Are there ANY rules at all on The Apprentice? As gossip-worthy as it may be when Trump makes things up as he goes along, he threatens to undercut viewer loyalty in doing so. Firing four people at once was exciting and unexpected, sure... but it didn't feel fair to the players. The responsibility for such a devastating defeat fell on project manager Josh-- who, up until now, had my money riding on him to go all the way. He should have realized the problem with their plan when the batting cage started to dominate, and adjusted accordingly to correct it. Jennifer could be justly critized for not meeting her own hype, but Josh called the play. You can say the other two guys should have focused on sales, but they were just doing what their project manager asked them to do. They worked together well, they were just working from a poor playbook. The responsibility for that shouldn't fall on the rank-and-file, and by firing them en masse Trump has once again demonstrated how to be a crappy boss.
And on an entirely different level, was that sound I heard in the background Mark Burnett having a heart attack? In a single stroke, Trump just deleted three episodes from the series. Are we going to get three extra clip shows now? Will they bring in alternates? Will they perhaps expand the final four interviews-- which I thought was the most fascinating part of past seasons-- into a full episode? They've got a contract to fill, and now they're three people short. Brilliant.
Posted by Peter at October 28, 2005 12:38 PM | TrackBackI suspect that some double-or-more elimination weeks were part of the plan anyhow. Assuming an 13-episode season (which is exactly what Trump promises at the start), they're actually still behind schedule considering they started this cycle of the game with 18 contestants and need to winnow it down to 2 by Week 13.
While I agree that Trump would be a wholly terrible boss and that Bill Rancic's nose couldn't get any browner, I dislike this crop of contestants enough that any issues of "fairness" don't really bother me all that much. :)
Oh, and Carolyn is teh hawt. :)
Posted by: Chris Lemon on October 29, 2005 12:03 PMThat is my theory as well. I think the producers put in extra people to create more 'drama'. They probably told Trump that there were 4 or 5 extra people, and that he could get rid of them on a whim.
I wonder how many people Martha was allotted to 'let go' on a whim.
Posted by: Rita on November 1, 2005 06:30 PMRandall stands out far above this group of half-witted jackals, and has since day one. I honestly cannot envision a scenario in which Trump points at him and says, "You're Fired."
In fact, I like Randall so much I think he deserves much better than a life under Trump's thumb. I'd love it if he were the first interviewee to tell Trump, "thanks but this is all bullshit" and then leave of his own accord.
Then again, Randall has much more class than I do.
Posted by: Stephen Glenn on November 4, 2005 10:49 PM