The Apprentice (U.S. Season 4)

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The Apprentice 4
Winner Randal Pinkett
Season run September 2005 – December 2005
Filming Dates April 2005 – May 2005
Number of episodes 13
Number of candidates 18
Teams Excel and Capital Edge
Season chronology
Previous season The Apprentice 3
Next season The Apprentice 5

The Apprentice 4 is the fourth season of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump as the executive producer and host. The show was aired on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on NBC and started September 22, 2005.

This was the first season of the show not to place in the Top 20 Nielson Ratings; it averaged #38 with 11.01 million viewers.

Contents

[edit] The Apprentice 4 candidates

Unhappy with both the choice of candidates and the "street smarts" vs. "book smarts" premise from the preceding season, Trump went to the auditions and hand-picked 17 of the 18 candidates on Season 4.[1] In addition to candidate handpicking, Trump decided to go back to the premise of men versus women (there was eventually corporate restructuring). The all-women team named their corporation Capital Edge while the all-men team named their corporation Excel.

[edit] Candidates

Team 1 Team 2
Capital Edge Excel
Candidate Age Hometown Result
Randal Pinkett - Consulting Firm Owner 34 Somerset, New Jersey Hired by Trump
Rebecca Jarvis - Financial Journalist 23 Chicago, Illinois Fired in the Season Finale
Alla Wartenberg - Salon & Spa Chain Owner 31 Las Vegas, Nevada Fired in week 11
Felisha Mason - Real Estate Developer 29 Kansas City, Missouri
Adam Israelov - Risk Manager 22 Atlanta, Georgia Fired in week 10
Clay Lee - Realtor 28 College Station, Texas Fired in week 9
Marshawn Evans - Recent Law School Graduate 26 Atlanta, Georgia Fired in week 8
Brian Mandelbaum - Print Company Executive 23 New York City, New York
Markus Garrison - Inventor 41 Sarasota, Florida Fired in week 7
Jennifer Murphy - Ad Sales Manager 26 Los Angeles, California Fired in week 61
Josh Shaw - Beauty Company Owner 30 New York City, New York
James Dillon - Sales Executive 27 Alexandria, Virginia
Mark Lamkin - Wealth Manager 35 Louisville, Kentucky
Kristi Caudell - Sales Executive 24 Gainesville, Georgia Fired in week 5
Toral Mehta - Investment Banker 29 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Fired in week 4
Jennifer Wallen - Realty Company Owner 31 South Fulton, Tennessee Fired in week 3
Chris Valletta - Marketing Executive 27 Dallas, Texas Fired in week 2
Melissa Holovach - Real Estate Investor 30 Tampa, Florida Fired in week 1

Note 1: In an unannounced move, Trump fired four of the people on the losing team at one time.

[edit] Weekly results

Candidate Original team Week 5 team Week 6 team Week 7 team Week 9 team Final task team Application result Record as project manager
Randall Pinkett Excel Capital Edge Capital Edge Excel Excel Excel Hired by Trump 3-0 (win in weeks 3, 7, & 10)
Rebecca Jarvis Capital Edge Capital Edge Excel Excel Excel Capital Edge Fired in the Season Finale 1-2 (win in week 11, loss in weeks 3 & 9)
Alla Wartenberg Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Fired in week 11 1-1 (win in week 6, loss in week 10)
Felisha Mason Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Fired in week 11 1-2 (win in week 9, loss in weeks 4 & 11)
Adam Israelov Excel Excel Capital Edge Capital Edge Capital Edge Fired in week 10 0-1 (loss in week 7)
Clay Lee Excel Excel Capital Edge Capital Edge Excel Fired in week 9 2-0 (win in weeks 4 & 8)
Marshawn Evans Capital Edge Capital Edge Excel Excel Fired in week 8 1-0 (win in week 2)
Brian Mandelbaum Excel Excel Excel Excel Fired in week 8 1-1 (win in week 5, loss in week 8)
Markus Garrison Excel Excel Capital Edge Capital Edge Fired in week 7 1-0 (win in week 1)
Jennifer Murphy Capital Edge Capital Edge Excel Fired in week 6 0-1 (loss in week 5)
Josh Shaw Excel Excel Excel Fired in week 6 0-1 (loss in week 6)
James Dillon Excel Excel Excel Fired in week 6
Mark Lamkin Excel Excel Excel Fired in week 6
Kristi Caudell Capital Edge Capital Edge Fired in week 5 0-1 (loss in week 1)
Toral Mehta Capital Edge Fired in week 4
Jennifer Wallen Capital Edge Fired in week 3
Chris Valetta Excel Fired in week 2 0-1 (loss in week 2)
Melissa Holovach Capital Edge Fired in week 1
Elimination Chart
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13
Randall IN IN WIN IN IN IN WIN IN BR WIN IN WIN
Rebecca IN IN LOSE IN IN IN IN IN LOSE IN WIN LOSE
Alla IN IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN IN LOSE FIRED
Felisha IN IN IN LOSE IN IN IN IN WIN BR LOSE
Adam IN IN IN IN IN IN LOSE IN IN FIRED
Clay IN IN IN WIN IN IN BR WIN FIRED
Brian IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN LOSE
Marshawn IN WIN IN IN IN IN IN FIRED
Markus WIN BR IN IN IN IN FIRED
James IN IN IN IN IN FIRED
Jennifer M. IN IN BR IN LOSE FIRED
Josh IN IN IN IN IN LOSE
Mark IN IN IN IN IN FIRED
Kristi LOSE IN IN IN FIRED
Toral IN IN IN FIRED
Jennifer W. IN IN FIRED
Chris IN LOSE
Melissa FIRED

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Week 1: Let's Get Physical

  • Air date: September 22, 2005
  • Sponsor: Bally Total Fitness
  • Project: Teams had to design and market a workout class for Bally Total Fitness.
  • Capital Edge project manager: Kristi
  • Excel project manager: Markus
  • Winning team: Excel
    • Markus not exempt: Only Adam and Randal voted to give Markus the exemption.
    • Excel's reward: Friar's Club lunch with Donald Trump.
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Initial boardroom:Nearly all members of Capital Edge said that Melissa was negative and obnoxious.[2] Melissa said that she has a hard time working with women.[2] Kristi was responsible for the shoddy leadership and the poorly-made flyer.
    • Sent to boardroom: Kristi and Melissa (Remember that for this season, the losing PM may choose just one person back to the boardroom).
    • Fired: Melissa for not getting along with the team and being a disruptive force.[2]
  • Notes:
    • After splitting the candidates into the two teams, Trump offered a reward to the first person to reach his helicopter, which was on the other side of the golf course. The winner's team would be granted the use of the helicopter for the duration of the task. Mark, from Excel, reached the helicopter first.[3]
    • Melissa's firing marked the first time a female competitor was "first fired" from the show. The initial firees on the first three seasons were David, Rob, and Todd.
    • Melissa later appeared on a "Dr. Phil" episode where she continued to blame Kristi for her firing (though she didn't refer to Kristi by name) before conceding that she hadn't done a good job and needed to look more closely at herself for that.
    • During the filming of the first task, Randal was told that his grandmother had died. After announcing Excel's win, Trump gave Randal the opportunity to leave the show. Randal felt that his grandmother would have wanted him to stay on the show.[4] During the filming of episode 2, Trump allowed Randal to borrow his helicopter and attend the funeral.

[edit] Week 2: There's No Little "i" in Team

  • Air date: September 29, 2005
  • Sponsor: Lamborghini
  • Project: Teams had to create an advertising campaign for Lamborghini cars.
  • Capital Edge project manager: Marshawn
  • Excel project manager: Chris
  • Winning team: Capital Edge
    • Marshawn exempt: Capital Edge--with the exception of Kristi--voted to have Marshawn exempt from firing for Week 3.
    • Capital Edge's reward: Hockey with New York Islanders legends and prospects.
      • At the reward, Rebecca fell and broke her ankle.
  • Losing team: Excel
    • Reasons for loss: Grammatical errors spotted on the team's printed advertisement. Prior to Chris choosing only Markus back to the boardroom, Trump made it clear that Chris should bring Mark into the boardroom.[5]
    • Sent to boardroom: Chris and Markus
      • Firing verdict: Chris took the blame for Mark's mistake since he didn't bring Mark back to the boardroom.[6]
    • Fired: Chris for allowing his emotions to influence his decision-making and for bringing Markus back to the boardroom instead of Mark.
  • Notes:
    • This is the first time the project manager did not bring back the candidate Trump wanted back into the boardroom.
    • In the middle of the task, Randal left to attend his grandmother’s funeral. He arrived back at the agency as Excel was getting ready to present their advertising campaign to Lamborghini.[7]
    • The little "i" in the episode’s title refers to the error in Excel’s advertising. Mark thought that using the small "i" in "Rebirth of Italian Intimidation" to match the small "i's" in Lamborghini would "look better".[8]
    • Because of the NHL lockout taking place during filming of this task, the reward only involved Islanders legends and prospects. Active players were not eligible to participate in the reward because of the lockout not having been settled at the time of taping.

[edit] Week 3: Something Old, Something New

  • Air date: October 6, 2005
  • Sponsor: Best Buy Geek Squad
  • Project: Excel and Capital Edge were both given space at the Cedar Crest Village Home in Pompton Plains, New Jersey to host a technology expo for the senior citizens. All the equipment was purchased at Best Buy using the allotted Best Buy gift cards.[9]
  • Capital Edge project manager: Rebecca
  • Excel project manager: Randal
  • Winning team: Excel
    • Randal exempt: Excel voted unanimously to have Randal exempt from firing for Week 4.[10]
    • Excel's reward: Handing out toys to children at a hospital.
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Sent to boardroom: Rebecca, Jennifer M., and Jennifer W.[11] in spite of the team's criticisms and a strong suggestion by Trump for Toral to be brought back.
      • Boardroom Verdict: Trump disagreed with Rebecca’s decision to not bring Toral back--as well as her decision to bring Jennifer M.--to the boardroom; however, he felt that Rebecca had potential.[12] Carolyn found Capital Edge’s presentation boring,[11] dull and drab[13] and was also the one to point out to Jennifer W. that instead of the cake saying "Techno" Expo, it read "Tethno Expo".[14] Jennifer W. was exposed to be primarily liable for the refreshments and the decorations, prompting Trump to find Jennifer W. to ultimately be liable for the loss.[11]
    • Fired: Jennifer W. for reasons stated on the "Boardroom Verdict" herein
  • Notes:
    • Rebecca started out the episode on crutches after breaking her ankle during the reward from the previous task.[15]
    • After the candidates had left the boardroom, referring to Rebecca, Trump told Carolyn and George, "This girl's either gonna be great or a disaster."[11]

[edit] Week 4: Ice Cream of Genie

  • Airdate: October 13, 2005
  • Sponsor: Dairy Queen
  • Project: Teams had to create a new promotional character for the Dairy Queen Blizzard Treat.
  • Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
  • Excel project manager: Clay
  • Winning team: Excel
    • Clay exempt: All of Excel voted for Clay to be exempt from firing in week 5 before the reward was announced
    • Excel's reward: Playing Baseball with the New York Mets
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Reasons for loss: Jennifer M. lobbied for the Dairy Queen Logo to be placed on the Zip mascot design, but the entire team vetoed it.
    • Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom
    • Fired: Toral for excessive procrastination, including but not limited to not stepping up and accepting the leadership role as Project Manager, and for getting caught lying about why she didn't participate more effectively on the task.
      • Reason for foregoing the final boardroom: Rebecca reluctantly had to admit that she would fire Toral when Trump asked her, for the aforementioned critical error described.
      • Supplemental firing points: Toral not only did nothing in this task, but also procrastinated during the costume presentation phase, including but not limited to not giving Felisha a hard reason why she can't wear the costume. She also disassociated herself from the result, saying the team deserved to lose, but Marshawn strongly pointed out that Toral didn't contribute to either wins or losses.
      • Boardroom tension: Although Alla wasn't polite throughout the task, she alongside Kristi, Jennifer M., and Felisha asked Toral to wear the costume (though the request wasn't polite nonetheless), but Toral refused not only because the costume was poorly-designed, but also for personal reasons (including but not limited to her religious beliefs), however not bringing up the hard reasons why she can't wear "silly-designed costumes" to her colleagues prior to both the presentation and before the boardroom.
  • Notes:
    • Business lesson of the task: Not stepping up to lead the team in lieu of validating and expediting one's-self skills and credentials is considered a critical error as aforementioned.

[edit] Week 5: Lost In Space

  • Airdate: October 20, 2005
  • Sponsor: Sony Pictures
  • Project: The teams had to design a parade float in order to advertise for the upcoming release of the film Zathura.
    • Corporate restruction: Randal transferred to Capital Edge to even out the teams, since the women were down to 6 members
  • Capital Edge project manager: Jennifer M.
  • Excel project manager: Brian
  • Winning team: Excel (Brian exempted)
    • Excel's reward: A Recording Session with Wyclef Jean where the men recorded a song called "Rubble Man".
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Reason for loss: Capital Edge missed the point, that in order to win, they had to do what they could to make Zathura a household name. Team Excel had audio to go along with the float, so that audience members would hear the correct pronunciation. In contrast, Capital Edge's Jennifer M. pronounced Zathura as "Zenthura" several times during the presentation, which gave the executives a bad impression of Jennifer's team.
    • Sent to boardroom: Jennifer M., Kristi
    • Fired: Kristi, for being controlling, a distraction and a nuisance, although Carolyn wanted Jennifer M. to get fired and was visibly displeased when Kristi got axed.
  • Notes:
    • After the firing, Jennifer M. tried to apologize to Kristi for getting her fired, but Kristi was infuriated after the boardroom and quickly snapped back at her.
    • At the end of the broadcast, instead of the usual theme, "Rubble Man" was broadcast as the show ended.

[edit] Week 6: Take Me Out to the Boardroom

  • Airdate: October 27, 2005
  • Sponsor: Dick's Sporting Goods
  • Project: The teams had to design a sporting theme that is designed to increases sales. Capital Edge chose golf and Excel chose baseball.
    • Corporate restruction: Because Capital Edge lost 4 tasks (3 in a row), Carolyn asked the teams to send three players they believe are weak to the other side; Jennifer M., Rebecca and Marshawn were sent to Excel. Adam, Markus and Clay were sent to Capital Edge.
  • Capital Edge project manager: Alla
  • Excel project manager: Josh
  • Winning team: Capital Edge
    • Alla exempt: Before hearing their reward, all of Capital Edge voted to have Alla exempt from firing from Week 7, main reason was being the team thought Alla did a very good job.
    • Capital Edge's reward: Taking a Private Jet to Montauk for a fishing trip and seafood dinner on the beach.
  • Losing team: Excel
    • Apprentice first: Usually Trump would permit the losing project manager to pick up to three people he/she thinks are responsible for the loss, but because Josh was responsible for the worst defeat ever, Josh was not allowed to do so. Instead, Trump (with the exception of when Trump fired a candidate on the spot) allowed Brian to return back to the suite since he was the winning project manager and was issued an exemption from the following task, and he also asked both Rebecca and Marshawn to return back to the suite because they followed the task properly and sold well (Brian also sold and followed the task properly).
    • Sent to boardroom: Josh, Jennifer M., James, Mark
    • Fired: All four of them for being responsible for the worst boardroom loss ever in the history of The Apprentice plus the following reasons:
      • Josh for blatant project mishandling and for a series of terrible decision-making
      • Jennifer M. for not delivering her promises and for making too many excuses why she could not contribute correctly
      • James for building a batting cage which forced the merchandise away from the display, the task focus to be lost, and sales to be grievously hurt
      • Mark for not selling anything
      • See Trump's mass-firing quote
        • Rancic assured Trump that this was the only choice he (Trump) had since none of the "fired four" stepped up or hit the mark correctly post-firing.
  • Notes:
    • This was the first time that Trump was not present to assign the teams their task; rather, Carolyn sat in Trump's chair and assigned the corporate reform and the task.
    • This was only the second time where more than one person was fired in a single episode (outside of the interviews); the first time was when both Wes & Maria were fired in Season Two.
    • This was the worst boardroom loss ever for a team on the history of The Apprentice
      • Capital Edge boosted sales by 74%
      • Excel's sales went down by 34%
      • The margin was 108%—this irritated Trump, as the margin of defeat was large beyond imagination, although viewers recall Trump stating that he had to do something to seriously change Capital Edge due to the corporation's shoddy record-to-date (As of the conclusion of this task, Capital Edge is 2-4).
    • This was also the first time that none of the candidates from the final boardroom returned to the suite, because all four of them were fired, hence it's the very first Boardroom-Cleaning Spree in the history of The Apprentice. Trump wasn't happy about the disastrous loss margin and he found the losing four to be equally responsible for the loss which gave Trump enough information to conduct a mass exodus.

[edit] Week 7: Back to School

  • Airdate: November 3, 2005
  • Sponsor: The Learning Annex
    • Corporate restruction: Since Excel was grievously decimated after the previous boardroom, the team is given the opportunity to take a Capital Edge member, and in turn they take back Randal, who becomes the team's PM for the task.
  • Project: The teams had to design a new class for the Learning Annex. Capital Edge chose Sex in the Workplace and Excel chose Making a Bold Statement.
  • Capital Edge project manager: Adam
  • Excel project manager: Randal (Excel took him back from Capital Edge)
  • Winning team: Excel (Randal exempted)
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Sent to boardroom: Adam, Clay, Markus
    • Fired: Markus, for doing next to nothing on the project and not being able to get his ideas across clearly.
  • Notes:
    • Clay calls Adam a "shy, tight Jewish boy" during the sex presentation and was immediately chastised for it by Adam (Clay apologized) and later George. Clay said that Adam was discussing his not wanting to pay a lot of money on dates, and he was going with Adam's own idea. Adam used this to try to get Clay fired, but he said he did not feel Clay was anti-Semitic, focusing on the comment as an example of Clay's poor judgment and stupidity.
    • Markus is seen smoking a cigar before returning to the boardroom.
    • Trump asked Clay whether he was a homosexual and Adam whether he had any sexual experience. In a typical job interview, those questions should not be asked, but this is not a typical job interview.

[edit] Week 8: Store Wars

  • Airdate: November 10, 2005
  • Sponsor: Lucasfilm and Best Buy
  • Project: The teams had to design an interactive display for the DVD release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith & the video game release of Star Wars: Battlefront II
  • Capital Edge project manager: Clay
  • Excel project manager: Brian
  • Winning team: Capital Edge (Clay not exempted—Reason: not functioning well as a leader and a team player, task imbalance according to Alla)
    • Capital Edge's reward: Spending time with Bill Rancic, and touring Trump Tower at City Place in White Plains—Trump deduced the winning team needed more tutelage from a proven worker since Clay is not exempt.
  • Losing team: Excel
    • Sent to boardroom: All members of Excel—No "Internal Review" by the execs since Trump had enough evidence to fire 2 people
    • Fired for the following reasons:
      • Brian, for being late for the wrong reasons and missing the meeting with the clients (Randal took over and did the lecture himself)
      • Marshawn, for refusing to present (when Marshawn stepped down, Rebecca stepped up).
  • Notes:
    • This is the third time that two or more people have been fired on the Apprentice. The first occurrence was in Season 2 (Maria & Wes) and the second in Season 4 Week 6 (Jennifer, Josh, James, Mark).
    • This is also the second time this season that more than one person has been fired, making the event an Apprentice first.
    • One of the reasons why Excel's display didn't compare with Capital Edge was because according to Trump, Darth Vader was omitted. In business, it's really important to include central characters when making a sales display for movies, television, or other entertainment that exists.

[edit] Week 9: One Hit Blunder

  • Airdate: November 17, 2005
  • Sponsor: XM Radio
  • Project: The teams had to choose an unsigned singer and create a song for them to sing. The song would be aired on XM Radio Café channel and critiqued by listeners who called in. Capital Edge worked with Levi Kreis[1] and Excel worked with Jide[2].
  • Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
  • Excel project manager: Rebecca
  • Winning team: Capital Edge (No exemptions issued)
    • Capital Edge's reward: A private helicopter tour of popular New York City buildings with Trump.
  • Losing team: Excel
    • Sent to boardroom: All members of Excel—No "Internal Review" by the execs as only three players remained.
    • Fired: Clay—All of Excel (especially Rebecca and Randal) performed poorly in this task. Based on past results, Trump opted to fire Clay for excessive abrasiveness (being too difficult to work with) in both this task and in the past
  • Notes:
    • Excel lost because the song created did not fit the market of the station.
    • Exemptions are no longer being offered—from this point on, everyone is at risk.
    • Rebecca's meltdown moment came by when Clay just jumped in interrupting Rebecca's speech to the XM executives.

[edit] Week 10: Shaniagans

  • Airdate: November 24, 2005
  • Sponsor: Coty, Inc.
  • Project: The teams had to wrap an object to promote Country Pop music star Shania Twain's new fragrance by Stetson
  • Capital Edge project manager: Alla
  • Excel project manager: Randal
    • Reason for Randal being project manager: Randal felt that he needed to prove himself that he can relent to any mistake that he did in the past, given that he was on a losing team for two weeks in a row.
    • Megaphone heist: When Randal called Radio Shack to ask for megaphones, the assistant told him another group of people (Capital Edge) called in for megaphones. Randal and Rebecca engaged in a "Megaphone Heist". This is one turning point of the task.
  • Winning team: Excel
    • Spotless record: With Excel's latest victory, Randal is now the only candidate who has never lost as Project Manager (3-0).
    • Excel's reward: A horseback ride through Central Park and dinner with Shania Twain.
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Reasons for loss: Adam and Alla used the majority of their budget on renting the horse and carriages. This forced Felisha to cut the number of temps they could hire.
    • Boardroom issues: When Alla brought up Excel's Megaphone Heist caper, Trump and Bill Rancic both approved of it.
    • Sent to boardroom: Adam and Felisha
    • Fired: Adam, for his reckless budgeting and for using more than half of Capital Edge's $10,000 seed money for carriages that looked bad.
  • Notes:
    • Alla is the first project manager not to face the boardroom, since Trump did not consider her responsible for the loss.
    • As this episode aired on Thanksgiving weekend, a one-hour highlight package of previously unaired footage and a summary was shown.
    • The Internal Review of the Execs was performed immediately after Alla was sent back to the suite; as in the final moments of Chris from The Apprentice 3, the candidates had to remain in the boardroom although it counted as an internal review.

[edit] Week 11: To Lead or Not to Lead

  • Airdate: December 1, 2005
  • Sponsor: Microsoft
  • Project: The teams had to design a commercial promoting Microsoft's Live Meeting program
  • Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
  • Excel project manager: Rebecca
  • Winning team: Excel
    • Excel's reward: A private sailboat ride around New York City
      • Throughout the private sailboat ride, Randal received a surprise visit by his wife Zahara, and Rebecca received a surprise visit by her boyfriend Matt.
      • Trump chose the Private Sailboat Ride as the reward mainly because he believed that Excel needed to "relax".
  • Losing team: Capital Edge
    • Sent to boardroom: Both Felisha and Alla, no internal review
    • Fired: Both of them for the following reasons:
      • Felisha, for her lack of toughness.
      • Alla, for insubordination and for producing/directing/compiling an unairable commercial.
  • Notes:
    • This is the third multiple-firing conducted this year.
    • Season 4 had the most multiple-firings in one season of The Apprentice ever (all multiple-firings were unannounced).
    • This is the first time the finalists have been decided by an unannounced multiple-firing alone before the one-on-one interviews with the four prominent executives.
    • This is the second time in the series that Trump fired every candidate in the boardroom at the time. The first time was in week 6.
    • Capital Edge is the first team ever to be completely closed for business before the one-on-one interviews, because there are no more Capital Edge members.
    • The turning point during this task was when Felisha and Alla butt heads during the acting part of the task, where Felisha failed to halt Alla's insubordination.
    • During the boardroom, Alla and Felisha, again, argue, causing Felisha to break into tears. This occurred despite their supposed friendship. Trump told Alla she was unmanageable, citing that Alla acts like a bully even though Felisha is nice to her. Obviously Felisha was the only one expected to be fired for mass incompetence, but when Alla attempts to leave, Trump tells her to sit back down and fires Alla as well.
    • After the boardroom, Trump went to inform Randal and Rebecca that they were the Final Two.
    • After the task, and before the Boardroom, Randal had a 7-4 record in the 11 tasks. The women were 4-7 a piece. Alla was 1-1 as Project Manager, Felisha and Rebecca were 1-2 each. Randal had the best record with 3-0.
    • Normally, when there's only three or four candidates remaining, there would be an interview process in which Trump (at the behest of the executives) determines whether or not a candidate would be eligible to participate in the final task. For this season, there won't be an interview week since the number of candidates went down from four straight to two.
    • This is the first time two candidates that were interrupted by reward-related injuries and family-related issues refused to quit, even though they were offered a chance to do so.
    • Both commercials are available at Microsoft's official Live Meeting webpage

[edit] Week 12: The Final Showdown

  • Airdate: December 8, 2005
  • Sponsor: Yahoo! and Outback Steakhouse
  • Finalists: Rebecca and Randal
  • Task Dossier for Rebecca: Work with Yahoo! to host a comedy event raising money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
    • Rebecca's Recruits: Chris, James, and Toral
  • Task Dossier for Randal: Work with Outback Steakhouse to host a celebrity softball tournament for Autism Speaks.
    • Randal's Recruits: Josh, Mark, and Marshawn
  • Notes:
    • There are no more teams from this point on— Randal and Rebecca are on their own.
      • Corporation names were used in the final task for the first time in Apprentice history—previously no corporation names would be used on the Final Task
      • Capital Edge "re-opened for business under new ownership and management"—with Rebecca as the sole candidate of the corporation
      • Randal is now the sole candidate of Excel, even though in the last task team names would not be used
    • Because Trump fired Alla and Felisha at the end of Week 11, Season 4 is the first season that does not require one-on-one interviews with the prominent executives.
    • This is the first time that Donald visited the candidates' suite on camera in lieu of declaring both Randal and Rebecca The Final Two.
    • As opposed to Season 3 which recruits were assigned, Randal and Rebecca were allowed to choose their recruits.
      • As recalled from Season 1 of The Apprentice, Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson were allowed to choose their teams, but they were only allowed to choose among the last six fired candidates from that season (Amy, Katrina, and Nick for Bill and Heidi, Omarosa, and Troy for Kwame).
      • For this season, Randal and Rebecca could choose from any of the 16 already-fired candidates, regardless of what position they finished in.
    • As promised, the tasks were quite challenging, with obstacles that included executives threatening to pull out from the event planning project, acts of God (there was a thunderstorm and a very loud lightning flash shown at the end of the episode), and the need to entirely rejigger the venue.
      • After Trump fired Felisha and Alla, he went up to the suite and told Randal and Rebecca to meet George and Carolyn at a restaurant. Trump told both to enjoy themselves because he promised "the last task would be hell".
    • Both Randal and Rebecca reserved the right to re-fire any recruits should for any reason the recruits displease either of them.

[edit] Week 13: Decision Time

  • Airdate: December 15, 2005
  • Preface: Aired live at the Alice Tully Hall within the Lincoln Center limits at New York City before a televised audience, with the remainder of the final task pre-recorded
  • Project: Picks up from where the obstacles started to ensue from Week 12
    • Weather was a threat for Randal—Randal had no choice but to hold the event indoors, not just because of the rain, but because the cold weather as well.
    • Desertion was a threat for Rebecca—Rebecca was forced to utilize a Plan B.
  • Outcome:
    • Rebecca hired a new comedian, but fails to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation
    • Randal forced the charity event inside. He failed to check the weather and used cramped space, but raised money for Autism Speaks.
  • Boardroom: Each of the six recruits get to discuss their bosses, then both Randal and Rebecca had to defend their performance in the final boardroom.
  • Decision: Aired live before a televised audience
    • Toral defended Rebecca since Rebecca did the same for Toral, Trump replied that Toral better defend Rebecca since Rebecca worked really hard for Toral. Trump also stated he agreed with Toral for the first time (he fired Toral on the spot in week 4, see above).
    • Marshawn was the most impartial of the "opinion board"—she gave neutral reasons why Randal should be hired.
    • Jennifer M. also got a chance to speak. While Jen M. really liked Rebecca, Jen M. preferred Randal citing Randal's natural-born leader tendencies.
    • Alla got a chance to respond as well. Alla preferred Randal and accused Rebecca of being the weakest link. Alla said she saw nothing in Rebecca.
  • Fired: Rebecca mainly for her donation method.
    • Although it appeared that Randal was Trump's first choice, Rebecca seemed to be a close second choice until Randal made a controversial comment that Trump should not hire Rebecca.
  • Hired: Randal for raising $11,000 for Autism Speaks.
    • What is next for Randal: Renovation of the chain of Trump Casinos at Atlantic City.
  • Notes:
    • As with Season 3 of the Apprentice, the two projects were described prior to Trump's decision; in Seasons 1 and 2, they were always presented to the hiree after he or she was coronated. Trump asked each finalist which project they would choose if they were hired.
    • A twist at the end was that Trump asked Randal if he would also hire Rebecca into the Trump organization, an Apprentice first.
      • Although Trump said he could have been convinced that Rebecca should also be hired, Randal recommended that Trump rescind that idea, citing that the premise of the "ultimate job interview" was to hire "only one candidate," not two as Randal (in an accidental act of improper word usage) suggested that hiring Rebecca would prompt the show's name to be changed into "The Apprenti" (See proper plural usage). It is also possible that he meant "The Appren-tie", thus alluding to the fact that hiring Rebecca could be viewed as a statement that the final outcome was a "tie".

At Randal's recommendation, Trump rescinded what could have been the first multiple-hiring and a US Apprentice first.[16] Throughout the following week, many were critical of Randal's decision. In an interview with Larry King, Randal defended his decision and said he had no objection to Trump hiring Rebecca at a later date.

    • Series web sponsor Yahoo!, to make up for discouraging Rebecca from requesting donations during the task (although Rebecca could have held other fundraising events, such as a silent auction), opted to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation through their website. They also pledged $50,000 to both charities presented on the show.
    • On The Today Show after the finale, Rebecca received an offer from Wenda Millard (one of the Yahoo! associates who oversaw Rebecca's final task) to write for Yahoo! Finance. The show's official Web site is held at Yahoo!
    • Rebecca appeared at the final boardroom without crutches, as it was clearly evident the entire series had been taped in a span of 45 days, and she had completely recovered from the injury by the December live final.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Trump Redevelops His Own Series". Retrieved on 2006-07-26. 
  2. ^ a b c Episode 1 - Boardroom. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  3. ^ Episode 1 - Assignment. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  4. ^ Episode 1 - Results. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  5. ^ Episode 2 - Boardroom. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  6. ^ Week 2. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  7. ^ Week 2. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  8. ^ Episode 2 - Task Report. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  9. ^ Week 3 - Assignment. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  10. ^ Week 3 Episode Recap. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  11. ^ a b c d Week 3 - Boardroom. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  12. ^ Week 3 Episode Recap. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  13. ^ Week 3 - Boardroom. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  14. ^ Week 3 Episode Recap. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  15. ^ Week 3 Episode Recap. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  16. ^ 'Apprentice' winner refuses to share title. MSNBC (2005-12-22). Retrieved on 2008-03-01.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Candidate websites

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Trump family and businesses
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The Apprentice
Mark Burnett, series creator • Donald Trump, executive producer
Original series
Starring: Donald Trump • Ivanka Trump • Donald Trump, Jr. • Carolyn Kepcher • George H. Ross
Production: Bill Rancic, frequent recurring advisor
Candidate residences: Trump Tower in Manhattan (Location for seasons 1-5, 7)
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