'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Season Finale - East Coast Update

An unsatisfying end to an unsatisfying season.

Stephanie won the job with James taking second place.

Um. Okay, I guess. I'm not sure what she did all season, but she's pretty.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - East Coast Update 4/22 - Pit Stop Arrival Order

The arrival order of the teams at the Pit Stop:

1. Dustin and Kandice - Each won a Waverunner
2. Originally Eric and Danielle, but they had a 30 minute penalty due to being saved in a non-elim. leg
2. Mirna and Charla took over 2nd place.
3. Danielle and Eric
4. Oswald and Danny

This was the last non-elimination leg, so all teams still in the running. A full review/recap will be posted later tonight, as well as an East Coast Update on the winner of The Apprentice: L.A.

Stop on back!

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - 4/15/07

No one was fired this week. The task was to create a Renuzit commercial. Frank and Nicole were paired together as were James and Stephanie. Old candidates of their choice joined them.

Both teams did the task well. The Final Four -- Stephanie, James, Nicole, and Frank -- were sent home to be back for the live finale next week.

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - 4/08

The candidates were split into teams of two. Two were fired -- Heidi and Christine.

I can't believe Frank is still in the running.

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - 04/01

Arrow lost and Tim got fired.
That's all I have to say. ;-)

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - 3/25

Kinetic lost again and Angela, the Project Manager and Olympic athlete... was fired. I only caught the tail end of the show.

TV Newsy Bits - Monday, March 19, 2007

It's time for those bits! Yes, I'm talking those television-related Newsy Bits I find while perusing that big bad Internet.

What bits did you think I was talking about?

Sheesh.

Here's the skinny:

• AOL Music is streaming Elliott Yamin's (American Idol 5) new CD before it hits the markets. It's free for the listening and you don't have to be an AOL member to access it. He's had a makeover and now a new CD. He's a non-winner on the move. Hey, remember when the guys were so good?
• Remember... Survivor 14: Fiji will be on Wednesday night at 8 PM ET/PT this week, not on its regular Thursday night. Celebrity Spider has a bit of info with minor promotional spoilers in this article.
• The local newspaper (online) has an article about Jersey Girl (who woulda thunk it) Muna Heaven being fired on The Apprentice: L.A. Now if Jersey City inhabitants could pick up that accent, youse guys.
• ET Online has an interesting article about how fans on the Internet kept Jericho alive and well during its long hiatus. Which reminds me... I keep getting more information from Primatech Paper (Heroes). I have to get that stuff written up for you.
• Some artists in NYC are suing NBC claiming that the idea of an artist painting the future was stolen from them by the writer of Heroes.

Okay, I'll be settling in to watch The Black Donnellys before long while taping 'Til Death Do Us Part with John Waters as The Groom Reaper on CourtTV. Paula Abdul is on Letterman tonight, so I have to see that!

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - 3/18/07

Once again, I won't be writing a full review/recap of the show, but here's the skinny:

The task was to create a webisode.
Arrow with James as PM won the task.
Kristine was the PM of Kinetic.
The Trumpette was back (Ivanka).
Muna was fired.
Oh... and Arrow got to meet the Governator.

East Coast Update - 'The Apprentice: L.A. - Firing 03/11

Although I'm no longer doing full reviews of the show, here's the East Coast lowdown:

• The teams had to create a halftime show promoting GNC for a pro soccer game.
• Kinetic, led by Kristine, won.
• The reward was golf with Trump and golf clubs.
• Surya brought Tim and James to the Boardroom
• Surya got fired.
  

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Ep. 7 - East Coast Update

I'm not going to be writing up a full review/recap on the show due to its new later hour and the fact it's not making me love it much this season.

But here's a quick lowdown:

• Jennifer was named Project Manager for Kinetic
• The task was to promote a new Lexus
• Arrow won
• The reward was to write a song with Snoop Dogg
• Randal sat in for Ivanka in the Boardroom. He kept interrupting Trump and got snapped at.
• Derek got fired in the main Boardroom for calling himself "white trash." Trump took issue with the phrase and fired him on the spot. For once I agree with Trump.
• Jennifer got fired
  

Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Sunday, March 4, 2007

Since the big ratings month is over, a lot of the networks have turned to repeats later this week although tonight's programming is all new episodes.

In the 8 PM ET/PT hour, it should go without saying that I'll be watching The Amazing Race 11: All Stars. I'll be posting the finish order at the Pit Stop and eliminated team (if any - I'd say either this week or next week, we're due for a non-elimination leg) in an East Coast Update when the show nears its end at 9 PM ET.

Of course, that's all contingent on the show actually starting on time here. I'll let you know. Late tonight, a full review/recap of the show will be posted. Oh - in regard to some of the comments - I saw Kevin and Drew on The Early Show last week, but it was a fluke that I was home. I don't know if any of the booted have been on besides them.

Also in the 8 PM ET/PT hour, FOX has a new Simpsons followed by a new The Winner. NBC has a new Grease: You're the One That I Want while ABC is airing a new episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. CW is running a repeat America's Next Top Model from 8 to 10 PM.

Come 9 PM ET/PT, CBS has a new episode of Cold Case, FOX has new episodes of Family Guy and The Winner, NBC has a new Deal or No Deal (I still don't understand that show's appeal), and ABC has a new Desperate Housewives.

At 10 PM, The Apprentice: L.A. is at its new time slot with a new episode. I'll post an East Coast Update around 10 PM with the fired information. I'm considering dropping coverage of the show on the blog. Although I'm watching, it's my least favorite season so far and now with the late time slot on the same night as TAR, covering it has to wait until Monday after I get home from work... or not at all. I'll see how I feel about tonight's episode. I don't believe I've ever dropped review/recap coverage of a show mid-season, but maybe it's time.

Also new in that time slot this week are: Without a Trace on CBS and Brothers & Sisters on ABC.

TV Newsy Bits - Friday, February 23, 2007

It's Friday, it's cold. It's a good time to see what TV-related news stories are out and about on that good ol' Internet, right?

You do notice that for the most part, I'm avoiding both the Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears brouhahas, don't you? I actually only included mention now so that I could use the word "brouhaha." Gosh, I love that word. Fun to say and cool in context.

Now that's out of my system, here are today's TV Newsy Bits:

• In The Apprentice news -- TV Guide has an interview with the most recently fired candidate, Aimee Trottier. First season winner Bill Rancic and E! News anchor Giuliana DePandi will wed in September according to the Reality TV World website. There will be no show this Sunday evening (Feb. 25) and when it returns on March 4, it will air at 10 PM.
• In Heroes news -- Celebrity Spider has some mild episode spoilers for the next show. The New York Daily News has a great interview with Jack Coleman, the man who plays Mr. Bennet or, as we initially called him, HRG (horn-rimmed glasses). It's a very interesting read.
• Celebrity Spider has mild spoilers for the next episode of Lost.
• In American Idol news -- There's an newsy tidbit about voted off American Idol Paul Kim here. Buddy TV has transcribed a press conference held with the four contestants voted off of the show last night. Frenchie Davis got the boot a few years back for less than what Antonella Barba has done.
• This AOL Television News article says that the much talked about Stephen Spielberg and Mark Burnett reality show is scheduled for a May 16 premiere. In the show, aspiring filmmakers will compete for a million-dollar studio contract. This one sounds like it could be intriguing. Indie films can be cool.

'The Apprentice 6: L.A.' - Ep. 6 -or- "The Corporate Octopus"

Yes, it sure is the corporate world, although some of these candidates (and often Trump himself) exhibit behavior not fitting of the arena.

Oh, but tonight's show certainly contained some of the elements I've experienced as folks try to crawl to the top of the corporate ladder over the dead bodies of their co-workers. Cat fights, office romances, backstabbing, and eye-rolling. I know I sound cynical, perhaps a bit jaded. But I am. I'm better behind a computer than playing office politics.

The show opened with Arrow awaiting the return of those not fired in the boardroom from last week's show. Frank and company went on and on that if Surya wasn't fired (they thought he should be), then he must be made Project Manager and "step up." Meanwhile Surya (who wasn't fired) was telling Trump he wanted to step up his game and, when he returned to Tent City, he insisted on being Project Manager. So, around it goes. Aimee was still the PM for Kinetics as her team won its last task, no thanks to her leadership from what I saw.

Donald Trump once again was off jetting around and left the teams to be observed by bigwigs from the company involved in the task. This time around, the task itself looked like it could be fun and challenging at the same time. The teams had to promote a Priceline.com sweepstakes in a shopping mall. Whichever team had the most sign-ups wins. It sounds pretty easy to me!

At Arrow, Surya, who really gets way into the analytics of things, did his thing while Frank and James passed around a caricature of him. Yes, I do agree with them that he can be a bit too intense. But I also think Frank can be too much of a clown and, while he hasn't said "at the end of the day" in the past two episodes, he's now referring to himself in the third person. "Frankie likes that!" He's beginning to remind me of the annoying character Bob in the Becker series.

At Kinetic, Aimee was boasting how she had learned from her errors in the past. She started delegating away not even realizing that some of her delegation had one person in two places. [Insert a lot of eye-rolling from her team here.] She's not a good leader. I see it. They see it. She doesn't see it -- she thinks she's driven, passionate, enthusiastic... but where is her leadership?

At the mall, Kinetic belated realized that most of the customers didn't speak English and suffered for it in their sales. They had two team members, Derek and Muna, who spoke Spanish. But had they noticed before it was too late, they had plenty of money to hire translators. Instead of focusing on anything important, it looked like Aimee's only corporate decision was the fact she didn't like a little pink inflated octopus on the counter. [Insert my own eye-rolling here.]

Surya wasn't a heck of a lot better as he wandered the mall not getting results when he should have been manning his counter. His team members noticed his absence and it certainly did nothing to endear him with them.

Before the initial boardroom, the two Priceline Bigwigs told Trump that the ones they noticed in a good light were Derek, Muna, and Frank. To Frank's credit, he did sell well. Arrow won the right to move back into the mansion with 359 sign-ups against Kinetic's 326. Did Arrow credit Surya for the win? Nope. Did Surya credit himself for the win? Yes, but he also mentioned teamwork.

Arrow's prize was surfing lessons (oh, wow) and brunch at Gladstone's in Malibu. Alas, poor Nicole got stung by a jellyfish and her knight in shining armor, Tim, accompanied her to the doctor's office. So, both of them missed the brunch. Later they would smooch in the pool. Yes, it all sounds like an office romance to me!

Don Junior (The Trumpling) sat in the boardroom with Surya and the Big Donald. So much for Sean Yazbeck or someone un-Trump. The big boardroom turned out to be a bit of a cat fight as Aimee's whole team (rightfully) turned on her lack of leadership in the task. She chose to bring Jenn and Derek into the boardroom blaming them for her not realizing that most of the customers in the mall didn't speak English. Oh, geez. How could she not tell? Oh, wait... she was too wrapped up in wondering if they should have a committee to decide if the inflated octopus should be banished.

With little other choice, "Aimee, you're fired."

I still say, "Trump, step up. Your show is sinking. New York, no candidates living in tents, no need for candidates to be in bathing suits for a serious corporate job, bring back the business lessons."

Do you think he'll listen to me?

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - Fired 2/18/07

Aimee was fired on tonight's show... which I haven't really seen yet due to the delayed start of The Amazing Race 11: All Stars. Once I view my tape tomorrow early evening, a full recap/review will be posted.

Sorry, Trump... you're delayed.

Bloggy Bits

As I'm sure many of the readers here know, The Amazing Race 11: All Stars begins tonight at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS. I'm planning on posting an East Coast Update for the first boot as the show airs here in the New York City Area. Of course, a full recap/review of the show will be posted by late tonight. I hope you all will join me and share your thoughts on the show!

Ah, but what does that do to my The Apprentice: L.A. review/recaps? Well, since that show itself will be knocked into a 10 PM slot within a few weeks, I'd say now is the time I start writing it up Mondays after I return home from work (but before primetime shows air). I'll post the fired in an East Coast Update as the show airs, but the long article will have to be delayed. I apologize to any fans of the show, but I'm so much more of a TAR fan at heart. Yet, I must get up early on Monday mornings, so something has to go or be delayed. "Trump, you're delayed!"

I have another new show timing conflict I'll be facing later in the week when American Idol goes to three days. Yes, the third day will be on Thursday up against Survivor 14: Fiji. Eep. Since the third night of AI is basically the boot show, I don't plan on writing a full review of that night. But I will watch for the AI contestants voted off while watching Survivor (yes, I can multi-task) and get the news out in a quick American Idol East Coast Update. I plan on continuing full coverage of the Tuesday and Wednesday night American Idol shows and, for sure, full coverage of Survivor.

If I didn't have to do that pesky thing called "working for a living," I could write everything up in the middle of the night, but alas...

Thankfully, there is no Big Brother running right now.

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Ep. 5 -or- "Marketing and Money, Honey"

After disappearing last week for some football game... okay, the Superbowl, The Apprentice returned tonight. I've noticed that this season is a week shorter than previous ones as Trump calls it the fourteen-week interview instead of fifteen. That's fine by me. While I'm watching, I'm still not thrilled this season with the location and the have/have not theme.

This week Donald Trump had to give one of his overly-expensive motivational speeches in Minnesota. So he left Sean Yazbeck, last season's winner, in charge. There were no signs of Trumpette Ivanka or Trumpling, her adoring brother Donald, Jr. I prefer it that way. I'd rather look at Sean all season than see them. If I can't have Carolyn and George, let it ride with Sean.

I'm a bit ambivalent about the task this week although at least it wasn't surfing or climbing palm trees to prove they're in Los Angeles. The teams had to work with Sue Bee Honey to create and sell honey. They had to harvest the honey, bottle it, then sell their product at two separate Ralph's locations.

I have to give credit to both Kinetic and Arrow for being good sports in the harvesting aspect. Although they wore the big beekeeper white space suits, it still had to be a bit intimidating. I'm allergic to bees and probably would have stood there frozen in place. Stefani was quite outspoken about it and Derek was stung through the suit.

Sean sat in during Arrow's marketing meeting which was dominated by Surya. While his fellow workers rolled their eyes and such, no one really stopped him and tried to take things in a different direction. I agree with them that the time needn't be wasted -- get the product done and sell it. It wasn't a huge corporate decision.
At Kinetic, there were issues in the same vein. Aimee had stepped up as Project Manager and decided that she and Jenn would create the marketing campaign while the rest of the team did the bee harvesting. What did they accomplish? Absolutely nothing in four hours time! By this time I usually have a handle on which team will win the task despite not having the Business Tips as we did in past seasons. But, both teams seemed to do fine with the harvesting, then fall apart from that point forward.

Aimee was useless as PM, at least from the editing we saw. There were lots of shots of her looking lost, getting coffee and other oh-so-important endeavors. But then, Aaron wasn't leading his team much better. At least Arrow had lots of fun on the assembly line. How long will the good times last? Well, at least until the boardroom.

Both teams had a decent price for the product. I actually think that Arrow had an edge on promotions until Derek took matters into his own hands and donned a beekeeper's suit going around the store. That seems to be where the tides turned in the favor of Kinetic.

The initial boardroom was led by Sean with Trump via a conference call from his Minnesota Trump Groupies Cult Meeting. Um. His motivational speech. Yeah, that's it.

I don't know. The crowd looked brainwashed to me. After all, if they think he should be President, something must be in the water.

Both teams had weak leaders, so either could have lost. In the end, Arrow sold 217 jars for a total of $775 while Kinetic sold 345 jars for a total of $836. Kinetic trumped Arrow. For their reward, Kinetic attended a training camp given by the Los Angeles Lakers. Until I saw them there, I wasn't thinking it much of a reward. But the focus was on teamwork and I think it would have been better than a Trump Motivational Brainwashing.

Back at Arrow, two things were obvious. One was that Aaron didn't do well as the Project Manager of the task. He offered little to no direction at all. The second obvious thing was that Surya would be a target as he had just joined the team recently from Kinetic. They liked him when they were winning, but losing is something entirely different. Surya realized immediately that he was in danger and talked over the hedge to Derek from Kinetic. Yep, Aimee (who sits in on the firing as PM of the winning team) would make sure Surya wasn't thrown under the proverbial bus.

Sure enough, in the boardroom, Aaron went for the Surya kill blaming all the marketing ills on him. He chose Surya and Nicole to go with him, but said that Nicole shouldn't be fired. I think he probably thought that the firing field would be down to him and Surya, with the latter the obvious choice to fire.

But his plan backfired. Even Nicole admitted that Aaron hadn't performed well as PM. Trump was still a bit ticked at Aaron for not speaking up when he sat in on the Kinetic firing during the last boardroom. While being overbearing (unless your name is Trump) is a bad thing, sitting meekly is just as bad.

"Aaron, you're fired."

I think both Project Managers should have been fired. I know that would have been impossible, but Aimee's team only won due to last minute luck and Derek's beekeeper suit. At least she went to bat for her previous team member Surya, although I think his days may be numbered. He's got to lighten up and listen now and then. There are hints of a heavy romance next week continuing the Tim/Nicole flirtation. Arrow is back in Tent City and hopefully now that they've tasted the "good life" inside the mansion, they'll work together to get back there.

I'm still not thrilled with this season. Have I mentioned that lately?

Oh? My own caption for the Trump shot? I think he's saying, "Drrrrrr..." Have you anything better?

Dollar bills, y'all...

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - East Coast Update - Fired 2/11/07

Arrow lost the task and project manager Aaron was fired. A full report will be posted later tonight.

Oh... on an unrelated note, Carrie Underwood (American Idol) just won the Grammy for Best New Artist. At least she beat out that overdone "You're Beautiful" song.

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Ep. 4 -or- "In New York, we call them Cheez Doodles"

Well, this episode was a bit better than the previous three, but the show has a whole lot of saving itself yet to do. I won't go over my issues with the season again, but they mostly remain the same. One thing I keep forgetting to mention that grates me about this season is the lack of the little business tips. I used to be able to figure out which team would lose simply by watching the tip. Now I figure out which team will lose because one always seems to screw up royally. It's not as much fun for me to do it that way.

One redeeming factor in tonight's episode was the lack of Trumpette and/or Trumpling -- Ivanka and Donald, Jr. Instead, last season's winner, Sean Yazbeck, visited the task and later joined in at the boardroom. Good. I'd rather see him than a Trump progeny any day. Well, they could use Baron, I guess. "Who should be fired?" "Googoo." That would be about as good as the elder Trumps and much cuter.

The show started off with Arrow celebrating the fact that since Michelle quit, they wouldn't face the boardroom and another firing. In the celebration somehow the topic of Cheez Doodles came up. Like Frank (and I never thought we'd have anything in common), I was shocked that someone doesn't know what Cheez Doodles are. I know them all too well.

Trump had a little conference call with both project managers, once again lecturing about how quitters are losers. Of course, Michelle would have lost anyway. I still give her kudos for quitting this fiasco of a season. Then he asked for a volunteer to give the constantly losing Arrow team. Heidi offered herself, Surya, and Amy. Trump decided only Surya would go. Frank mugged, er, hugged him very energetically under the glow of the night vision cameras. Poor Surya.

I think Surya was a bit off-putting to the Arrow team when he droned on and on from a list of business rules. Even though they've been losing, he's no expert. In my opinion, he's been a bit on the sidelines of Kinetic and didn't play a huge role in any of their wins so far.

The task was similar to ones they've done in the past. They had to create a bowl dish for two separate El Pollo Loco locations. I've only seen that fast food chain when I was last in California, so I checked the website for the location nearest to me. Oh, gee... up at Foxwoods (CT) is the closest, with Chicago next in line. Being near NYC, I don't think I'll order any for delivery.

As per the norm for this season, it was obvious which team would win the task. Arrow jumped right on things, came up with a chicken tortilla bowl, and worked together as a team. Frank was actually the MVP of the task, getting an order for 22 bowls from a local business. For once his energy and Excitable Boy attitude did some good. They set up a festival atmosphere with balloons and signs. Even Surya mixed in well with the team despite his "rules."

Meanwhile, Kinetic, which is a word derived from "kinesis" that means movement, was ironically stalled arguing over small details. "What should we name it?" "I don't like that name!" They had decided on a fruit and chicken bowl and some wanted to name it "Paradise Pollo Bowl." Um, okay. They wasted time bickering about the name and then wasted more time quibbling on cellphones with Marisa because she wanted to hire two people with chicken suits. In the end, they just walked along the drive-thru lane telling people about the dish.

Well, duh. I see the problems from the get-go. The name of the dish doesn't tell me anything about what's in the dish. And, with no real excitement or promotion, no one's even going to know anything special was going on. Heck, the chicken suits would have been an improvement.

Sure enough, in the initial boardroom with both teams gathered, Sean announced that Kinetic earned $313.54 while Arrow brought in $418. At least that's the amount I managed to hear as the Arrow team burst into shouts of joy. I'm surprised it wasn't a larger difference.

The reward was much more appropriate than last week's Playboy Mansion evening. (Phew!) Arrow headed off to Malibu Beach where noted singer Andrea Bocelli played piano and serenaded them. Oh, la la! After the performance, there was a fireworks display on a grand scale solely for their enjoyment. And, even more important, they would be able to move into the mansion and out of Tent City. They were beside themselves with glee.

Kinetic weren't happy tent campers, though. They inherited a "disgusting mess" as Muna put it. Plus, one would have to be fired. I noticed that Heidi, the reigning Project Manager all season so far, immediately took any firing focus off of herself. She is good, I'll say. She went through polling the rest of the team because she thought the cashiers and marketing were the weak areas. The whole team decided that Marisa should represent the marketing aspect in the boardroom.

Back in the boardroom, Marisa kept sinking her own ship. I guess she wanted to make sure it stayed sunken. She ticked off Trump some even though he's on a "he/she has good spirit" kick this season (he liked Frank's spirit, too). The entire rest of the team spoke up saying she should be fired. She kept trying to talk over them about the chicken suits, which when you consider that this is supposed to be a corporate situation... chicken suits? Yikes, that's just plain silliness-talk! Trump seemed to be a bit patient with her, but eventually told her to "shut up." I guess that was the big fuss in the promos? I felt let down. I wanted to see some hair-pulling or something!

In the end, sure enough...

"Marisa, your whole team wants you to go. You're fired."

Okay, the episode was better than the last few, but I'm still not enamored with this season. Bring it or give it up, Trump. No, you're not fired, but that is indeed a written warning I'll be putting in your Reality Television File.

Dollar bills, y'all...

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Ep. 3 -or- "You can't fire me. I quit."

You know, this season isn't doing too much to redeem itself. Yes, I know this is only the third episode. I believe some key factors are coming into play which could very well spell out the end to the Trump era in reality television. The move to Los Angeles puts the focus on many minutes of surfing and palms. Why so much? Once you've seen the two guys lugging the surfboards, need it be shown each week? Maybe if it tied in with the show itself, it would be okay. Yeah, put them in Carey's pink skimpy suit. That's the ticket.

The new "twist" with the losing team living in tents, albeit fancier than in my own camping days, is wearing thin on both the candidates and me as a viewer. Oh, let them go rough it in an EconoLodge or Motel 6. I'm sick of hearing them fuss and Michelle is right - it's not what she signed up for when she applied. These folks didn't sign up to be on a pampered Survivor. They want to be corporate leaders. Whoever came up with the tent bit should be fired, I say. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad if the same team didn't lose every week, but that's been the case so far. It's knocking their morale down and annoying me. Make it stop.

And, my last rant before I talk a bit about what happened in tonight's episode - I miss Carolyn and George. With nepotism ruling, Trumpette and Trumpling (Ivanka and Donald, Jr.), the show has changed from mature professionals judging tasks to kids born with silver spoons in their mouths working for Daddy and passing judgment on folks who may know more than them about life in corporate settings. Yes, I'm sure they're both bright kids and even good kids. Nonetheless, they're Trump's kids working for him and now on television. How would they be doing in another job working for anyone else? Oh, well, they have job security, I guess.

Tonight's show had a twist within the twist, if you can follow that. Last week's winning team (Kinetic with Heidi as permanent Project Manager as long as the wins keep happening) didn't take part in tonight's task. Instead, they got massages and spent the day in luxury at the Loew's Hotel in Santa Monica.

The losing team, Arrow, was split into two separate teams. Although Aaron jumped to be the Project Manager for one team, Trump pretty much put Michelle on the spot for the second slot. She reluctantly accepted and chose Tim, Nicole, and Frank to be on her team. Since Aaron was the second to make his first pick, he ended up with a three-person team instead of four. His team included himself, James, and Stefani.

I actually liked this week's task more than the first two tasks. The teams had to come up with a Starline double-decker bus tour and it was the customers who would fill out surveys at the end to decide the winner. Now, I've never taken a tour bus like this, but I see the Big Apple Tour Buses all the time. I know they're popular and, with the right stuff to get the tourists, they're probably a lot of fun.

Once again, it was obvious that one team "got it" and the other team was doomed to failure. In this case, it was Aaron's team who really delved into the task. They came up with the idea of Laker Girls and "Famous Places, Beautiful Faces" thanks to a bit overly-enthusiastic James. But, they did it. They lined up the talent, researched an existing tour to see what tourists liked or not, and then spent more time fact-checking for along their route.

Michelle's team just wasted time. Michelle and Tim drove around Los Angeles trying to come up with a route that way. How foolish is that method, I ask? They're not familiar with the territory and didn't have a clue. My own thought would be to Google "Hollywood Landmarks" or something similar, then plan the route from there... not waste time driving around looking for landmarks. (Yes, I'm rolling my eyes here.) The friction between Michelle and her team members continued. Their theme was "The Lives of the Rich and Famous" but they would have done better with "Seedy Sections of Hollywood."

The big event came and even though James was a bit out there and may necessitate me to rename him Excitable Boy instead of Frank, they did well. Ivanka actually smiled. Over at Michelle's bus, it was a disaster. They didn't have facts, their microphones were constant feedback, and all went downhill from there.

In the boardroom, the Arrow team divided faced Trump and the TrumpKids. Both sides seemed to think they did pretty well until Trump focused on Michelle's team. Frank got in one "at the end of the day" during the session. (Remember, I'm keeping count.) Trump got the whole team pretty much tanking Michelle before they even announced the results of the customer surveys.

Not unexpectedly, Aaron's team received an 82% approval rate while Michelle's team only earned a 58%. Sympathy votes must have pushed them that high. Their tour was a disaster.

Before things could go any further, Michelle quit. Yes, the second in the history of the series to drop out. In Season 3, Verna Felton quit saying she was tired. In Michelle's case, while she doesn't rock my world as a candidate, I think she has a valid point. She didn't sign up to live in a tent and play Survivor in Beverly Hills. That has never been how the show worked in the past and the candidates were not told of the changes before coming aboard. No matter how much Trump tries to gloss over things, quitting is a smart move, I think. If she faced the boardroom, she surely would have been fired. She had nothing to lose but her dignity as the show continued. I say kudos to her for quitting, kudos!

I myself am pondering quitting if this show continues to follow this path. What would Trump say about me? Nyah, he's not the boss of me!

Dollar bills, y'all...

'The Apprentice: L.A.' - Ep. 2 -or- "How to tank a show in two episodes"

I think the 24 fans had a better TV night than Apprentice fans. At least, I hope they had a better time than this Apprentice fan. I should speak for myself, after all.

Here's the idea - move the show to Los Angeles, go more shallow than need be, send a team of mainly women to the Playboy mansion as an exciting reward, talk about how great your body is, think pink, and call it a show. The great body bit was Trump. He's known for his abs and pecs, right?

This season is seriously flawed and it's just the second episode! Now, I know I watched the premiere. In that premiere, the teams had no names. I know they didn't. The caption on the screen referred to "Heidi's team" or "Frank's team." Tonight, with no discussion, the teams suddenly have names as if they had them all along. What's up with that? Heidi's team is Kinetic while the losing team is named Arrow.

When the teams met Trump and the Trumpette (Ivanka) at Palisades Park, what the heck was with Ivanka? She looked all goth-gone-Beverly Hills with a with an odd black outfit and raccoon make-up. The task this week was to design, manufacture, and model a bathing suit line for Trina Turk. It wants to bring the Valley Girl out of me. Oh, the task itself is very "California" and it's technically a challenging job. But to saddle the winners with a trip to the Playboy mansion and a meeting with Hugh Hefner? Gag me with a spoon... please.

On the Arrow team, Nicole became the Project Manager while Heidi retained her position on the Kinetic team. Just like last week, it was very obvious which team was having problems. On Arrow, Carey threw himself into the task; he always wanted to design. Michelle spoke up against his teensy pink bikini brief shorts for men, and the guys on the team rolled their eyes, too. But Carey was adamant and persuasive. Carey, who's gay, was obviously thinking the gay market, but not the big picture. And, the mens' suit line is what killed their bid to win the task.

It's off to the boardroom for Arrow! And, off to the Playboy mansion for the overwhelmingly female Kinetic team. Oh, joy, joy... bunnies everywhere, with their little ears and tails, and Hugh telling his rags to riches story to anyone who'd listen. Don't get me wrong. I respect his success, but he's not someone I'd kowtow to, not at all.

One point I made last week was actually brought up while at the mansion. I said that the new "twist" of the Project Manager remaining the same on the winning team didn't give the others on the team the chance to shine. Sure enough, almost the same words came from Marisa while at the mansion. Envy is growing roots.

In the boardroom, Carey tried to put the target on Michelle (who is the only one who really spoke up about not liking the teensy suit). When polled by Trump, most thought Carey was responsible for the loss, with a smattering of Michelle and one vote for the Project Manager. Trump made it clear it was the teensy pink suit which killed their chances to win, but thinks his own body is so great that he could get away wearing it just like Carey did while modeling it on the runway. Yeah, right. Carey actually did look good in it. Just the thought of Trump's pasty skin against the pink is frightening to me, say nothing about the teensy factor. (Take that as you will.)

Nicole chose Michelle and Carey for the boardroom, but it was obvious that the firing choice was actually between Nicole as PM or Carey because he designed and pushed the suit. In the end, it was "Carey, you're fired." I kind of wonder how he would have done if he stayed longer. And, though I get the reasoning, I think that Nicole should have done more to control the team. Michelle and others definitely didn't care for the suit and she turned a blind eye to them.

Just a few random notes to end this:

• I'm going to keep a running tally of how often Frank says the phrase "at the end of the day." Last week he said it three times, this week once.
• When Frank told Trump he had to sleep outside because he's claustrophobic, Trump replied, "Don't worry about it. You'll be back in the Bronx very soon anyway." I guess he's out of the winning picture, eh?
• Trump actually said the words, "I have a great body." Feh. If he had said, "I have a great ego" - well, that would be believable.
• Next week some sort of "ultimate bombshell" is supposed to happen in the boardroom. Okay, save the show Trump Boy!

Dollar bills, y'all...