Celebrity Apprentice 2/21 Recap- QVC Crash and Burn!!

[SueEllenMishke]

Welcome to another fun-filled, action-packed episode of Celebrity Apprentice! Last week, Omarosa and Piers were at each other’s throats, but unfortunately their team won and Trump couldn’t fire either of them. Omarosa insists that Trump really likes her, and showed it by rewarding her and moving her to the team that does not have Piers on it. Piers is also feeling rewarded because Omarosa has been moved to the other team, and is especially thrilled to get Marilu, stating “It’s like replacing the devil with Nelson Mandela.” When the entire team of Empresario walks through the door though, all of these happy thoughts are replaced by disbelief when Hydra sees that Trump didn’t fire anyone! Oh well, that just gives us another week with these lovely people.

First though, Piers gets to make the call to his charity, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, to tell them that they are receiving a donation of nearly $65,000. Piers’ brother just came home from serving in Iraq for the British Army, and he tells us that everyone in America and Britain should support the soldiers and do anything they can for the families of those soldiers who are lost in battle. Piers tells the charity that he’s working on winning them some more money, and then vows that he won’t have any more arguments with other contestants, because he’s there to get money for his charity and that should be his main focus.

The next day the teams meet Trump and find two huge helicopters waiting for them. Marilu is immediately excited because they get to go for a ride. I just hope they don’t run into that monster-thing from Cloverfield. Trump tells the teams that today they’re working with QVC which is one of the greatest companies in the entire world. Each team will pick a product and write, direct and produce a live ten-minute segment on QVC. The team that makes the most money wins, and if both teams happen to pick the same product, they’ll have to negotiate to see who gets it. The winning Project Manager gets $20,000 for his/her charity and bragging rights for pwning the other team on QVC.

Empresario names Stephen as PM, and Piers decides that Marilu is stepping forward for Hydra. When Trump asks her how she feels about this. Marilu replies that she feels okay now, but she’s a little nervous because she has a learning curve with Hydra as she has never worked with them before. Well, she worked with Carol, but you know what she means! Trump asks Piers if he is happy that he no longer has to work with Omarosa, and Piers maturely tells the group that this is a new day and that’s what he’s thinking about.
Thankfully, Trump does not ask Omarosa if she is happy that she’s no longer working with Piers, because I just don’t want to hear again how much Piers’ kids hate him.

Tito hopes that having Omarosa on their team will be a positive rather than a negative. I just don’t know it could possibly be positive, Tito, but nice try. Over on Hydra, Piers wants to use Lennox once again to pimp out their product… whatever that might be. I hope, hope, hope it’s from Quaker Factory because I desperately want to see Lennox in an appliquéd sweater set. Lennox had kind of a rough night though, and isn’t in the mood for Piers’ antics, or for being awake or helpful to his team at all. He does wake up long enough to tell the camera that although he is a world champion boxer, what he really wants to do is direct. Okay then.

The teams get to view 6 amazing products, and they are a toolkit, a mirror of some sort, something made out of bamboo, an electric sweeper and a step ladder that turns into a hand-truck, (and one other product that I apparently completely missed). Both teams immediately gravitate toward the ladder, and Marilu in particular gets so excited that she repeatedly shrieks that if she saw that thing on TV, she would pick up her phone that very second and order 12 of them. 12!

It’s time for negotiation, and since Vinnie is no longer in the competition, I assume it’s going to go smoothly and not be ridiculous. Stephen and Tito represent Empresario and Marilu and Carol stand in for Hydra. Immediately, both teams realize that they want the same product, so they simply flip a coin and Hydra wins. Easy-peasy!

Stephen is a little disappointed because he thought he had God on his side for the coin toss, but I guess not. Empresario decides that their second choice is the sweeper, and Tito comments that he likes it because it’s light for women. Over on Hydra, Marilu and Carol take charge because they have both been on QVC before and are experts. Marilu thinks that if the whole team is on the segment, it will be chaotic and they’ll all talk over each other, so she decides that she will be the on-air talent. She knows how these segments work because every time she writes a book she hawks it on QVC, and so proceeds to rehearse and say extremely cheesy things about this magical ladder.

Empresario is soon happy with the sweeper, and they select Trace to be the on-air talent because they think he’ll be the best one to sell. They gloss over the reason for this, but I’m sure it’s all kinds of nice and politically correct. They choose to have a female co-host, but they do not choose to do a practice run. Hmmm… interesting strategy, Empresario. Omarosa really wants a rehearsal, but Stephen has faith that it’s all going to come together as soon as Trace is on camera.

Hydra also selects a co-host, and they get Rick who is taking a break from hosting a game show, I think. Marilu is cheesy, and Rick is cheesy, so the two of them together are almost unbearable to watch. Marilu wants to practice and try out some stunts, so she tries to push Rick around on the hand-truck and ends up dropping him on his butt, which makes Piers laugh. And makes me laugh too.

Trump Jr. arrives to visit with the teams. He starts with Empresario, gets their pitch and is happy that they chose to use Trace to sell to “middle-America.” He moves on to Hydra and is pleased with their passion for the product and their presentation, although he comments that Marilu likes to talk a lot.

Each team gets a creative consultant, and Empresario uses theirs to figure out if there’s some sort of payment plan for their sweeper. They work one out so that the buyers can make 5 payments of $11.99, and Stephen thanks the lord for Easy Pay. Hydra doesn’t seem to use their consultant at all.

Showtime! Trump and Ivanka watch from his office in NYC, and Hydra is up first. Trump and Co. are impressed with her energy and enthusiasm, but become less and less impressed as the segment goes on and Marilu won’t shut her mouth for 2 seconds. At one point, they take a caller, and Rick tries to ask her questions but Marilu is not interested in hearing about what some stupid customer likes about the product. No! She tells the caller what she should like about the product and Trump just shakes his head.

When it’s time for Empresario to go on live, I’m a little afraid that Trace is going to pass out. They still haven’t had any rehearsals, and Tito comments that he’s a little worried about this. When they take the stage, Trump thinks it’s interesting that Stephen chose to use Trace as the on-air talent, but he soon sees that although Trace’s energy is lower than Marilu’s, he’s really relaxed with the product and his presentation is mellow. Trace uses the sweeper to pick up some nails and screws, and then talks about how he has 5 daughters who make craft-related messes all the time, so this sweeper would come in handy at his house.

Time for another exciting Boardroom! Trump tells the teams that he watched both performances and they were very, very different. Marilu tells him that they had a lot of passion for the product, and reminds him that she was on a learning curve with her team because she had never worked with Hydra before. Piers commends Marilu and Trump agrees that it was great that she was able to be so enthusiastic about a ladder.

Tito names Trace the star of Empresario, and Trump comments that Trace was very calm, and the sweeper was impressive because it picked up screws. Trump seems kind of stuck on this point, and I wonder if he picked up his phone and ordered one of those sweepers, just for the thrill of pouring screws all over his carpet and then sweeping them up. Trump asks Stephen how Omarosa did, and Stephen says that she was excellent. Omarosa smirks at Piers. Stephen admits that they selected a higher priced product, but they utilized the Easy Pay option, so he’s not worried about the price.

Time for the big reveal! Lil Trump says that Empresario sold 716 units for a total of $43,000, and Ivanka says that Hydra sold 703 units for a total of… $35,145. Oh, so sorry, Hydra! Trump points out that Hydra must have made some poor decisions if they sold fewer units of an item with a lower cost, and one of them will be going home. Stephen gets $20,000 more for his charity- the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, Omarosa exclaims that this was her favorite task ever, and Stephen thanks Jesus for their win.

Back in the Boardroom, Piers tells Trump that he likes leaders who show passion, and that’s what Marilu did. Trump asks why they didn’t use Easy Pay, and they reply that although Carol worked on QVC for 5 years, and Marilu goes on every time she writes a book, they did not know about Easy Pay. And they didn’t bother to ask. Piers tattles that Lennox was asleep most of the day, and refers to him as “Sleepy Boy” which for some reason incenses Trump greatly and earns Piers a lecture on appropriate language in the Boardroom. Piers tries to tell Trump that his relationship with Lennox is based on British humor, and he wasn’t trying to be offensive. Whatever. Marilu agrees that Lennox was pretty low-key all day, but Trump counters and tells Marilu that she was too talkative and overdid her energy.

Lennox says he would fire Marilu, but it’s not his decision (duh, Lennox), Carol would also fire Marilu although she was really passionate and energetic and Piers won’t say who he would fire, but says that he’s not inclined to pin the loss on Marilu. When Trump asks Marilu who she would fire, she uses a lot of words but doesn’t really say anything, and Trump doesn’t get an answer. Marilu decides to send Carol upstairs to safety, and brings Lennox and Piers back to the Boardroom.

Back in the Boardroom, Marilu insists that she’s a good player, although for some reason, she always ends up on the losing team. She says she let Carol go because she saw her work hard all day, but all she saw from Lennox was sleepiness. Trump is surprised that Marilu didn’t bring Carol back because despite working for QVC for 5 years, Carol didn’t know about the Easy Pay option. Piers is also surprised that Marilu didn’t bring Carol back and send him away to safety, and he’s sweating because he’s scared this could be Trump’s chance to finally get rid of him. Marilu insists that Lennox did not contribute at all to the task, but Trump says that Lennox is not the reason they lost the task. It hurts him to say it, but he fires Marilu and tells her to get the hell out of his office. He calls her a terrific woman too, so maybe that took the sting out a little bit. Probably not though.

Before I end this recap, I have to point out that last week’s preview promised a huge fight between Piers and Lennox, and they barely had a scuffle! Next week’s preview indicates that the show is all about sex, and one of the teams crosses the line with a photo shoot that is too provocative for network TV, but I’ll believe that when I see it!

[Google]

 

[Brooks]

Great recap, Sue Ellen!!

and then talks about how he has 5 daughters

No wonder Trace is immune to Dramarosa!

[Bonbonlover]

but I’ll believe that when I see it!

I can't wait! great recap!!!

[tango7]

Good recap! I thought for sure that Trace would mess up, but he came thru. Guess he's just a low key guy. I liked his voice and presentation.

[KathyinMaine]

A perfect recap. I just loved it!

[Ellen]

Originally Posted by KathyinMaine

A perfect recap. I just loved it!

to the FoRT!