Posted on 01/19/2005 8:46:41 PM PST by ClintonBeGone
Join us for Free Republic's Official
Season III Premiere thread of
"The Apprentice"
Thursdays, 9pm EST on NBC
This Season: Book Smarts versus Street Smarts
Well, no spoiler here, but my opinion is whoever survives tonight is the new Apprentice!
I think Tana is fired...
Think you might be right.....but WAIT it's turning.........
You are right, I was wrong. :-)
To me, that cinches who will be the Apprentice, cause there is NO WAY I can see Trump picking one of the other two.
During the boardroom segment, I kept wondering why Tanna didn't point out that Alex contributed so little to the task. Sure, the bead excursion took up too much time, but at least it helped them get a higher price. Trump nailed it in his evaluation of Alex. Alex was sitting back waiting for Tanna to fail. I'm glad the arrogant little punk is gone.
>>didn't point out that Alex contributed so little to the task<<
You're kidding, right?
The design was mostly his idea and he was the one that tried to get her to focus on marketing while she wanted to run all over the universe to find some stupid beads that meant nothing.
I can't for the life of me figure out what happened. This was a slam dunk stay for Alex, then at the last minute, Trump remembered the fix was in for a woman on this episode. He went from telling Tana he didn't see a "bead lady" working for him, to firing Alex. That made no sense.
Of course, Trump is such an egomanic craphead, its nothing new.
We watched Survivor instead and Apprentice on the commercials. I am so glad Tana is still in the game. I can't wait to watch the rebroadcast tomorrow. Alex was just a whiner. I can't remember now how they handle things when it gets down to 3 people. I think Trump has already decided on Tana. Good choice!
I did wonder how the boardroom turned out so badly for Alex after George, Carolyn, and Trump all three criticized Tanna so harshly. I think the producers could have done a better job editing that scene so that it made more sense.
>>but I didn't see much from him after that.<<
Fair enough, but what exactly did Tana do except waste time?
>>He suggested that they figure out how to market their shirts, but didn't take the initiative to get that done.<<
I agree somewhat, but how exactly is he supposed to do that when they are running off 3 hours to get some glitzy crap? If they don't take a detour, and everything else stays the same, you'd be 100% correct here.
>>It looks like he thought that making the suggestion would be enough for him to be able to pin any failure on project leader Tanna. His strategy was CYA all the way and it backfired on him.<<
You may have a point, but the key thing to remember is why did the task fail? Nobody showed up, and he was the only one who made any sort of suggestion on the matter. Tana was so busy trying to relive her supposed Olympic selling days that she didn't realize they had a time issue.
The truth is that Alex has been laying low the entire series, and the last couple of weeks caught up to him. However, this season has such bad candidates, he was able to rise to close to the end.
It isn't that I disagree with you; its that I don't quite see how one would fault Alex and not equally fault Tana. I think they perhaps both should have been fired, but that couldn't happen due to show scheduling.
I don't dispute that Tana deserves a lot of the blame for tonight's loss. However, she has shown herself to be a much better performer overall than Alex, which is the main reason I think Trump made the right decision in firing him.
If Trump is so keen on having fighters, he should have kept Brian and Kristen. They fought people every chance they got.
I think Trump has forgotten that he hosts "The Apprentice" and not "The Contender".
There were two comments in the boardroom tonight that I think tell you this season is almost over. Carolyn said of Tana "I can't imagine her running one of your businesses" and Trump at one point says "She's not fighting. Kendra's a tough person. How is she going to stand up to her?" So, while I tend to see Kendra as a talented marketer but also a whiner who seems to get little cooperation from her teammates/employees, Trump has her pegged as a tough cookie even though she's never had to sit in the boardroom hot seat. That and her 3-0 record as Project Manager means Kendra's practically got this one cinched. She's going to have to really bomb on the final task to miss out.
Craig is going to flunk the interviews. He's been able to coast because Magna has been on a long winning streak or he would have been gone several weeks ago. Other CEOs are not going to be impressed with his Cosby schtick and his tendency to talk in circles.
I thought Tana could lose this week and still win the prize but I don't think that way now unless Kendra has a total meltdown. Trump didn't like her answers this week and Carolyn has come out against her.
At least the live finale will only be one hour and Tana may be spared the humiliating trashing that Jen M took in last year's finale.
You can step away from the Tana worship alter.
Please do so.
She's not very impressive. There's no way I'd hire her over Alex and probably not over many of the other ones that are gone. Survival on this show is as much about luck -- winning a contest by less than $50 or so. Other times the other team just has a bad task, and the one team wins by default, essentially. Like other contestents in other seasons that went far, she's lucked out.
For executive management, Bren was by far the best candidate on the show. A little lacking in the creativity department, but since when are executive managers asked to come up with a design scheme in 24 hours or less?
Bren (and John) were probably a sexual harassment lawsuit in the making. I would never have hired either.
In all honesty, this is just a suck-ass group of candidates. There's none of them nearly as qualified as Kelly or Bill, heck none as good as Kwame or Jen, the runners-up from the two previous seasons.
IMO, Tana and Kendra come closest to what should win but neither is the entire package. Tana is an outstanding seller and a good leader but she is more of an entreprenuer than a corporate type. Kendra is good at seeing the marketing angle and expressing it but I think she lacks personal management skills and comes across as a whiner who would rather just do everything herself than trust others to finish tasks. I think as a middle manager, she would drive her bosses crazy.
I do think the comments last night indicate Trump and his underlings are not as impressed with Tana as some of the viewers are. Perhaps Kendra is already all but crowned. I do think it is Kendra's to lose at this point.
>>Bren (and John) were probably a sexual harassment lawsuit in the making<<
Oh, please. This is just silly. Bren works for a DA, for crying out loud.
I do agree with your overall assessment of the candidates for the most part, though its clear to me that Bren was by far the most competent. But for the life of me can't figure out why you think either Tana or Kendra are worth a darn. Neither could lead a thirsty horse to water, and Kendra can't get along with anyone. She reminds me of someone I used to work with: chip on the shoulder and always defensive about being a female -- as if she had to create a gender issue in any situation. That's either to avoid the real issue, try to steer an argument you are losing a different way, or insecurity. Tana showed in this last task that she's more happy making t-shirts and is too task focused as you stated.
Its clear that the three candidates left were engineered to be there. Anyone that thinks this is truly anything but TV drama, a push for ratings, and a push for Trump's ego is a fool.
You may be right. But wouldn't more attractive, brighter job candidates contribute to the ratings and drama and bottom line? How could anyone in this band of losers gain a dedicated following among viewers? Troy did. Kwaame did. Amy did. All were in the first season.
I don't give a hoot who wins this one. I liked Bren as someone to have lunch with, but not as someone to cheer for.
All three of the remaining candidates have areas of impressive talent, all three have big holes in their competence, all will flunk their exec interviews. Craig will probably become The Apprentice. It's a guy thing.
Apprentice Bump!
They are going to stretch the Finals out over three episodes I am told. Geez, and I thought last year's was overblown.
I agree, Veto!, that none of these are the quality candidates we saw during the first two seasons. With each succeeding season, you will find more candidates that are exhibitionists who just need their 15 minutes of fame to promote their websites and less who actually want to run a business for Donald Trump.
Well, the producers have managed to make things interesting with their choice of underlings for Tana and Kendra.
Kendra got the better team, even though she got stuck with Danny. I enjoyed the looks on the Best Buy execs' faces when he started singing for them. She recovered well from that setback. We'll have to see if she can make the Sony Playstation lady happy.
I'm afraid Tana is going to crash and burn. I don't think she will be able to control Brian and Kristen. Chris is a paragon of calmness and reason compared to those two. She'd be better off to get rid of Kristen right off the bat, and avoid a lot of bickering and negativity. And why did it take two people to find a parking space???
It's going to be a good show next week. I still think Tana will win and is the best choice. Kendra's venue is a dump, some of it looked filthy. Both sets of employees were the worst but I think Kendra's were a cut below Tana's.
Well, it was no challenge to think Craig was going to bomb during the interviews. Since I read so much pro-Kendra stuff at another website, I was surprised that two of the CEOs said they would hire Tana (of course one was QVC and they would obviously be impressed with a "seller"). The real estate CEO was the most pro-Kendra and I'd bet his opinion counts more than QVC, Domino's or Burger King. The next apprentice will be dealing in real estate, not burgers.
Erin said it best when she said anyone who could control Brian, Kristen and Chris deserves a Medal of Honor. I was thinking more like the Nobel Peace Prize. This group is going to cost Tana big time I'm afraid.
Michael and Erin have their flaws but they are at least competant underlings (far more than Tana's "Three Stooges"). Danny should just be forced to wear a muzzle. But Kendra has gotten off on the wrong foot with all the major players she needs to impress on her task. I'm not at all impressed with the venue. Between Best Buy and Sony, they should have found a better place. I expected rats and corpses in that cellar. Even though I think the producers are trying to make this interesting, I still think Kendra will come out ahead.
Notice where Trump says "That was a biiig mistake" in the previews for next week? Next to a beach volleyball court. So obviously there is a screwup in Tana's future.
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