The third season of "The Apprentice" is shaping up to be the most intense yet. While the dynamic of "Street Smarts" versus "Book Smarts" is interesting in theory, neither team seems to have any real competitive edge, making each week a very close call.
So far, the success of each group has hinged almost solely on the performance of the project managers, with the rest of the team exerting minimal influence on the outcome of each task. John did a great job mobilizing Net Worth (Street Smarts) in the first challenge, managing a Burger King restaurant, and his efforts paid off. But the next week, Brian led the very same team to disaster with his mismanagement of their renovation of a Jersey Shore motel. In the third episode, it was project manager Danny's complete incompetence that led Magna (Book Smarts) to failure.
For the fourth challenge, the teams met with advertising guru Donny Deutsch to develop 30-second advertisements for a new product from Dove: Cool Moisture Body Wash. (Say what you will about the product placement on the show, it makes much more sense here than on "Survivor" or "American Idol.) Deutsch gave the teams very little guidance, only briefly suggesting that they try to go out on a limb with their ad campaigns.
Magna may have gone a little too far out with their idea, which amount to--in their own words--a "vegetable porno with a gay twist." This is where the lack of real-world experience really brought the team down, as not one member considered the fact that even a hint of homosexuality in a mass market ad campaign could be disastrous. Erin, the project manager, took the idea and ran with it, dragging the rest of the group along for the ride.
The first sign of trouble for Magna was when Erin got a little too excited looking at the head shots of potential models for the ad. This was only the first step in a complete lack of focus that culminated in the hired actors waiting around the set for nearly two hours before the team showed up. Erin clearly had no idea how to deal with one very pissed off actress, but thankfully for Magna, Bren was there to calm things down.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
My money's on John, or maybe the black dude who hasn't said much as yet (very smart to do in the early going).
What's up with the Trump tie-in commercial for the "official release" of the new Dove commercial? The borderline with infomercial land is getting dangerously close.
That said: overall, I think many of the weak links have already been fired after this week. There are some very strong players left on both sides which should allow the rest of the season to be very entertaining.
Eric Berlin
Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash
2 - Screen Rant
Magna may have gone a little too far out with their idea?
LOL, yeah, I guess you could say that. :-)
If I believed for a second that Trump would hire a non-college grad (which I don't think he'll do) my money would be on John of Net Worth. He's smart, gets along with everyone, and knows how to lead.
Vic
3 - Angela Chen Shui
Thanks for the great run through... missed it this week.
4 - kcw
Who was that pissed off actress? She was great!
5 - Eric Berlin
She was kinda great... "My call time was two hours ago... There's a 90% chance I'm leaving..."
Bren did charm her in a smooth, slightly sleazy manner... look for him to make it pretty far in.
6 - Rodney Welch
The only strong contender so far that I can see is John. He has the smarts and the communication skills, and while Bren or Erin might squeak by here and there, I can't imagine them as long-haul survivors.
Could Trump trust one of his companies to a high school grad? That's what's interesting about the Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts twist, as Trump leans toward the highly educated. That's why Kwame scored over Troy in the first season -- both had delivered about equally, but Trump felt in the end he could more easily trust one of his companies to an Ivy League Goldman-Sachs broker than a savvy high school grad. Kwame, of course, ultimately lost to Bill, who graduated from Loyola. Not as impressive as Kwame on background -- though not bad either -- but he had beaten him at the performance level.
Last season, the eternal student Kevin made it to the Final Four, and superbright power attorney Jen squared off against Kelly, who of course won.
A great education doesn't neccessarily mean you win, obviously, but those people do seem to have a decided edge. It's understandable. You want someone helming a company who understands finance and markets at an advanced level, and a good education can give you that. (So can practical experience, but anyway.)
So John's early break-out performance is interesting. It would be interesting to see him in the final two against one of the Magna types.
As for the ads, both were just horrendous. The "gay one" at least had a veneer of professionalism to it, though; the other one just plan LOOKED crappy as well, with all those juvenile home-editing system wipes. It was incompetent. He made the right choice. Poor Kristen -- blabbing to the end about her terrific leadership skills as the cab drives her away to oblivion.
(The above was written last week, and didn't get posted in that Twilight Zone period when the system was down. Luckily, I saved it.)