 18 of the people playing this time. (No clue on who the producers picked to be #18)

It wasn't a bad first episode, and probably stronger than the past two seasons. At least the PM wasn't fired and the right person was.

[bob]

My thoughts one the Trump Apprentice:

1) The run to the helicopter part was pretty stupid. Doesn't have jack shit to do with business.

2) Task was kinda boring, and we didn't get a good idea of what the guys did wrong to only win by $11 given the fact that they had a much better location and didn't have the XXX thing in their ad.

3) My big complaint on this show has always been editing - they show the guys looking fairly successful, the women looking bad, yet it is still REALLY close. Why?

4) The PM was lucky that the other women all hated the girl who got fired. Otherwise, she would have been gone.

[Galaxy]

I guess it was better then the last two. I just don't get the same feel of the quality of the first season. They need to capture the original qualitifications and diversity of the tasks from that season.

I felt the guy's PM was creepy in a weird way.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I found the tasks and Martha's personality boring.

I don't find her boring, just not as charismatic as The Donald. As far as the task is concerned, I enjoyed watching that New York, tough looking guy reading to the kids.

Melissa on Donald's Apprentice was a disgrace to the Latino community, I'm so glad she's outta there.

[Solecismic]

I'm tired of the project manager always being the one in danger, not that Kristi seemed to have half a brain. Now that there've been a few of these shows, and everyone knows Trump likes to fire the project manager, surprise, no one but the dimwittiest want to do it early in the game.

The game is corrupt. It's no longer even remotely about leadership skills. It's more about middle-management butt-kissing skills. Trump is looking for an executive ass-bussing specialist, not a true apprentice.

Meanwhile, Kendra has done a fine job renovating the living room in Trump's Florida mansion. I believe she may take on the kitchen next year.

Who would cast Melissa? Just an egomaniac loudmouth who admittedly doesn't get along with anyone? What's the point? That wasn't good television, unless you enjoy stupid people getting a come-uppance.

[rkmsuf]

I heard the ratings on the Martha show tanked.

Kind of figures. Competing in business = somewhat interesting. Competing in doilies = teh suck.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Kind of figures. Competing in business = somewhat interesting. Competing in doilies = teh suck.

LOL

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I'm tired of the project manager always being the one in danger, not that Kristi seemed to have half a brain. Now that there've been a few of these shows, and everyone knows Trump likes to fire the project manager, surprise, no one but the dimwittiest want to do it early in the game.

The game is corrupt. It's no longer even remotely about leadership skills. It's more about middle-management butt-kissing skills. Trump is looking for an executive ass-bussing specialist, not a true apprentice.

Meanwhile, Kendra has done a fine job renovating the living room in Trump's Florida mansion. I believe she may take on the kitchen next year.

Who would cast Melissa? Just an egomaniac loudmouth who admittedly doesn't get along with anyone? What's the point? That wasn't good television, unless you enjoy stupid people getting a come-uppance.

i think it better if each teaml have to pick out of a bag to see who the next project manager is. this way no one can wait to be a project manager at the end.


or each team has to pick the project manager for the opposite team they want.

[bob]

To be honest with you, the task on the Martha one wasn't too different from previous tasks on the Donald one... Creating a childrens book is close to creating a children's toy, which was a task (I think the first one) for the 2nd season of the Donald.

[Galaxy]

How would you re-structure the show, tasks?

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

How would you re-structure the show, tasks?

Good question. I agree that there needs to be better task that deal more directly with business skills. I like the "renovation" task where they have a budget, a time limit, and they must make the best use of resources to make something more valuable/marketable.

[Ksyrup]

FYI:

At 8 p.m., "Destination: Lost" (15.3 million, 5.9/17) got ABC off to a good start and made things inordinately more difficult for NBC's heavily promoted "Apprentice" hosted by Stewart (7.1 million, 2.3/7). Still, the lack of a turnout for the opening salvo of Stewart's "Apprentice" bodes badly for the series; many in the industry had predicted sizable ratings for at least the first few episodes of the series, if only for the curiosity factor.

There was no silver lining at all for Fox in the 9 p.m. hour, as the new drama "Head Cases" (3.1 million, 1.2/3) sank to cancellation territory in what proved to be its final airing.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

FYI:

At 8 p.m., "Destination: Lost" (15.3 million, 5.9/17) got ABC off to a good start and made things inordinately more difficult for NBC's heavily promoted "Apprentice" hosted by Stewart (7.1 million, 2.3/7). Still, the lack of a turnout for the opening salvo of Stewart's "Apprentice" bodes badly for the series; many in the industry had predicted sizable ratings for at least the first few episodes of the series, if only for the curiosity factor.

There was no silver lining at all for Fox in the 9 p.m. hour, as the new drama "Head Cases" (3.1 million, 1.2/3) sank to cancellation territory in what proved to be its final airing.

"Head Cases" was cancelled? Not really surprised except the plug was pulled so quick. It was a show I wanted to like, but it was very poorly written. Very poorly.

[Solecismic]

What I'd do is start with fewer contestants and go with teams of three. Tasks would then be created that would require team leads to use both of their teammates.

Lately, many of the tasks are PM-only - where the initial decisions shape everything, and there's very little for the rest of the team to do other than pass out flyers.

Now, really, does a CEO ever tell his managers to pass out flyers?

Martha looks like a failure. I wouldn't be surprised to see it lose 33% of its audience next week. That catch-phrase is more representative of a sorority than a real business. It makes "You're faiard" look kind in comparison.

[Young Drachma]

What's Martha's catchphrase?

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

What's Martha's catchphrase?

Kiss my ASS your gone!!!

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Kiss my ASS your gone!!!

ROFL

Right. If that was her catchphrase, her ratings would've gone up.

"This is what I learned in pound me in the ass prison, bitch."

[ShaqFu]

I liked the Martha version. She really isn't looking for a corporate executive like Trump. She is looking for the creative/artistic director type. I think the guy she has as her sidekick is pretty cool. Her daughter seems too stuffy.

I'm curious. How is new Martha's daytime show doing. It is so much better than the old one. She seems much more personable now. I like it.

Caveat, I am a Martha fan to begin with.

Donald Trump's version of the show will be good this year too. I can't wait to see Carolyn have the job of firing someone. I think that could be one nasty firing.

[Young Drachma]

Jail probably made her personable.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Kiss my ASS your gone!!!

LOLOLOLOL! Good one JB

[HomerJSimpson]

Martha's daughter is sorta hot.

[Galaxy]

Anyone going to watch tonight? The task is going to based on marketing for Lamborghini.

[Airhog]

I would so bone marth stweart. I bet sh'd make me wear a vinyl mask, and whip me like the bad boy I really am

[Galaxy]

Man, the presentations both suck.

[DaddyTorgo]

people actually watch these ridiculous shows?? Gawddd...reality TV has SO jumped the shark.

[Thomkal]

Not naming names here in case people haven't seen it yet.

I thought it was an interesting decision on who to fire this week when he had the same situation as last week basically-a leader who screwed up and a person the rest of the team disliked. Sucked that he picked the leader this week, because I can't stand the guy he kept.

[Solecismic]

SPOILERS BELOW (Don't read if you're going to watch tonight)


It wasn't the same situation, though. Melissa from last week was constantly disruptive and put her teammates down in front of potential customers and in front of the Trumpette.

Markus was marginalized right from the start this week, and turned out to have genuine insight that his team leader was making a bad move, vocalized it and was ignored.

In Kristi's case, sticking with just taking Melissa into the boardroom was insightful, a show of strength. She had a reason to focus on Melissa.

In Chris' case, he singled out Markus for purely personal reasons. It was a weak move, showing an inability to analyze the failure of the task. Chris was a good frat boy, and a poor businessman.

While Markus is not likeable and couldn't possibly win because he doesn't foster respect, so far he has shown very good business instincts.

[Solecismic]

By the way, The Martha's overnight ratings were down 20%, to a 4.5. That's cancellation territory, far far below what they likely based early ad rates on.

I noticed the catch phrase was edited out, which is a good thing. But any further erosion in viewers, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them stop airing it entirely. NBC made a euuuuuuge mistake diluting the series, as Trump would say.

[Galaxy]

Did you guys like the two presentations? I though they both were poor.

The slogans were bad from both teams. The "Do You need permission?" and "Do you deserve it?" would be turn-offs if I was rich enough to buy a $160,000-$300,000 Lambo. They work hard, play hard. The video from the women was a bit choppy.

[Karlifornia]

Really, what was Martha's catch phrase?

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

SPOILERS BELOW (Don't read if you're going to watch tonight)


It wasn't the same situation, though. Melissa from last week was constantly disruptive and put her teammates down in front of potential customers and in front of the Trumpette.

Markus was marginalized right from the start this week, and turned out to have genuine insight that his team leader was making a bad move, vocalized it and was ignored.

In Kristi's case, sticking with just taking Melissa into the boardroom was insightful, a show of strength. She had a reason to focus on Melissa.

In Chris' case, he singled out Markus for purely personal reasons. It was a weak move, showing an inability to analyze the failure of the task. Chris was a good frat boy, and a poor businessman.

While Markus is not likeable and couldn't possibly win because he doesn't foster respect, so far he has shown very good business instincts.

I think they've edited Markus very negatively. Remember on the first show when he was like, "Is there anything I could be doing better?" and one of the other guys said to the camera, "Do you think I'm doing a good enough job? Grow some balls!"? I think that perhaps he was actually saying, "Am I missing something? What can we do to make this project better?" and asking for input as opposed to trying to get some positive reinforcement from his team. There's nothing wrong with that except the way he worded it. From what I can tell, he doesn't lack for confidence so this makes sense to me.

Thusly, he has been edited in a way that makes him look weak.

That being said, he's still pretty annoying from what we have seen.

[bob]

SPOILERS BELOW (just in case)

As far as who got fired, I think Trump made it pretty clear to Chris not to bring Markus back into the boardroom repeatedly. And then Chris did it anyway. And refused to bring Mark back, who made the big mistakes in the print ads.

That gave no choice, especially when Chris said that Mark's mistakes were Chris's mistakes.

To be fair though, I doubt Markus is going to get much further, unless they are intentionally editing him this way so it is a huge surprise when he becomes great later. That said, I hate the way this show is edited.

[Galaxy]

I wouldn't mind having a Lamborghini though.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by RadioFriendlyUnitShifter

Really, what was Martha's catch phrase?

At the end of the first episode, she told the ousted contestant, "You just don't fit in." I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a catchphrase or not, but she didn't say it to the next contestant to leave. Maybe others here are referencing a different phrase, but that's the closest thing to a catchphrase that I heard during the first episode. Was it really just edited out of the second episode? It didn't appear to me that she was going to say it at all.

[Raiders Army]

Donald Apprentice: I thought it was really strange that the Lamborghini execs told the guys team what they wanted. They wanted something to convey the rebirth of Lamborghini, which I thought the guys' commercial did far better than the women's...yet they lost. I understand the "Green With Envy" thing, but it just seemed sort of lame that the guys did what they wanted and the women didn't, yet the lost. Did anyone else think this was strange?

[digamma]

Evidently Chris played football at Texas AtM and then for the Saints.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Donald Apprentice: I thought it was really strange that the Lamborghini execs told the guys team what they wanted. They wanted something to convey the rebirth of Lamborghini, which I thought the guys' commercial did far better than the women's...yet they lost. I understand the "Green With Envy" thing, but it just seemed sort of lame that the guys did what they wanted and the women didn't, yet the lost. Did anyone else think this was strange?

The women's whole presentation was just much better (except that stupid head-turn begining which was stupid). The posters were better, the video looked better, and the whole over-all feel was better. I really don't think it was close (the "Green with envy" and lower case "i" in Italian was stupid, but the whole long explaination of the importance of water was over the top stupid).

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

The women's whole presentation was just much better (except that stupid head-turn begining which was stupid). The posters were better, the video looked better, and the whole over-all feel was better. I really don't think it was close (the "Green with envy" and lower case "i" in Italian was stupid, but the whole long explaination of the importance of water was over the top stupid).

But did it convey what the Lambo exec wanted?