The Apprentice (U.S. season 11)

The Celebrity Apprentice 4 (also known as The Apprentice 11) is the eleventh installment of the United States version of the reality television series, The Apprentice. On May 16, 2010, NBC announced that the show would be returning to its Celebrity Apprentice format after returning to its regular version for the tenth season of the show.^[1] The season premiered March 6, 2011. Singer John Rich was the winner, while actress Marlee Matlin was the runner-up.

Candidates

The candidates were divided into two teams, males versus females. The women named their team A.S.A.P., an acronym for Artists, Singers, Authors, and Professionals for a Purpose. The men named their team Backbone.^[2][3]

* - This was the amount that Meat Loaf and Hope Dworaczyk won directly from the show. Additional donations to their charities would be made from the sales of the products they created in Weeks 2 and 7 respectively. ** - La Toya Jackson was initially on team A.S.A.P., but moved to team backbone in week 9, due to the fact that she thought that the other teammates in team A.S.A.P. were ganging up on her trying to get her out.

Weekly results

     The contestant was on the losing team.

     The contestant won the competition and was named the Celebrity Apprentice.

     The contestant won as project manager on his/her team.

     The contestant lost as project manager on his/her team.

     The contestant was brought to the final boardroom.

     The contestant was fired.

     The contestant lost as project manager and was fired.

     The contestant withdrew from the show.

     The contestant was reinstated into the competition.

Episodes

Episode 1: Pepperoni Profit

Task 1

• Airdate: March 6, 2011
• Task scope: To sell pizzas and earn as much money as possible.
• Backbone project manager: Richard Hatch
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Star Jones
• Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Dramatic tension: On Backbone, Jose Canseco was put off by Richard Hatch's leadership, and when Richard felt that David Cassidy was being a distraction, he practically pushed him out of the way at one point. Richard eventually apologized for the incident, even though he touched David more than once. On A.S.A.P., Star Jones and Lisa Rinna did not get along, and Dionne Warwick was slow while she was manning the register. Lisa and Marlee Matlin struggled making all the deliveries that Star had made due to New York City traffic, and they were not able to make a $35,000 delivery that was personally arranged by Curtis Stone. In the boardroom, Star blamed Lisa for not making Stone's delivery, and even called Lisa a "little girl". Also, Jose spoke out against Richard, calling him a liar, a bully, and even claiming that Richard struck David.
• Winning team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for win: Despite the fact that they didn't make the $35,000 delivery from Curtis Stone, they earned $115,268 regardless, and had a large amount of celebrity donors. Trump then decided to give Stone's check of $35,000 to Niki Taylor, because the women on A.S.A.P. all thought she was the star performer on this task.
• Losing team: Backbone
  • Reasons for loss: Although they had received celebrity donors from Richard Hatch, Lil Jon, John Rich, Mark McGrath, and Meat Loaf, the men only earned $54,104 and lost by $61,164.
  • Sent to boardroom: Richard Hatch, David Cassidy, and Jose Canseco
• Fired: David Cassidy - for not putting up a fight and not being as passionate about the task as Jose Canseco and Richard Hatch. Trump was unhappy with Richard's leadership, but fired David instead for not contributing enough to this task and for being unable to defend himself, relying on Jose to back him up against Richard in the boardroom. Although Richard was disrespectful to him, David did not take responsibility for his own actions which led to his dismissal.
  • Cameo appearances by Russell Simmons, Wendy Williams, Katie Cassidy, Heidi Bressler, Marc Ecko, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca.

Episode 2: Child's Play

Task 2

• Airdate: March 13, 2011
• Task scope: Create a children's book and perform it to a group consisting of four to five year olds. The story must also revolve around at least one team member. The teams will be judged based on three criteria: originality, age appropriateness, and creativity.
• Backbone project manager: Meat Loaf
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Lisa Rinna
• Result: A.S.A.P came up with a story revolving around La Toya Jackson about a lion who couldn't roar. Backbone came up with a story based on Lil Jon about him becoming a superhero.
• Judges: Donald Trump; Eric Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: John Rich and Mark McGrath were able to effectively organize their book and performance, and despite an early setback when Gary Busey and Jose Canseco got lost on their way to the venue, guest judge Holly Robinson Peete thought their concept was very original, age appropriate and entertaining. Meat Loaf won $20,000 for his charity. In addition, Trump told him that Backbone's story would be published as an eBook on Amazon.com, and any profits would also go to the charity.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for loss: Even though they gave a stellar performance on stage and had showcased their actual book to the audience (unlike Backbone), Holly Robinson Peete thought that their theme of "being yourself" was too sophisticated for children. In addition, the font on each page in the book was way too small for children (and even some of the adults) to read.
  • Sent to boardroom: Lisa Rinna, Star Jones, Dionne Warwick
  • Fired: Lisa Rinna - for having poor leadership skills, inability to control her team, losing the respect of her entire team, and for acknowledging that she crumbled under the pressure.
• Notes:

Episode 3: Unhappy Campers

Task 3

• Airdate: March 20, 2011
• Task scope: The celebrities must create an outdoor camping experience.
• Task sponsor: Camping World
• Backbone project manager: Gary Busey
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Niki Taylor
• Result: The men selected the two bigger tour buses, while the women picked two RVs that were more family oriented.
• Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: Even though their interiors paled in comparison to A.S.A.P.'s, they had dynamic exteriors, along with team members such as John Rich (who sang a song) and Jose Canseco (who tossed around a baseball with onlookers) contributing to the presentation. Overall, they showcased the company's image and a more outdoor camping experience better than A.S.A.P. did.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for loss: Despite terrific interiors for the campers, their exteriors were bland due to an absence of greenery and signage. Their tours were also badly organised, and the women (with the exception of La Toya Jackson) did not properly explain the features of the campers.
  • Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom - Niki humbly took responsibility for her team's loss, saying that all the other girls worked very hard and did an amazing job. She said she couldn't blame anyone else, even though she didn't get along with Dionne, and Hope was generally agreed to have done a very poor job of organizing the tours. Trump admired Niki's integrity, but fired her on the spot.
  • Fired: Niki Taylor - for losing the task as project manager and taking total accountability for her team's failure.
• Notes:
  • Gary Busey nearly exceeded Backbone's budget, which would have caused the team to automatically lose the task. Mark McGrath was able to avert this by negotiating to get an order of greenery for nothing, which brought the team back into budget.

Episode 4: Off the Hook

Task 4

• Airdate: March 27, 2011
• Task scope: To produce a commercial for ACN's new video phone, IRIS 5000.
• Task sponsor: ACN Inc.
• Backbone project manager: Lil Jon
• A.S.A.P. project manager: NeNe Leakes
• Result: Backbone made a humorous commercial involving an older couple on Christmas talking to their son and his gay lover, while A.S.A.P. made a heartfelt video of a girl in Paris communicating with her father and deaf mother.
• Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: Although the men took a comedic approach to their video and ran with a more risque concept, they earned 53% of the vote of the ACN representatives.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for loss: While the women had a more heartwarming commercial, they had earned only 47% of the vote of the ACN representatives, losing by a 6% deficit.
  • Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom - Trump immediately fired Dionne after he deemed it was "too late" to defend herself.
  • Fired: Dionne Warwick - for flippantly telling Trump that he should fire her when she was being criticised by the other women. She later tried to take back her remarks, but Trump felt that she had challenged his authority, in addition to confirming his worries that she could not work with her team, and fired her.

Episode 5: The Art of the Deal

Task 5

• Airdate: April 3, 2011
• Task scope: Celebrities must create their own work(s) of art and sell them for charity.
• Backbone project manager: John Rich
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Marlee Matlin
• Judges: Donald Trump; George H. Ross; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: A.S.A.P
  • Reasons for win: Despite setting up the gallery 5 minutes prior to opening, the team raised a total of $986,000.
• Losing team: Backbone
  • Reasons for loss: They raised over $626,000, but ended up losing by $360,000.
  • Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom - Trump had even let the A.S.A.P. team stay during the internal review and advise Trump on whom to fire.
  • Fired: Richard Hatch - for raising the least amount of money in the task.
• Notes:
  • Jose Canseco had to withdraw from the show after learning that his father, who was battling cancer, had become terminally ill. Before he left, Trump gave $25,000 to his charity. This was the third time on The Apprentice that a male celebrity decided to leave the show on the fifth episode. The others were Vincent Pastore in Season 7 and Michael Johnson in Season 9.
  • This was the first task in Apprentice history in which Trump kept the winning team in the boardroom and allowed them to advise him on the firing.
  • The total amount raised for charity in this episode, including the totals of both teams and the money given to Jose Canseco and La Toya Jackson's charities, was $1,676,000, which is more than has previously been raised on any season in the show's history.
  • Because Marlee let John Rich keep the $626,000 he raised, Trump decided to level Marlee's earnings to an even $1 million, instantly giving her the record for the most amount of money ever raised by a single contestant. The previous record holder had been Piers Morgan, who raised $754,000 in the first Celebrity Apprentice. This also made Matlin the first person to ever earn $1 million on the show. She held the record until the end of the season, when John Rich surpassed her total.
  • La Toya Jackson won an award for having the "best hat", which earned her $25,000 for her charity. Her hat was dedicated to her brother, Michael.
  • John Rich made an Apprentice record by raising the most money from a single transaction by selling his guitar for $470,000.

Episode 6: Australian Gold

Task 6

• Airdate: April 10, 2011
• Task scope: The celebrities must create a promotional experience for the Australian Gold suntan lotion
• Task sponsor: Australian Gold
• Backbone project manager: Mark McGrath
• A.S.A.P. project manager: La Toya Jackson
• Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for win: Even though the executives thought the team did not utilize their team as well as they could have (specifically not having Hope Dworaczyk as their model, which would better promote the product and draw a larger crowd), they liked the integration of different sports and seasonal themes, along with the company theme ("live the gold life") and their live mascot, Sydney the Koala.
• Losing team: Backbone
  • Reasons for loss: Despite liking a song that the men created, and the draw of crowds to their booth, executives felt that the main theme and their brand of the company were not communicated well enough. The executives did not like their themes of pirate and treasure and also disliked the fact that Gary Busey offered to be a pitchman for the company when they visited the booth, which they felt was inappropriate.
  • Sent to boardroom: Mark McGrath, Gary Busey
  • Fired: Mark McGrath - for taking full responsibility for the pirate concept, which primarily caused the team to lose. Although the team unanimously felt that Gary should be fired, Mark could not defend himself enough to reverse his actions and save himself. On top of that, Mark did not bring back Lil Jon, who was responsible for the decision not to use Sydney the Koala, which was the other fatal mistake (beside the theme) that Backbone made.

Episode 7: Raising the Steaks

Task 7

• Airdate: April 17, 2011
• Task scope: The celebrities must create a 20-minute live cooking demonstration for Omaha Steaks at The Institute of Culinary Education. They were additionally tasked with creating and naming an original Omaha Steaks variety pack.
• Task sponsor: Omaha Steaks
• Backbone project manager: Gary Busey
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Hope Dworaczyk
• Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: A.S.A.P
• Reasons for win: The executives felt the women's presentation was much more cohesive and that their "Poker Night" variety pack was well done.
• Losing Team: Backbone
  • Reason for loss: The executives much preferred the women's presentation, even though the men had a solid theme for the cooking demonstration and had actually cooked their meals live on stage. The executives also felt that Gary's story regarding a family on Father's Day had been rambling and incomprehensible. They also felt that their "Variety Pack" lacked focus, and they didn't like having the audience members come up to actually eat the meals.
  • Fired: Gary Busey – for his very poor performance as a project manager and for his inability to function well with his teammates. While he had argued with the other men (particularly John Rich) several times during the task, Gary refused to blame any of them and took full responsibility for the loss.
• Notes:
  • Hope Dworaczyk won $20,000 for her charity, and was told that the women's variety pack would be produced and sold by Omaha Steaks, with all profits from the pack going to the charity as well.
  • Shortly after the episode aired President Barack Obama alluded to it in a speech at a Washington dinner. Complimenting Donald Trump's judgement, Obama stated that "you recognised that [there] was a lack of leadership, so you fired Gary Busey. These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well-handled, sir. Well-handled."^[22]

Episode 8: Bitter Suites

Task 8

• Airdate: April 24, 2011
• Task scope: The teams must create a four-page pictorial and an advertising campaign for the Trump Hotel Collection.
• Task sponsor: Trump Hotel
• Backbone project manager: John Rich
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Star Jones
• Judges: Donald Trump; Eric Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Dramatic tension: The executives from the Trump Hotel Collection disliked both pictorials and their ad campaigns. They felt both teams did a mediocre job and didn't think there was a winner amongst both teams. It was up to Trump's decision as to which team had "lost", and who had a better presentation and sales pitch.
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: Despite the fact that they had a lousy ad with various typos and did not even include contact information or a phone number for Trump Hotel, the men's team had a better sales pitch and a smaller list of errors.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reason for loss: The executives felt that their presentation was too rehearsed. In addition, the women had an information folder that had multiple flaws with their graphics.
  • Sent to boardroom: Star Jones, La Toya Jackson, and NeNe Leakes
  • Fired: La Toya Jackson - though Trump did not feel she performed significantly better or worse on the task than the other team members, he took into account that the sense among the women was that La Toya was their overall weakest link and felt firing her would give A.S.A.P. a more fair chance to compete against Backbone.
• Notes:
  • John Rich won $20,000 for his charity.
  • Despite her victory as team leader the previous week, Trump strongly implied that he would have fired Hope Dworaczyk had she been brought back into the boardroom, and said that Star Jones should have brought Hope back instead of NeNe Leakes. This was one of several major errors that Trump thought Star made, but there was still a general feeling that she was the strongest member of A.S.A.P. (with the possible exception of Marlee Matlin), and Trump decided that he could not fire her based on her past record in the contest.

Episode 9: Shear Madness

Task 9

• Airdate: May 1, 2011
• Task scope: The teams must each produce a hair show promoting hair styling products produced by Farouk Systems, including CHI hair straighteners and BioSilk hair products, emphasizing the safety of the products and the fact that they are made in America.
• Task sponsor: Farouk Systems
• Backbone project manager: Lil Jon
• A.S.A.P. project manager: NeNe Leakes
• Judges: Donald Trump; Eric Trump; Ivanka Trump
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: Farouk loved the men's focus on the brand and their cosmopolitan theme. Although he felt that they didn't address the safety of the products well enough, Farouk enjoyed having Lil Jon as the MC.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for loss: While the women did focus on the safety of the products, and Farouk loved the representation of the products and having Marlee Matlin as their model, he felt that the women's team did not have much of a theme. Farouk also felt that NeNe was a weak emcee who did not address the brand well, and was not impressed with Hope Dworaczyk's modeling. Despite praise for their stylists, Farouk also believed that they were the ones running the show, and not A.S.A.P.
  • Sent to boardroom: NeNe Leakes, Star Jones, and Hope Dworaczyk
  • Fired: Hope Dworaczyk - for being seen as a weaker competitor than NeNe Leakes and Star Jones and for "flying under the radar" for too long. Despite NeNe's unprofessional outburst at the very beginning of the task and her two failures as a project manager, Trump felt that NeNe and Star (and Marlee Matlin) could be a dominant force to beat the opposing team.
• Notes:
  • Lil Jon won $40,000 for his charity. The prize for the winning project manager in this task was originally supposed to be just $20,000, but Farouk decided to add another $20,000 out of his own pocket.
  • This was the first time in the history of The Apprentice that a previously fired candidate had been reinstated into the competition; La Toya Jackson, who had been fired in the previous episode, was brought back to the show as a replacement for Jose Canseco
  • Prior to the task, NeNe Leakes had a massive argument with Star Jones in front of Trump and Farouk, because NeNe felt Star had pushed her into becoming the Project Manager. Star attempted to explain that she did this because NeNe was the only remaining contestant who had not won any money for their charity, but NeNe felt Star was trying to set her up for failure. This continued into the boardroom, where NeNe repeatedly and viciously attacked Star's reputation and personality, despite maintaining that Hope Dworaczyk should be fired.
  • The ending of this episode was disrupted during its airing in some time zones in North America due to breaking news coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden.^[23] Subsequently after, several conspiracy theorists suggested that President Obama had consciously timed the announcement in order to bump the show, serving as retaliation for Trump's very public questioning on whether the president is constitutionally eligible to hold the office.^[24]

Episode 10: Laugh On

• Airdate: May 8, 2011

Task 10

• Task scope: Produce and sell tickets to a Live Comedy Event.
• Corporate shuffle: Prior to the task announcement, Star Jones told Trump that she was no longer willing to work with NeNe Leakes due to the massive arguments they had in the two previous tasks. Trump therefore moved NeNe over to Backbone, and sent Meat Loaf to fill her place on A.S.A.P.
• Backbone project manager: La Toya Jackson
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Meat Loaf
• Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jim Cramer
• Winning team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for win: Star Jones was able to secure a video cameo by Tracy Morgan, and all the team members were able to bring in large donations. A.S.A.P. raised $102,080.
• Losing team: Backbone
  • Reasons for loss: While Backbone were able to secure the services of Jimmy Fallon, and actually had him host the show rather than just making a cameo, only John Rich and Lil Jon brought in any donors. NeNe Leakes quit the show at the start of the task, and while La Toya Jackson organized their comedy event well, she wasn't able to secure any donations. Backbone raised $82,500
• Sent to the boardroom: No final boardroom
• Fired: La Toya Jackson - for admitting that she had been the weakest member of Backbone and that John Rich and Lil Jon were not responsible for the loss.
• Notes:
  • NeNe Leakes had disappeared at the start of the task and nobody knew where she was. When Trump contacted her by phone, NeNe accused him of having bias towards Star Jones (claiming he had accommodated Star by having NeNe removed from A.S.A.P.) and refused to return to the show. In the boardroom, Trump retroactively fired NeNe, calling her a quitter. Trump also claimed in the boardroom that all the people who have previously quit the show (which include Verna Felton, Michelle Sorro, Vincent Pastore, and Michael Johnson) have called him personally and told him it was the worst mistake of their lives.
  • This is the first season of The Apprentice to feature two people leaving the show on their own accord.

Task 11

• Task scope: Create a 60-second commercial for the new OnStar Mirror.
• Task sponsor: OnStar
• Backbone project manager: John Rich
• A.S.A.P. project manager: Marlee Matlin
• Judges: Donald Trump; George H. Ross; Donald Trump, Jr.
• Winning team: Backbone
  • Reasons for win: Although the OnStar representatives had numerous problems with Backbone's commercial, including shoddy special effects, Lil Jon's over the top performance, along with the fact that a woman was depicted driving without a seatbelt, they felt that the advert clearly communicated the features of the product. Allowances were also made for the fact that Lil Jon effectively had to do the first half of the task single-handedly, after John Rich fell ill with a sinus infection.
• Losing team: A.S.A.P.
  • Reasons for loss: Their advert, which starred and was written by Meat Loaf, failed to make clear what was being advertised and came across as a general advert for the company rather than one specifically made for the OnStar Mirror. It also contained what the OnStar executives considered an offensive stereotype of police officers.
• Sent to boardroom: Marlee Matlin, Star Jones, and Meat Loaf
• Fired: Star Jones - for failing to put the information about the OnStar Mirror in the commercial and for overreacting to what she considered to be a sexist insult by Meat Loaf in the boardroom when he said "sweetie" to her.
• Notes:
  • This episode featured two tasks and three people exiting the show.^[25] Also, this was the first episode of the season to be three hours long.

Episode 11: Retro Rumble

Task 12

• Airdate: May 15, 2011
• Task scope: Individual interviews with the past winners of The Celebrity Apprentice, who will later advise Donald Trump on who should advance to the final two.
• Interviewers: Piers Morgan, Joan Rivers, Bret Michaels
• Fired:
  • Lil Jon - for having little self-belief after admitting that he did not think he would make it to this stage at the start of the process.
  • Meat Loaf - for displaying questionable judgement throughout the process and for being unable to control his emotions.
• Finalists: Marlee Matlin & John Rich

Task 13

• Task scope: The final two, with teams of three previously fired candidates to help, each finalist must produce a launch campaign for 7UP Retro, design a new can, produce a 30-second commercial, create an editorial, and present the entire campaign at a gala.
• John's Team: Lil Jon, Star Jones, Mark McGrath
• Marlee's Team: Meat Loaf, La Toya Jackson, Richard Hatch
• Notes:
  • This is a two-part episode. The first part are the interviews, where the final four celebrities will be whittled down to just two finalists. The second part will be aired live where the winner will be chosen on live television by Donald Trump.
  • 7UP thought that both contestants were considered winners so before the task started, 7UP gave both Marlee Matlin and John Rich $50,000 for each of their charities.

Episode 12: Sweet Victory (Season Finale)

• Airdate: May 22, 2011
• Prologue: This is a continuation of the previous episode, Retro Rumble, which is interspersed with commentary by Trump from the telecast of the live finale. The Celebrity Apprentice will be crowned live at the end of the episode.
• Tension: Marlee's team is frustrated because in addition to her lack of leadership, their celebrity Geoffrey Holder may not appear to film the commercial due to contractual issues. On the other hand, John Rich may have sabotaged himself because he announces the beginning of the Def Leppard concert before they are ready to appear.
• The Celebrity Apprentice: John Rich
• Fired: Marlee Matlin
• Notes:
  • Dionne Warwick, Richard Hatch and Jose Canseco were not present for the live reunion portion of the show. Richard Hatch was in prison at the time while the other two reasons were unknown.
  • After announcing that he would "do something different", Trump simply announced John Rich as the winner of The Celebrity Apprentice 2011.

US Ratings

References