CELEBRITY APPRENTICE - EPISODE # 1

AND IN THE BEGINNING!

Sunday, March 14, 2010
NBC- 9:00 - 11:00 PM

The big "D" meets the contestants at the train station and the "music" begins. The expressed goal for these people is to give back to charity.

Teams as pre-determined were to be men versus women. Their first assignment was to determine team names.

Team Names: Women - TENACITY Men - SOLID ROCK.

Team leader selection was not made within the team but rather by the opposite team.

Team Leaders: TENACITY - Cyndi Lauper, SOLID ROCK - Bret Michaels.

FIRST TASK

To run a diner with the winner being determined by tips and numbers.

All monies from both teams go to the winning team.

TheRestaurant Locations:

Burger Heaven - TENACITY : 67th Street and Lexington Avenue, New Yor

Burger Heaven - ROCK SOLID : 53rd Street and Madison Avenue, New York

Business Strategy

TENACITY: Greater number of customers rather than higher menu costs.

Provide a $100.00 burger for those people who want to make a larger charitable donation.

SOLID ROCK: Higher price point, thereby greater money with fewer customers.

Let the Work Begin

After each team decided on it's strategic plan they visited the restaurant site and immediately began the food prep work so that they would be ready for the 11:00 AM service time the following day. In addition, work assignments and team member solicitations for donor-customers were initiated. The men set out to call all the important and influential people of New York. Darryl Strawberry was looked up to for soliciting the most charitable customers since he lives in New York and has a lot of contacts. Chef Curtis was in charge of the diner. As the women made their contacts it became evident that Cyndi Lauper was frustrated and concerned for her potential celebrity participants and focused on Rosie O'Donnell, who she saw as a key contributor, but would not participate because of her strained relationship with Donald Trump. Each team member set out to complete his/her designated task in preparation for the Diner opening the next day.

THE BIG DAY !

TENACITY activity: Each team member had assumed a role within the diner but it appeared as though chaos ruled. At one point, Sharon described the scene as a "Star Wars" bar. The crowd was large, with people lined up around the corner waiting to get in. Despite the somewhat chaotic scene every team member was working hard. In question however, was Holly. She was the accountant but did nothing "physical" that is, unless you consider routing customers out to enable bigger donor patrons to get into the diner, doing something. She appeared to be somewhat bossy and frustrated, at least to me. When Joan Rivers and her male guest came into the diner, they were well received and she seemed impressed with the service and the food and felt that the prices were fair, especially liking the $100.00 burger for those people wanting to give more to charity.

Meanwhile, THE SOLID ROCKS were busy in their diner. At first, business was slow and cause for concern. The customers came and with them came the money. Things looked to be going well.... well! at least until Joan and friend arrived. They were greeted, seated and their order was taken by Rob. Things seemed to go down hill from there. When their food was finally presented to them, by Rob who had gotten involved with conversation with other customers and focusing more of presenting his side of innocence concerning his political dilemma than food service, it was cold. Needless to say that changed the perception of everything going on in the diner. Her assessment was that the service was too slow, the prices were "outrages" and the food was cold.
Unbeknown to both teams, Joan was a plant who would report back to Donald as to her take on both diners. Donald Jr. had also visited both diners and was received differently. Cyndi, as Team Leader was busy and didn't have time to talk with him but he saw Wall Street guys as customers, using that as an indication of business. His visit with the Solid Rock, Team Leader, Bret Michaels was quite different. He was given time as well as being impressed that the men were working together well, and that there was more organization. That too left an impression that would be carried back to the Board Room.

BACK IN THE BOARD ROOM

Discussion centered around how well the teams worked together and the profits, including tips. TENACITY team members went first and related that there was a feeling that they worked well together and that there was NO weak person. They gave the impression that they were pleased with the monetary outcome; $29,599.00 + $10,000 from Joan- as her favorite team.

SOLID ROCK seemed quite pleased with the work and the outcome although Bret expressed that he felt that he was the weakest team member despite the fact that he was the leader. The total monies raised was raised to $100,00.00

Donald then revealed that Joan Rivers, in her report back to him liked TENACITY and felt that Rob's poor service was the main reason she couldn't choose ROCK SOLID. Because of the superior profit made by ROCK SOLID, they were declared the winning team this week and they were dismissed to be able to observe via video the actions in the Board Room with the losing team.

AND IN THE END

Donald was left to meet with the ladies of TENACITY in order to determine who would be eliminated as a result of the loss. Discussion ensued as to possible reasons why they were not as successful and explore who as a result of a weak performance should be "FIRED". Cyndi expressed that she felt because Rosie O'Donnell wouldn't participate there was a significant impact on the end results. Holly expressed concern for the fact that big donors did not get into the restaurant that big money was missed. She felt that it was in part because it was Carol's job to give out fliers and get the crowd and she felt that Carol didn't do her job. Ivanka stated that she felt that a major issue was the menu pricing and Cyndi spoke up and assumed responsibility for that since she was the team leader. When asked who should be fired, no one seems to know who. Maria stepped up and said that she felt that it should be Carol because she doesn't know how much money was coming in. Carol volunteered that Holly did nothing to dirty her hands thereby indicating a lack of work. Sharon felt that Carol was too low key and has no team spirit. Summer concluded that she felt it was between Carol and Cyndi. Because Cyndi could not make a decision as to which two other team members she should bring back into the Board Room for the final decision, Donald announced that he would pick from the entire group. He said that since most of the members indicated that Carol was the weak link, he said "Carol, You're Fired". Carol, quick to think, approached Donald about making a donation to her charity since that is why they are there. He relented and gave $10,000 to be donated to the North Shore Animal League.

AND SO BE IT . . . . . . . . . . The TENACITY team was dismissed.

TUNE IN NEXT SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2010 FOR EPISODE #2