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The Apprentice 3 Recaps

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puddin:
  *%#  (%# I'm listening banzai ...all ears baby

tjhfr:
hmmm I am all ears on that one ]#[



--- Quote from: banzai on February 06, 2005, 07:59:54 PM --- Stephanie + Michael in episode 3; romance?

--- End quote ---

puddin:
EP 4 Recap~

 Up in the suite, the candidates carried on the great tradition of speculating about who would be fired. The big question was: Would Michael get the axe dispite his exemption? Angie thought it was crazy to bring a candidate with exemption back into the boardroom. But Erin saw it differently. She believed that Trump would fire Michael because he abused his free pass. But Michael walked into the suite and Erin was proven wrong. Now, if Michael thought he was done getting a stern talking to because he had survived the boardroom, he was mistaken. Bren told Michael, in front of everyone, that he had disappointed them all and that he needed to be a man and step up from this point forward. After Bren finished, Michael apologized to his team. But in an interview, Alex warned that, unless Michael made a complete 180 degree turn, the guillotine would drop right on his neck.
Trump was heading out on a business trip, so the candidates gathered around their plasma screen and Donald called them from his limousine. He told the group that they would work with Donny Deutsch on their next task to create an ad campaign for a new product: Dove Cool Moisture Body Wash. Each team would attempt to wow Donny - and he would pick the winner. George and Carolyn would observe the teams and report back to Trump. As always, the losers would face Donald in the boardroom where someone would be fired.

Both groups arrived at Deutsch Inc., Donny's advertising agency. The teams were each charged with making a 30-second commercial. But Donny had a little surprise for them - he was pulling out all the stops. Each team would have access to a state-of-the art sound stage, in addition to professional actors, crew and equipment. They would have everything they would need to make an industry-level ad. Donny dared them to be creative and different. Donny told them to make 30-second movies - and he challenged them to blow him away.

Erin volunteered to be Project Manager of Magna (Book Smarts) and led the group in a brainstorming session. Bren pitched his vision for the commercial: A female chef helps her male protégé wash a cucumber, with all the innuendo the two can muster. She pulls him aside and gives him the Dove body wash. He kisses her on the cheek but then walks out with a near-by male waiter. While many people laughed, some didn't think the commercial was right for the task. Michael raised objections, saying he didn't think Dove would like it. Bren countered that they had to take the risk. Privately, Michael said he didn't like the idea but that he would help his team make the best cucumber porno that he possibly could.

On Net Worth (Street Smarts), Kristen volunteered to be Project Manager. She said that she was qualified because her boyfriend was a director and she had spent a lot of time on real sets. In an interview, Audrey said that having a boyfriend who was a director doesn't make you a director. John pitched an idea: A group of marathon runners grab cups of water as they pass a line of spectators. The runners all throw the water on their faces in an attempt to cool down. But then one runner grabs a bottle of Dove Cool Moisture from a spectator, lathers up his wet face and uses another cup of water to rinse. The runner towels off, and newly re-energized, wins the race. Kristen and others liked the idea. John said his goal for the commercial was to make Donny laugh.

After Bren, Erin and Alex enjoyed the perks of casting, the rest of Magna went to their sound stage. But the team ran into a problem even before they arrived. Their actors had been told to be at the stage by 4pm, but the team didn't get there until almost 6pm. One actress was so upset about being stranded at the cold soundstage that she was ready to quit. Stephanie apologized, but that didn't help. The actress wanted to talk to the person in charge. Erin couldn't pacify her either and the actress warned that she would probably walk off the job. But at the last minute, Bren swooped in with his Southern charm and talked her into staying.

At Net Worth's sound stage, Kristen said that she would direct the commercial. John wanted to stay and help direct so that the joke would be presented just right, but Kristen sent John and Craig to do the music instead. In at least one way, Kristen deviated from John's original pitch - she didn't have the runners throw the water on their faces. This meant that the runner put the body wash directly on his sweaty face and then wiped off the lather with a towel. During the shoot, Kristen told Audrey to work with Tana, who was in charge of the models. In an interview, Kristen admitted that she told Audrey to go with Tana to keep Audrey out of her hair. In her own interview, Audrey said she thought the commercial was stupid and one of the cheesiest things she'd ever seen. Audrey wasn't alone. In another interview, Angie said the commercial wasn't funny or
 
During the filming on the Magna set, the actor and actress suggestively washed a cucumber and team members couldn't help but giggle. Carolyn, however, was not amused. Privately, Michael said the only way his team would win would be if Net Worth were to come up with a more idiotic concept for the ad than his team had.
Once the film was shot, Net Worth went into the editing rooms, where everyone saw the footage for the first time. Tara said that it looked like the commercial lost the humor of the original idea. John agreed, saying that it wasn't funny at all. Kristen defended the work saying that she was never going for funny. Her logic was that she didn't try to put comedy into the idea because the idea itself was funny. John simply said he thought the original idea he and Craig had come up with was lost - and he called the commercial a mess.

For the presentation of their commercial to Donny and two of his top executives, Erin had the members of Magna dress up as chefs. In an interview, Michael said this made no sense - and he thought that his team was oblivious to the fact that they looked like morons. The first thing out of Donny's mouth was the team can't wear goofy outfits and be taken seriously. So Donny made them take off their hats. Then Donny and the two managing partners watched Magna's commercial. Donny shook his head, but made no comment. He thanked the team and sent them out. Next, Net Worth presented their commercial. Donny thanked the group and sent them out. Donny started the discussion with his two managing partners by saying that he was really disappointed. He thought that both commercials were "silly", "stupid" and "off". Both executives agreed. One said that the choice was between a disgusting commercial where a sweaty runner rubs on body wash without using any water and a semi-porn piece. Donny brought both teams back into the conference room and got Trump on the line. Donny pulled no punches and said that both teams "missed big." He had to tell Trump that there was no winner - an Apprentice first! So, Trump responded with his own first and said that both teams would return to the boardroom to face him and someone would be fired.

Erin said that the mood in the suite was horrible. Kristen admitted that she didn't talk with anyone and went to lie down in bed. Bren worried that he would be in the "hot seat" since the commercial idea with the cucumber was his. Privately, he admitted that he was "terrified". Later, Kristen chatted up both John and Tana as she tried to lay blame on Audrey. But in an interview, John said Kristen was the one who should be fired.

It was standing room only when both teams arrived in the infamous boardroom. Trump watched Magna's commercial and said that the team had to be crazy to think that the cucumber idea wouldn't offend anyone. Next, Trump screened Net Worth's commercial with the runners and called it terrible. Trump asked Audrey for her input and she said that Kristen had botched the joke that John and Craig had come up with. Kristen shot back that she had to baby-sit Audrey during the task. Carolyn said Net Worth's commercial was disgusting - the runner applied the body wash directly to his sweaty face and didn't use any water. Finally, Trump asked each Project Manager to bring in two people to face the firing with them. Erin chose Bren and Michael while Kristen chose Audrey and Tana.

With just his advisors, Trump asked for their insight. George said that Kristen had failed as a team leader. Carolyn wasn't a big fan of Michael and she repeated that Bren had come up with the ridiculous cucumber idea. The six candidates then returned to the boardroom. Kristen said that she did her job well but others had fallen down on their individual tasks. When Audrey was given the choice of firing someone from the opposing team or firing Kristen, she chose Kristen. Trump asked Erin who he should fire. Erin said she wouldn't fire anyone from her team. As for herself, Erin said she held her team together. Both Tana and Audrey placed the blame for failing to execute the joke of the marathon commercial squarely on Kristen's shoulders. They said that everyone had agreed that the runner needed to throw water on his face, before and after using the body wash, but Kristen failed to portray that. Trump didn't like Magna's commercial, but he recognized that at least Erin kept her team together - so they were safe for another week. Trump then turned to the members of Net Worth. He said the leadership on the team was a mess. Kristen tried to counter by saying her team members were hard to lead. But Trump said that a good leader can lead difficult people. Trump said that Kristen had no control over her team and had produced a bad product as well. As Kristen tried to argue for her survival, Trump simply cut her off with, "Kristen, you're fired."

RudyRules:
I can't believe both teams messed up so horribly w/ the commercial project!!  )_^>  |(
 But, it certainly made for good drama.  Hope they do LOTS better this week!   ]][

puddin:
The candidates in the suite anxiously waited as their six teammates fought it out in the boardroom. With candidates from both teams in front of The Donald, the group wondered who would be fired and which team would lose yet another member. The five boardroom survivors entered the suite to screams and hugs as the others realized that Kristen was gone. In an interview, Angie said she was surprised but thrilled that Audrey had taken Kristen down in the boardroom. Audrey recounted the meeting with a variety of words that can't be broadcast on TV. In an interview, Audrey said that although she was a nice person, the minute someone crossed her, they were done.
Magna (Book Smarts) got together to celebrate the fact that their team hadn't lost a member. The group promised an end to the in-fighting. The mood was upbeat until Michael started comparing himself to Trump, saying that the two were the same. Michael went so far as to call himself a "mini Trump." In an interview, Erin said that Michael lived in a fantasyland: "Michael's a jackass and he's nothing like Donald Trump."

The next day, Trump met with the teams to reveal the upcoming task. But before he began, Trump repeated that he was quite disappointed with everyone's performance in the previous week. Trump said that this time around he wanted to see creativity coupled with solid business sense. For their task, each team would be given a 28-foot Airstream trailer, access to Airstream technicians and a $5,000 budget to create their own mobile service business. The team that made the most money would win. The losing team would be back in the boardroom where someone would be fired. With Carolyn away on business, Jill Cremer, part of The Trump Organization's marketing team, would observe, along with the faithful George.

On Net Worth (Street Smarts),Tana stepped up by volunteering to be Project Manager and the rest of the team was behind her. The group then took off to check out their Airstream trailer to see what they had to work with. When Net Worth arrived at the warehouse and saw their shinny silver trailer, everyone was impressed. The sleek vehicle was empty and ready for the team to customize it - all they needed was an idea for a mobile business. The group brainstormed, trying to be open to new and creative ideas. Tara suggested an open casting workshop service where actors (or aspiring actors) could get a few minutes with a professional casting director. Angie, who said she had been an actress, thought it was a great idea and was sure the team could get a line of actors ready to pay for the service. Tana admitted that the idea was risky, but said she wanted an "outside of the box" venture - so mobile casting it was. The essential element of the business was of course a casting director. Angie, with her showbiz background, got on the phone and called casting directors - the only problem was, she couldn't get any to agree to participate.

As Project Manager for Magna, Bren led a brainstorming session that seemed to be going nowhere fast. In an interview, Bren admitted that there was an apparent lack of creativity on his team. Michael liked the idea of a mobile massage business, but Stephanie thought it wouldn't be successful. In an interview, Alex said that Stephanie's negative attitude was a detriment to team morale. In spite of Stephanie's objections, the team went with the idea and hired all of the necessary massage therapists with one phone call to a local spa. Next, Alex, Kendra and Bren went to the warehouse with their Airstream trailer while Erin, Stephanie and Michael stayed behind to come up with a marketing plan. But Michael's marketing ideas seemed only to annoy the two women. In an interview, Erin complained that all Michael did was open his mouth and shout out the stupidest ideas of no significance. Later, when Michael's suggestion for the business name - Massage a-Go-Go - was rejected, Erin said that Michael threw a temper tantrum. She likened him to a little kid and said that he constantly needed supervision. Erin claimed that if it hadn't been for her, nothing would have gotten done.

Back at Net Worth's warehouse, Angie had spent three and a half hours on the phone and hadn't been able to land a casting director. John and others were worried as this was the linchpin of their business. So, Tara got on the phone and with support from John and Chris, got ahold of a casting director, whose credits included Sex and The City and a new Uma Thurman film. Tara offered the woman the right amount of cash and got her to commit to the team. Next, the team worked with the Airstream crew to outfit and decorate their mobile casting space.

Erin, Michael and Stephanie were at Kinkos getting their marketing materials made when Bren called and told them that they needed to pick up dinner and deliver it to the group working at the warehouse. Michael was not happy about the request, saying it reduced the three of them to a food delivery service. He felt that this was a completely ineffective use of the team's resources. For once, Erin and Stephanie seemed to be in agreement with Michael as neither woman was thrilled with the idea of delivering dinner. Stephanie didn't mince words. She said that the team had never been more disorganized: "Bren sucks as a leader". When the three arrived at the warehouse with the food, Stephanie got into it with Bren. She said it was a waste of time for half of their team to be delivering food - especially when Bren could have had it delivered. Bren asked why Stephanie was bringing this up after the fact if it bothered her so much. He added that if having the food delivered was such a great solution, then Stephanie and the others should have handled Bren's request that way. In an interview, Bren said that when Stephanie argued and complained in front of the entire group, it demoralized the team
The next day, Net Worth parked their newly redesigned Airstream trailer and set up their mobile casting workshop business. Their casting director got comfortable and… waited. Although the team members hit the street handing out flyers and talking up their service, no one seemed willing to pay the twenty-five dollar consultation fee. Things were not looking good for Net Worth. In an interview, John said, "You could see the sweat on Angie's brow from half a block away."

Magna set up their mobile spa and hit the ground running. People from off the street started filing in to get their massages, manicures and other treatments. Everyone on the team seemed to be selling the service well… except for Michael. Erin claimed that Michael didn't have the "hustle" to sell. Even Michael knew he had a problem and so he approached Bren and told him that it was a little creepy for a man to advertise massages on the street.

Back at Net Worth's mobile casting workshop, Tana said that the business finally started to pick up in the afternoon - and by 1:30pm, it was "pumping". John said the team had a great strategy for landing clients. He and Chris would get actors interested in the service and Tara would close the deal and collect the money. Angie said they had a line of people inside the trailer waiting to meet with the casting director.

Finally, it was reckoning time as the teams entered the boardroom to learn their fate. Jill reported that Magna had earned a total of $918.50 from their mobile spa business. George announced that Net Worth had taken a big risk by creating a mobile casting business. But, he said, the risk had paid off and the team had earned $991. The members of Net Worth erupted in cheers. Trump congratulated them and said that for their reward the group would go to Mikimoto, a Fifth Avenue shop known worldwide for its pearls. To top it off, the team would get $20,000 to spend on themselves!

When Net Worth arrived at Mikimoto, they were met by both Miss Universe and Miss USA (which was only fitting since Mikimoto provided the pearls for both the Miss Universe and Miss USA crowns). The two pageant winners, complete with their crowns and sashes, showed the candidates around. Everyone tried on different pieces - but it was Craig who donned the official crown from the Miss USA pageant. Everyone was thrilled with the reward, and by the end of the trip, each person had purchased something special.

Outside Trump Tower, rain came down from the gray sky. Inside the suite, Magna performed a postmortem on their task and wondered what they could have done differently. Bren admitted that he could certainly be on the chopping block. But he also said that he was proud of his team. In an interview, Stephanie admitted that Magna lacked some street smarts - they didn't know how to hustle like Net Worth did - and it was costing them the competition. Michael thought he might be brought into the boardroom to face the firing. In an interview, he said he felt like the scapegoat for Magna and called his teammates "evil". In his own interview, Bren said in no uncertain terms that he was ready to take someone else out to ensure his survival.

The next day, the members of Magna returned to the boardroom. Trump asked Bren what went wrong. Bren said that the product and location were good, but that the team fell short in marketing. Bren also confessed that his team had trouble when it came to creativity and cited that as the reason Net Worth was beating them. When Trump asked Bren if getting a few members of Net Worth on his team would help, Bren admitted that it would. In fact, Bren added that he'd be willing to trade away Stephanie and Michael for two members of Net Worth. Bren told Trump that Michael wasn't selling during the task. Bren said Michael even came up to him several times during the day and complained that as a man he couldn't sell massages. Next, Bren turned his attention to Stephanie and accused her of having a negative attitude. Stephanie shot back that Bren didn't have good time management skills. Alex defended Bren, calling him a great leader. Kendra said that Michael just didn't put in 110%. Jill chimed in and said that the team's marketing was weak. Erin said she would fire Michael. Finally, Bren chose to bring Stephanie and Michael back into the boardroom.

After sending out the candidates, Trump turned to his advisors. George thought that Stephanie brought her team down with a negative attitude. Jill thought Michael didn't get the word out about the spa offerings as well as he should have. When the candidates returned, Stephanie said it was too bad that some on her team had taken her honesty personally. Trump accused Michael of coming up short. Jill didn't let him off easy either. She said that Michael's excuse that a man can't sell a massage was a poor one. She said that Michael had other services to sell. He could have offered a manicure to a woman, for example. Bren then said he would fire Stephanie, if given the choice. But as Bren listed his reasons, Michael interrupted. Trump couldn't believe that Michael interrupted Bren as he was making a case for firing Stephanie. Trump asked Michael, "How stupid can you be?" Then Trump told Michael that he heard Michael claimed to be like him - but Trump said that Michael was nothing like him. Trump said he does the work. Finally, Trump lowered the boom and said, "Michael, you're fired."

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