Murtz: I know that it has received a lot of flak this season, but I really enjoyed The Apprentice. I thought that the contestants were great and that the main reason that the show suffered is because of a poor selection of tasks. In that sense, it seemed almost eerily reminscent of Survivor: Africa. It shocks most people to know that Africa is my second-favorite season of the show (Thailand is the first for those who care), and I think that the reason most people hate it is because of the location and not the people. Come on, who wouldn’t love a season with Lex van den Berghe, Tom Buchanan, Teresa Cooper and Kelly Goldsmith?
Sarah: I totally agree. Like Survivor: Africa, which is one my favorite seasons, too (along with the Amazon and Pearl Islands), the third installment of The Apprentice had an outstanding cast. Danny, Chris, Kristen, Audrey, Michael, Erin, Angie, and the Donald (as always) were a lot of fun to watch. The kinds of tasks presented on the show aren’t nearly as important as the people doing them, so I never took much issue with whether or not a particular task was appropriately challenging or engaging. It was all about the drama that unfolded between the people, and there was plenty of that this season.
Murtz: Anyway, back to the Apprentice. I don’t think that I have ever had access to a show greater than I did with this season’s Apprentice and that gave me a deeper appreciation for what we didn’t see. Also, I will take this opportunity to tell you all that the interviews are coming. Each one is about 20-25 pages in Word so they take awhile to transcribe.
Sarah: You’re lucky. As one of the teeming masses who only gets to see what NBC deigns to show me, I found myself curious as to what was left on the cutting room floor. That’s par for the course with any reality show, but The Apprentice 3 in particular left me wanting to know more. I can’t wait for the rest of those interviews, Murtz.
Murtz: To begin with, I think that the right person won. I was a big Kendra fan and while I didn’t really like Tana on the show, talking to her after it allowed me to understand that we really didn’t get to see many of the things that she did. I know Sarah liked her from the beginning, but she had to grow on me and she did.
Sarah: I think Trump, George, and Carolyn made excellent observations about Tana and Kendra at the finale when they pointed out that from the beginning, Tana was a standout but made some major errors on her final task while Kendra flew under the radar for much of the season and turned her game up to 11 during the last stages. I still don’t understand why Tana acted the way she did on the final task, given that she appeared so skilled at avoiding conflict and working well with everyone. Well, almost everyone. I caught a glimpse of things to come when she and Craig ganged up on Kendra during the Pontiac task. I think she started to get a bit cocky, which ultimately led to her demise.
Murtz: Kendra is just a star. Not only is she one of the most gifted business people that I have seen, but she is a trip in real life. She has this sarcastic quality to her which is great (primarily because I have never seen anyone else wield it so efficiently).
Sarah: I was very happy to see Kendra win. The victory wouldn’t have been as sweet if Tana hadn’t attacked Kendra so viciously in the boardroom on the penultimate show. I thought that Tana’s comments regarding Kendra as a single businesswoman with no one to go home to were totally inappropriate and rude. And I’m glad for Tana’s sake that she can return to a life she claims is perfect, with her family and career as a Mary Kay salesperson. Her decision to criticize Kendra’s personal life was borne out of desperation. I was really disappointed that Tana did that and admire Kendra for rising above it.
Murtz: Now to the other cast members.
I think you all know how much I dig Kristen. I think what stood and stands out about her is the fact that is a very real and genuine person. I think that even her detractors have to give that to her. I liked Kristen ever since I saw her on Murder In Small Town X when she was consistently disrespected by her team and managed to stay standing. It is my sincere belief that if you all could meet one person that starred in a reality show, it would be her (not including Boston Rob). She is just painfully honest and is one of the coolest people that I know. I have to admit that I am annoyed that we didn’t get to see more of what she is capable of on the show, but objectively I can say that her firing was unwarranted. She admits that she would have been fired anyway, but she and I both don’t like the idea that she was canned for blaming people on her team. Who else was she supposed to pin it on?
Sarah: Murtz, it’s great that you’ve had an opportunity to meet so many reality TV stars, but the rest of us can only go on what we see on the small screen. That being said, Kristen came off as a very unhappy person with little regard for the feelings of others. I don’t agree that brutal honesty is always the best policy, especially when one is trying to forge productive working relationships. Sometimes it’s better to bite one’s tongue for the sake of keeping the peace. Case in point: Kendra’s management of Danny, Michael, and Erin in her final task. It was obvious that she didn’t like some of the things her employees were doing (like Danny’s decision to start conducting a meeting with the executive sponsors without her). She could have chewed him out for doing that, but she didn’t. Tana, on the other hand, openly bitched about her staff’s screw-ups in front of event workers, which made her look unprofessional and mean.
And that’s pretty much how I saw Kristen, too. Her constant bickering with teammates over issues both big and small was unproductive and childish. It’s important to pick one’s battles and if everything becomes a battle, nothing gets done. Kristen got exactly what she deserved.
Murtz: Another candidate that has really impressed me after the show was Tara. In his soon-to-be-posted interview, John Gafford described her as the invisible woman on the show and I tend to agree. It is too bad that we didn’t get to see more of Ms. Dowdell on the show because she was the clear-cut winner in my opinion (after Kendra) and I know that many cast members share that opinion. She is also incredibly good-looking, which is always a plus.
Sarah: I agree. When Tara was fired, I felt that Trump made a huge mistake. Her quiet confidence and sensible demeanor led me to believe she was in things for the long haul. It’s a shame that she didn’t get more of a chance to shine.
Murtz: I liked Stephanie Myers and Audrey Evans. Many of cast members have a distinct opinion about them, but they seemed very cool to me. I am not sure why they had the difficulties that they did on the show, but I am sure they will be good at whatever they decide to do.
Danny Kastner and Michael Tarshi are two of the funniest people I know. Kastner actually called me this week and told me that he was working with the Parents Television Council and that Inside Pulse was in danger of being shut down because of lewd content. He had me going for a good two minutes. And as far as Tarshi goes, you gotta love a guy that has his own chocolate bar.
I thought that John Gafford would have made an excellent apprentice. I don’t know if Sarah agrees, but I think he was just cast on the wrong season. Everybody knew a woman was going to take it this time.
Sarah: I can’t believe you just used John Gafford and “excellent” in the same sentence. Whatever talent, charm, or brilliance that man may possess was overshadowed by his appalling behavior in what turned out to be his last task. His offer to sell Stephanie and Erin to one of the rock bands, even though delivered jokingly, was totally out of line. His attempts at schmoozing with Gene Simmons were pathetic, as was his condescending, know-it-all attitude toward just about everyone on the Net Worth team. Cast in the wrong season? That would be the least of John’s problems.
Like you, I adored Danny (who didn’t?), even though I knew that his run on the show would be short one. I have to wonder how badly he wanted to be the apprentice, given his musical talent and penchant for polyester. The show gave him national exposure, though, and I have no doubt that we’ll soon see his first album out on store shelves. He’s a brilliant entertainer.
Throughout the season, I didn’t hide the fact that I was a big Erin fan. Although I was sad to see her go, I couldn’t blame the Donald for firing someone who was bold enough to flirt with him in the boardroom. In the end, Erin probably wouldn’t have been a good fit for the Trump Organization, but she seems like the kind of person who’d be a hell of a lot of fun to go out dancing with. She’s probably a damn good attorney, too.
Speaking of attorneys, one of my other favorites was Bren, whom I expected to see in the final two with Tana (this was before Kendra started stepping up her game). He surprised with me with his stupid idea for the vegetable porn commercial for Dove Body Wash, but I admired his willingness to take a risk, even if it wasn’t successful. His bow ties were cute, too. I also want to award major style points for Angie’s hair. She seemed very cool and had a good sense of humor, but I knew Trump would find a reason to get rid of her.
Of course, no season wrap-up of The Apprentice would be complete without a few words about the big boss himself, Donald Trump. The Donald appears to be getting more abusive with each season that passes and he really outdid himself this time, calling people losers and ordering them out of the boardroom like a middle school principal reprimanding a bunch of 12-year-olds for starting a food fight in the cafeteria. I’ve expressed repeated bewilderment regarding why so many gifted, intelligent people seek employment with this clown. Yes, he’s rich and he rewards his employees handsomely, but there are less humiliating ways of finding high-paying jobs. Then again, without all of these people clamoring to be part of the Trump Organization, there would be no show called The Apprentice in the first place, which would be a sad thing indeed. I do so love watching it.
Murtz: All in all, I thought it was a great season and I am happy to have befriended most of the cast. I think that the criticism of The Apprentice this season has been unfair and that the show actually was quite good.
Tara rules!
