10 Thoughts On… The Celebrity Apprentice – Season Premiere Review

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

1. In terms of a premiere episode, I was hoping for more fireworks. We are used to seeing feuds like Aubrey O’Day vs. Arsenio Hall and Meatloaf vs. Gary Busey on this series, and instead this episode almost felt like all of the stars were sitting and telling stories around a campfire instead of throwing each other into it. This will certainly change as the show moves forward as I am sure all of the celebrities wanted to make a good first impression.

2. Vortex is a horrible team name. By its definition, a vortex is a “whirling mass of water.” That almost suggests that Geraldo’s team is treading water and I just think something stronger should have been selected.

3. Kevin Jonas seems to have it out for Geraldo Rivera. Their relationship almost seemed like a twisted reality version of the Karate Kid where the young student wants to take out the grizzled veteran. Their battle should be interesting as Kevin’s strong social media presence pitted against Geraldo Rivera’s celebrity connections will result in absolute chaos and the ultimate clash of egos. That said, this will hopefully see both make it quite far into the game.

4. While Keisha seems very nice and put forth an eloquent performance in the boardroom, she was a terrible project manager. While Piers Morgan and John Rich are known for belittling other Apprentice contestants for not raising money that is up to their standard, in this case… it was justified. The first task on The Celebrity Apprentice always involves fundraising and Keisha should have known that she was not the best choice to go head-to-head against Geraldo. The women’s best chance at beating the men in the pie contest was to have Leeza Gibbons in control. The former talk show host clearly has watchedThe Celebrity Apprentice before and bypassed the PM job, knowing that it is usually suicide for whoever leads on the first task of the series.

5. Buddy Valastro made an appearance on tonight’s season premiere, but long-time fans of the show know that this wasn’t his first foray on The Apprentice. Before he was known as the Cake Boss, Valasto appeared on Martha Stewart’s version of The Apprentice in a limited capacity.

6. One day, I hope we get to see Ivanka Trump make the firing decisions. Hopefully that will happen next season.

7. I was disappointed with the amount of money raised by Johnny Damon and Terrell Owens. Surely they could have gotten some of their former teammates to donate some money to the task, but I am betting that they are both holding out for when they are the project manager.

8. The references to Bill Cosby should have been edited out. While some of you tweeted to me to say that the show was taped a year ago and that this couldn’t have been prevented, I respectfully disagree. The references could have been cut in post-production. It’s a slippery slope though because Keesha was primarily fired because she didn’t call Cosby for a donation.

9. I get the feeling that this season will be more about the tasks and the money collected for charity than it will be about the crazy interaction between competing cast members. It just seems like a more serious cast. Am I wrong?

10. Kate Gosselin is one to watch this season. While she doesn’t have the resources that many of her teammates do, it’s clear that she is more than willing to go for the jugular in the boardroom and I expect her to tear into anyone that dares to bring her in there.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.