The Apprentice (U.S. season 1)

The Apprentice 1 is the first season of The Apprentice, which aired on NBC in the winter and spring of 2004. It is currently available on DVD. It featured 16 candidates.

The first season was a ratings smash, ranking at #7 in the average weekly Nielsen Rankings, with an average viewership of 20.7 million viewers each week. The final episode of the season was seen by an estimated 28.05 million viewers and ranked as the #1 show of the week, beating out a new episode of CSI. It was the most popular new show of 2004.

Summary

Season 1 had real estate magnate Donald Trump as the show's executive producer and host.

The season started with 16 contestants, eight men and eight women from around the United States. Each had been successful in various enterprises, including real estate, restaurant management, political consulting, and sales. During the show, the contestants lived communally in a suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan, located on the fourth floor. Elimination took the form of one contestant being "fired" by Trump at the conclusion of each week's episode. Filming the entire season took three months.

The contestants were originally divided into two "corporations" by gender. The men chose to name their company "Versacorp", and the women chose to name their company "Protégé Corporation".

Each week, Trump assigned the teams a task. Each team selected a "project manager" to lead them in the week's assigned task. The winning team received a reward, while the losing team faced a boardroom showdown with Trump and two of his associates in order to determine which team member would be fired.

Elimination proceeded in two stages. In the first stage, Trump confronted the losing team and required the week's project manager to select two additional team members which the project manager believed were most responsible for the loss.

The rest of the team was dismissed (allowed to go back up to the suite, because they were safe to stay for the next round), and the project manager and the two other selected members faced a final confrontation several minutes later in which Trump fired one of the three. Trump is now well known for his catchphrase "You're fired!", and he sought to trademark the phrase in 2004.^[1]

The Candidates

Both teams, or "corporations", were divided by their gender:

Weekly results

     The contestant was hired and won the competition.

     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.

Weekly summary

Week 1: "Meet the Billionaire"

• Air date: January 8, 2004
• Task: Starting with seed money, purchase supplies and sell lemonade on the streets of New York.
• Trump Monologue: Location, Location, Location - Any product sales depends on the location, it has to reach the right target demographic.
• Protégé project manager: Ereka
• Versacorp project manager: Troy
• Winning team: Protégé Corporation
  • Reasons for win: The women won by 3-1 margin of earnings. They stay in Midtown and use the promises of kisses to sell lemonade for five dollars a glass.
  • Reward: Visit Donald Trump in his penthouse suite, taking in the pleasures of true fortune.
• Dramatic tension: Versacorp member Sam begins to get on the other's nerves by his crazy antics, including fruitlessly trying to sell a single glass of lemonade for $1,000.
• Sent to boardroom: Troy, Sam, and David
• Fired: David, for doing poorly at the task and saying that sales was not his forte in the Boardroom.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • Though originally 90 minutes long, the repeated airing of the episode was cut to 60 minutes.
  • 18.5 million people watched this episode’s initial airing, fulfilling NBC's expectations for the much-anticipated premiere. In fact, the series premiere came in 7th place for the week it aired.
  • When Versacorp enters the boardroom, Trump is already sitting in his chair. This is the only Apprentice episode ever where Trump arrives in the boardroom before the candidates.
  • While Sam's attempt to sell a glass of lemonade for $1,000 alienated his team-mates and was a big factor in his being brought back to the boardroom by Troy, such attempts to sell everyday goods for vastly inflated prices would become commonplace in the later Celebrity Apprentice editions of the show.

Week 2: "Sex, Lies and Altitude"

• Air date: January 15, 2004
• Task sponsor: Marquis Jet Card
• Task: Both teams are to design an advertising campaign to sell private jet service, which they must pitch to the owner of the company.
• Trump Monologue Do Not Deal With Underlings - Trump learned early in his career making deals can be tough and you have to work with the boss where ever possible.
• Protégé project manager: Amy
• Versacorp project manager: Jason
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: Amy and Ereka personally met with Marquis Jet's people and learned that nothing was off limits for their ad. This led to Tammy headlining their campaign with heavy sexual undertones, while depicting parts of the aircraft in black and white artistic shots. The women also pitched their ads to Deustch wearing flashy flight attendant outfits.
  • Reward: A trip to Boston in a private jet and dinner at a fancy restaurant.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: Due to Jason's decision not to meet with the client, the men chose to create a conventional campaign, complete with photos of the cockpit and passengers designed to illustrate the utility and convenience of the service.
  • Dramatic tension: Sam further aggravates his team members and is excoriated for taking a nap on the floor during the task.
  • Sent to boardroom: Jason, Sam, and Nick
• Fired: Jason, for not meeting with the client at the start of the task, which led the team to lose.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • Jason did not see the point of meeting the client for their campaign, while several of his teammates did, and Trump himself was aghast that Jason did not meet with company's owner at the beginning and thereby learn that Deutsch and the executives wanted a flashier campaign.
  • The women's reward was marred by an ugly argument that Omarosa instigated with Ereka. After Omarosa called Ereka emotionally unstable, Ereka made a reference, saying that was like "[the pot] calling the kettle black", to which Omarosa interpreted as racist. After the season ended Omarosa tried to imply that Ereka and another, unnamed candidate had used even stronger racist insults off-camera, but Trump and Mark Burnett both denied this, adding that had Ereka or any other candidate had used racist language, they would have been immediately removed from the show.
  • This episode is the first time that the project manager has the words "Project Manager" in their name at the bottom of the screen instead of their job.
  • 20.2 million people watched this episode’s initial airing.

Week 3: "Respect"

• Air date: January 22, 2004
• Task: The teams are given a scavenger list of items which they are required to purchase during the day at the lowest possible total price.
• Trump Monologue "The Art of Negotiation" Buying the right thing at your price, fitting it into the budget.
• Protégé project manager: Jessie
• Versacorp project manager: Sam
  • In a "put up or shut up" maneuver, Sam is appointed project manager by the men, as Bill states Sam will either do well and redeem himself or do poorly and get fired. He splits the men into two teams, with him and two others staying back at the suite to perform research by phone and over the web.
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: The women split into two groups, each of which goes into a different part of the city. While some of the women attempted to use their sex appeal to seduce the sellers into selling items at a nice discount, Amy was able to find a huge bargain when buying a golf club.
  • Reward: Dinner at the 21 Club restaurant.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: The men only negotiated 9% of their savings, while the women had negotiated 22%. In addition, Sam's obsession with buying the gold at the expense of other items and his poor research skills (he got a phone number for a store that didn't sell golf clubs and then sent them to a store that wasn't amenable to bargaining to a lower price) doomed the men.
  • Sent to boardroom: Bowie, Kwame, and Sam
• Trump's comments: Trump is displeased at the men's failure for the third week in a row. In particular, he felt that Sam's decision to send his team members away from other tasks to buy the gold bar (which would have a very small discount compared to the other items on the list) was one of the primary reasons the team did not succeed. He also wasn't happy about Sam bringing Bowie and Kwame (who were the most critical of Sam, with Kwame bluntly saying he did not respect Sam and needed to be fired if lack of respect for Sam was a sticking point) instead of Nick (who was the nicest to Sam) back into the boardroom.
• Fired: Sam, because his team did not respect him as a leader, for his decision to negotiate for the gold bar instead of other items that would have been easier to bargain for, and for letting his emotions to affect his decision-making by bringing Bowie and Kwame back into the boardroom and not Nick.
• Dramatic tension: Ereka and Omarosa fought in the previous episode, and it continues in this episode, and Katrina stepped in and tried to make them reconcile, unsuccessfully. Amy said it might be worth losing a task at some point to get rid of Omarosa.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • Sam’s firing in this episode was named number 96 on TV Guide / TV Land’s 100 Most Memorable TV Moments in December 2004. Trump says his trademark dismissal quote, "You're fired!" to Sam three times, who famously stared for an extended duration of time until Trump further prompts them to leave.

Week 4: "Ethics Schmethics"

• Air date: January 29, 2004
• Task sponsors: Planet Hollywood
• Task: The teams are required to collectively manage the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Times Square on successive evenings, with the performance judged by the increase in profits over the same day the previous year.
• Trump Monologue A Deal is a Deal Once the handshake has been made, it has to be honored.
• Protégé project manager: Katrina
• Versacorp project manager: Kwame
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: The women go first, and again used their sexual appeal to increase sales. They did particularly well with liquor sales, and they earned about $16,000 of profit, increasing the restaurant's sales by 21%.
  • Reward: Protégé won a trip to a top-notch golf course where they enjoyed the driving range and the course. There, Donald Trump and Carolyn informed the ladies that they have more to show than just their sex appeal and that he would like to see more of that.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: On the next night, the men keep several of their members on the sidewalk hawking coupons and selling basketballs autographed by Kwame, under the assumption that he is an NBA star. Nick strongly disagrees with this ploy, and contributed less to the challenge. His lack of enthusiasm was strongly criticized by the members of his team, as well as Trump. Bill later argued with Troy and Kwame and felt their actions fell into "a grey area". They only got $14,000 in profit, only raising the sales by 6%. They were also criticized for losing four tasks in a row.
  • Sent to boardroom: Kwame, Bowie, and Nick
  • Trump's comments: Increasing alcohol into sales was the goal, which the men missed the mark.
• Fired: Bowie, for failing to effectively merchandise at Planet Hollywood, but also because he did not present himself as a leader to the same extent as the other two in the boardroom. Trump was disappointed in Kwame, but nonetheless allowed him to stay for another task. He was also critical of Nick, but wanted to see him perform as the project manager for the next task.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • 18.9 million people watched this episode's initial airing, which came in 6th place for the week.
  • While everyone else was overjoyed when Sam was voted out, Nick was disgusted by their reactions and stated that Sam would get vengeance through him.

Week 5: "Trading Places"

• Air date: February 5, 2004
  • Because the men lost 4 tasks in a row and lost four players, the teams are reorganized by a "corporate reshuffle", with the names retained but now mixed by sex. For Versacorp, Nick begins by selecting Amy, then takes Bill, Katrina, Ereka and Tammy. For Protege, Kristi begins by selecting Troy, then takes Jessie, Kwame, Heidi, and finally Omarosa by default as the last person left.
• Task: Starting with seed money, the teams are required to purchase items and sell them at the greatest profit return at an open-air flea market.
• Trump Monologue 'Stand up for yourself' was the monologue for this week with Donald Trump stating 'no one else is going to fight for you'.
• Protégé project manager: Kristi
• Versacorp project manager: Nick
• Winning team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for win: The Versacorp team yielded a profit of over $600, whereas Protégé finished in the red, with a loss of $75.78.
  • Reward: A tour of the Yankee Stadium.
• Losing team: Protégé
  • Reasons for loss: The members of Protégé lost $183 on this task, and its location could not be accounted for.
  • Sent to boardroom: Kristi, Heidi, and Omarosa
• Fired: Kristi, for not making any case as to why she should be allowed to stay. Her leadership qualities were also in question.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • Protégé's first loss ends Versacorp's 4-week losing streak.
  • Donald Trump warns the new teams sex appeal will not cut it in the real world in reorganising the teams, following up the discussion he had with all-female Protege in Week 4.
  • This episode marks the first time that female candidates were in the Final Boardroom. Kristi chooses to bring Heidi and Omarosa into the final boardroom, where Kristi becomes the first woman fired on The Apprentice.
  • George Ross does not appear in this episode because of a business trip. He is replaced (temporarily) by Bernie Diamond.

Week 6: "Tit for Tat"

• Air date: February 12, 2004
• Task: This week's task is to raise money for charity at a Sotheby's celebrity auction. The teams are told to sign up celebrities for an auction to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The celebrities that took part in the auction were Regis Philbin, Rocco DiSpirito, Carson Daly, Tiki Barber, Ed Bernero (an Executive Producer of Third Watch), Russell Simmons, Kate White (the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine), Nicole Miller, the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Isaac Mizrahi.
• Trump Monologue Know What You're Up Against In order to compete you must be aware of your competition.
• Protégé project manager: Omarosa
• Versacorp project manager: Bill
• Winning team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for win: Strong returns from packages involving Daly and DiSpirito. Also, Versacorp won because they were able to minimize the numerous gaffes that Tammy made throughout the task.
  • Reward: None, as this was a charity event, Trump decided that the feeling of raising money for a charity was reward enough.
• Losing team: Protégé
  • Reasons for loss: Protege did well on balance but did not have the bigger-money items that Versacorp did.
  • Sent to boardroom: Omarosa, Heidi, and Jessie
• Fired: Jessie, for being the weakest negotiator on the team and for not defending herself after being harshly criticized by Omarosa.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • A show-mance began between Nick and Amy.
  • Omarosa harshly criticized Heidi, stating she had not found Heidi to be professional or have much class before this event (where she did praise Heidi's performance). Donald Trump was disgusted with Omarosa's comments, but seemed just as angry that Heidi (and Jessie) both said they liked Omarosa after being so strongly insulted, which he found hard to believe. He said that while both women's reactions bothered him, he felt Heidi was tougher than Jessie.

Week 7: "Dupe-lex"

• Air date: February 19, 2004
• Task: The teams restore and rent out apartments.
• Trump Monologue God Is In The Details Trump believes that customers look at the detail a small flaw such as selling an unwashed used car can cost you a loss for $200 where as it would only cost $10 to get it washed.
• Protégé project manager: Troy
• Versacorp project manager: Katrina
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: Protégé Corporation finally won after leasing their apartment with a 27% rent increase.
  • Tension: Katrina did criticize Troy for being out of control and Tammy turned against her teammates by saying: "I think we got duped, to be honest." That got infuriated from her teammates.
  • Reward: A trip to Donald Trump's mansion in Bedford for a picnic.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: Versacorp only gained 10% in the rent. Katrina decided having Bill doing the negotiations of the price in the apartment, but he did not negotiate a better or higher price of the apartment.
  • Sent to boardroom: Katrina, Bill, and Tammy
  • Initial critics: Versacorp felt that Tammy was disloyal and felt she was difficult to work with. Otherwise, Katrina was responsible for her lousy leadership and should have contributed with the negotiations and Bill for being a mediocre negotiator for not negotiating a better price for the apartment.
• Fired: Tammy, for being disloyalty of her team, being difficult to deal with, and turned against her teammates.
• Notes:
  • Heidi finds out her mother has colon cancer. Trump says she can leave the game to be with her mom if she wants, but she says she wants to stay and compete.
  • Amy, who was originally reshuffled onto Versacorp, is selected to come back to Protégé Corporation because of the initial 6 vs. 4 deficit.
  • Troy and Kwame are finally on a winning team.
  • First time at least one male and one female were at the final boardroom.

Week 8: "Ice Escapades"

• Air date: February 26, 2004
• Task: Both teams sell bottled water called "Trump Ice" with Donald Trump's photo on each bottle.
• Trump Monologue Beggars Can't Be Choosers Never beg in front of a customer, you have to sell a product to an interested customer, begging a customer to buy something will not get you a good deal.
• Protégé project manager: Heidi
• Versacorp project manager: Ereka
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: Troy devised a plan where the Trump Ice could be purchased in bunches over a period of several weeks, thus allowing businesses with limited storage space to not be swamped with too much product.
  • Reward: A helicopter tour of New York City in Mr. Trump's private chopper.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: Nick did poorly as a salesperson, claiming that he would be a superstar at selling the water, then delivering poor results. Also, Ereka's leadership was sorely lacking.
  • Sent to boardroom: Ereka, Bill, and Nick
• Fired: Ereka, for letting her emotions influence her decision-making, and for not having a strong defense when Nick and Bill jointly listed her deficiencies as a leader.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • 20.0 million people watched this episode's initial airing. Despite the big numbers, the installment came in at No. 11 on the weekly charts.
  • Ereka made the fatal mistake of letting her friend, Katrina, go back up to the suite and fight in the boardroom against Nick, incorrectly believing that Bill would support her in this decision. Ereka also lost her temper during the argument against Bill and Nick, which did not help her case against getting fired.
  • This is the first task of the season (and the series) where both project managers were of the same sex.

Week 9: "DNA, Heads and the Undead Kitty"

• Air date: March 4, 2004
• Task: This week's task is to pick one artist from an array of controversial and strange painters, sculptors, and other kinds of artists, and then sell the art at a gallery. Protégé Corporation picks a surrealist artist named Meghan Boody. Versacorp sticks with a more mainstream artist named Andrei Petrov, who specializes in abstract art paintings.
• Trump Monologue You've Gotta Believe A seller has to have faith in what is being sold.
• Protégé project manager: Kwame
• Versacorp project manager: Nick
• Winning team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for win: Versacorp sold 8 pieces for $13,600, blowing Protégé out of the water. Nick made an executive decision for his deadlocked team to go with an artist whose work was a smash hit at the gallery.
  • Rewards: Nick is awarded with 10 minutes alone with Mr. Trump, talking about the tricks of the trade. Trump told Nick, "Even when you weren't, in theory, doing well, I thought you were doing well."
• Losing team: Protégé; they had only sold one piece with only $869 in sales.
  • Reasons for loss: A gap of nearly $13,000 in sales between the two teams. Protégé chose an artist with a bizarre body of work that the gallery patrons did not like. Members of Protégé did not even like the artwork themselves, and were therefore unable to sell any of their pieces with conviction.
  • Sent to boardroom: Kwame, Heidi, and Omarosa
• Fired: Omarosa, for making too many excuses for herself.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • After a highly emotional board room, where Omarosa breaks down because of her alleged "concussion".
  • Project Manager Nick chooses Amy to come to his side, Versacorp, for this task. Trump half-jokingly says that with Amy always being chosen join new teams so often, maybe he should hire her right away.
  • Midway through Trump's discussion with Carolyn and George, Omarosa walks in and complains. This marks the first time a candidate has interrupted Trump and his viceroys midway through a discussion.
  • Omarosa would later become a contestant of The Celebrity Apprentice, where she was fired in week 10.
  • This was the fifth consecutive week that a woman was fired, and the number of men remaining is now greater than the women.

Week 10: "Wheeling and Dealing"

• Air date: March 11, 2004
• Task: The teams take over a pedicab shift. Protégé Corporation sells prepaid punch cards, modeled after Troy's phased-sales plan that was the winner on the Trump Ice task. Versacorp sells advertising on the rickshaws that they ride. Amy uses previous contacts made in the game to quickly amass a large amount of advertising commitments. Kwame spends much of the afternoon as a driver but without being able to land a single fare. After one of the ads (for a restaurant) is found to have fallen off one of Versacorp's pedicabs, Nick irritated his teammates by going back to the restaurant owner and returning the full amount paid. When Troy sees Versacorp's pedicab advertising, he realizes Protégé is sunk and in a rare moment of humility states, "It was a great idea. I didn't come up with it." With Protégé's victory disappearing into thin air, Heidi begins swearing under her breath at passersby when she is unable to convince them to buy rides.
• Trump Monologue Think OutSide The Box Do not stick with the tried and tested and make room for creativity and innovation.
• Protégé project manager: Troy
• Versacorp project manager: Bill
• Winning team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for win: Bill had the bold idea of selling ads to put on their Pedicabs (inspired by NASCAR) and as a result raised $3680.
  • Rewards: A ride around Manhattan on a yacht name Calypso.
• Losing team: Protégé
  • Reasons for loss: Protege's sales ideas could not match the ad revenue Versacorp brought in. They only got $382 in sales.
  • Sent to boardroom: Troy and Heidi
• Fired: Heidi, because Trump was concerned that she may lack the leadership skills to run one of his companies and contributing as a follower than a leader.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • There are ethical battles and morale-boosting schemes.
  • A new rule is imposed in this episode: when a team is down to 3 members, the Project Manager sends 1 person up to the suite, and goes into the final boardroom with the other.
  • One of Versacorp's ads was Marquis Jets, which both teams worked with in episode 2.

Week 11: "A Look Back"

• Air date: March 18, 2004
• Notes:
• Recap of first ten weeks, along with previously unaired footage.
• No new task, no firing.
• This episode was added because NBC did not want the show to compete against CBS' coverage of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship first round games, knowing how the ratings of the tournament, would be too hard to compete against because of the heavily regionalised coverage of the tournament. Likewise, Mark Burnett Productions refuses to let The Apprentice compete head-to-head against CBS' Survivor, which is also a Mark Burnett production.
• One particularly humorous outtake was the one featuring Omarosa calling in the doctor to get advice on her "terrible head injury". When the doctor said it was nothing serious, she was not satisfied, and proceeded to check into the hospital.

Week 12: "Circus, Circus"

• Air date: March 25, 2004
• "Corporate Reshuffle": Protégé Corporation is down to two candidates against four on Versacorp. As in the past when the teams have become overly uneven, Trump has the smaller team choose a player from the winning team. Kwame and Troy select Bill, breaking with the "tradition" of picking Amy, as Troy said she had already received enough kudos. Versacorp now consists of Amy, Katrina and Nick.
• Task: The teams head to Atlantic City, New Jersey where they will be responsible for registering gamblers at the Trump Taj Mahal Resort and Casino. The team whose registered gamblers wager the most money wins. Protégé's priority was to get the people to gamble as much as possible, rather than to attract as many gamblers as possible. In a bid to get people to stay, Protégé decided to raffle off $1,000 cash late in the evening. Versacorp also raffled off a prize at the end of the night where the lucky winner could either have a drive in an expensive sports car or collect $300, this prize however was far less effective of making the people stay. Protégé decided to send in a caged tiger where the people gambling for Versacorp were to distract them from gambling. At the end of the night, Protégé attracted slightly fewer gamblers than Versacorp, but the gamblers of Protégé wagered much more each.
• Trump Monologue It's Easier To Think Big A person reflection of Trump on how it has been always practical for Trump to take the next step.
• Protégé project manager: Kwame
• Versacorp project manager: Amy
• Winning team: Protégé
  • Reasons for win: Protégé is able to earn over $123,000, thanks to Bill's plan to target high rollers (VIP's).
  • Reward: Protege stayed overnight at the best suite in The Trump Taj Mahal with $3000 in gambling money.
• Losing team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for loss: At the end of the task, Versacorp takes in over $105,000. At some point, Amy did something that took people off the floor and hurt Versacorp's numbers, but no specifics were given.
• Sent to boardroom: Amy and Katrina
• Fired: Katrina, for a lack of contributions to the task by comparison to the other members of the team. This was the first task where Amy lost, and despite having made arguably the most mistakes of anyone on the team, Trump decided that he could not fire her given her past successes.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • This is the first time Amy has been on a losing team, breaking her ten-week streak. She currently holds the record for longest time ever without losing a challenge.
  • Bill is not happy to be chosen by Kwame to join Protege, saying that he is not a fan of Troy and does not respect the way he does business. In the Season 1 DVD, Bill refers to his new teammates as "Dumb and Dumber".
  • George Ross does not appear in this episode. Mark Brown replaces him while he is away.
  • Katrina tried to use her sexuality to convince the Chrysler executive into letting them auction off the Chrysler Crossfire.
  • 22.8 million people watched this episode's initial airing, rebounding from last week and building upon the recap episode by five million viewers, pushing it far enough to take second place for the week.

Week 13: "The Price is Height"

• Air date: April 1, 2004
• Task: This week's task is to rent out a luxurious penthouse for one evening at Trump World Tower for no less than $20,000 for one night.
• Protégé project manager: Troy
• Versacorp project manager: Nick
• Winning team: Versacorp
  • Reasons for win: Versacorp took in $40,800 for the win, thanks to a deal at the very last minute.
  • Reward: A flight and lunch to Trump's Mar-A-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Florida. Amy's sister and Nick's father surprised them on the plane.
• Losing team: Protégé
  • Reasons for loss: Protégé took in $35,001. Troy's sales style annoyed one prospective customer who walked away from the penthouse.
  • Sent to boardroom: Troy and Kwame
  • Firing verdict: During the boardroom, Bill, Kwame, and Troy were asked about their education. Troy only held a high school diploma, while Kwame held a Masters degree from Harvard, and Bill has a college degree from Loyola University, both schools Trump knew well. Troy would fire Kwame, so Bill was not nominated onto the Boardroom. Troy and Kwame would face the final wrath of Trump after Trump took time to review the performance of the Boardroom Nominees.
• Fired: Troy, for sometimes using unethical business practices throughout the duration of the interview process, and partly due to lacking the education of the other two contestants.
• Trump thoughts: Although Kwame was spared, Trump actually felt Troy was more of a leader than Kwame; He had never really led during his three stints as project manager but it was Kwame's education that spared him from getting the axe.
• Notes:
  • Episode recap from NBC.com
  • 20.2 million people watched this episode's initial airing, just edging into the top five for the week.
  • This was the first time in eight weeks that a man was fired.

Week 14: "Down to The Wire"

Semi-Final

• Air date: April 8
• Task: Face an interview with four of Trump's executives. Two people will be fired.
• Fired:
  • Nick - for not gaining the respect of his peers and for lacking leadership, despite an impeccable record as project manager (3-0) and being a respected sales representative. In addition to a general agreement among the executives, all three remaining candidates unanimously recommended that Trump should fire him.
  • Amy - for not earning the respect of Trump's executives. Although she had a near perfect team record (losing only one of the twelve tasks), the executives did not like her whatsoever, and one of them even remarked that "she reminded me of a stepford wife".

Final

• Finalists: Bill and Kwame
• Teams:
  • Protégé: Kwame, Heidi, Omarosa, and Troy
  • Versacorp: Bill, Amy, Katrina, and Nick
• Tasks:
  • Protégé: Manage a Jessica Simpson concert at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Versacorp: Manage a golf tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York
• Notes:
  • Bill Rancic was only 5-7 (with a 2-0 Project Manager Record) [1] and Kwame Jackson was 3-9 (1-2 as Project Manager) [2] in the 13 weeks. It is the only time in Apprentice history where the final two each had a losing record in all of the episodes throughout the season, because of all of the switching of members of teams.
  • Omarosa does not fulfill her duties, and Jessica Simpson ends up being lost. Kwame's uncertainty about how to deal with her led to confusion about whether he could have fired her. During the season 3 finale, George Ross clarified this point, saying that the project managers could use their employees in any way they wanted, a situation where Kwame would have been free to fire Omarosa from the task.
  • Episode recap from NBC.com

Week 15: "Season Finale"

• Air Date: April 15
• Jessica Simpson booked her own transportation, without informing Kwame, and arrived at the hotel safely with her band. At the golf tournament, Bill lost track of some of the inventory.
• Omarosa broke orders and took Jessica Simpson away when she was supposed to meet with Donald Trump. Trump gets impatient as Kwame is unable to locate Ms. Simpson.
• Omarosa continues to make attacks concerning Kwame's handling of the Jessica Simpson concert.
• Both tasks are successful. Trump introduced Simpson at her concert, and donated $25,000 to Operation Smile, an organization which Simpson sponsors.
• Trump's comments: Trump was aghast when he found out that Kwame did not fire Omarosa for excessive false testimony and felt that his explanations for not dismissing her were unsatisfactory.
• Fired: Kwame, for his inability to control Omarosa and her insubordination on several occasions throughout the concert.
• Hired: Bill, because Trump thought Bill did a very good job and Carolyn had nothing but positive comments about Bill. He gets to choose from two jobs, and has only three minutes to decide. He selects the project of overseeing the building of Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Illinois, on the site of the present Chicago Sun-Times Building. The other option he had was to oversee and manage a new Trump National Golf Course and resort in Los Angeles.
• Part of this episode is taped at the same time as the Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica' second season premiere. Only footage with Donald Trump introducing Jessica at the concert is seen, as footage featuring Kwame and his team had to be removed so there would be no spoilers prior to the airing of The Apprentice.

References

External links

• NBC.com: The Apprentice
• The Apprentice Rules: Donald Trump and Martha Stewart

Candidate websites

• Katrina Campins
• Jessie Connors
• Bowie Hogg
• Kwame Jackson
• Troy McClain
• Bill Rancic
• Sam Solovey
• Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth
• Nick Warnock