... a woman!I took this post over from Isabelle, who fell ill while putting it together (no worries, she's OK), but I couldn't resist keeping her joke intact. Of course, the winner of this year's Celebrity Apprentice was going to be a woman, given that the finalists were Joan Rivers and Annie Duke.
Last week, Isabelle polled the TV Squad readers on who they thought should win the show and on who they thought would win the show. As of now, 52.8% said that Annie should win while 59.1% said that Annie would win. The poll results are rather close but Annie got the lead for both questions. Were your predictions right?
Well, leave it to The Donald to buck expectations yet again: he picked Joan Rivers as the new Celebrity Apprentice.
I've got to say, though, that Joan deserved it. In the final task, the two leads had to put together an event that had a blindingly confusing mix of a silent auction, branding for Kodak's digital picture frame, and a field trip to see Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk (how long ago was this episode taped, by the way? Wintuk runs in the late fall/early winter, at least according to the ads I saw for the 2009 version).
Despite the fact that Annie raised over $400k to Joan's just over $150k, Joan's auction and party was much more interesting. Female impersonators, Kathy Griffin, and a fun atmosphere will probably attract more people than Bernard Hopkins and a bit of a more "elegant" theme (though I would have probably gone to Annie's party over Joan's). Joan ended up winning three out of the five categories fot the event, trumping (pun intended) Annie's vaunted ability to shake down her pro-poker buddies for large amounts of cash.
So my guess is that Trump picked Joan on the basis that she won the final task. But there was something to be said about her ability to get the folks at God's Love We Deliver to rally around her when the event planner she was assigned quit because she was too demanding.
A word about that: the planner was David Tutera, who hosts a WE network show called My Fair Wedding. As a man who's scheduled to get married at some point in the next couple of years, I've been enticed to sit through a few of the episodes by my fiancee. Given what I've seen there, I can see how this task might be too much for him. He seems to be in love with putting white curtains everywhere, and Joan was looking for bright and fun. Yes, she was demanding, but she wasn't rude or insulting; Tutera probably pulled out when Joan wanted to bring in someone to help him. Yikes. Sensitive much, David?
What was Annie's downfall? Two things: her crummy interpersonal skills and the fact that Joan completely got into her head. After David and his firm pulled out, you can see Annie's eyes go red with rage as she tried to put together a design team at the last second. The scene where Annie bitches about Joan to Tom Green was priceless because Tom wasn't having any of it, calling her out on how much the topic of Joan was dominating her conversation. So you have to give Joan credit; sure, she overreacted to Annie's two-faced nature and how her daughter Melissa was treated, but she managed to drive Annie, who's job is to stay cool and read people, nuts.
But Annie wasn't exactly a person people want to rally around. Green and Dennis Rodman basically did very little, because yet again Annie took it upon herself to do everything. That kind of micromanagement just doesn't work even on short-term tasks, leading to team revolts. Joan, on the other hand, did a much better job at making sure everyone -- yes, even the lazy Clint Black -- made a contribution.
So, did Donald pick the right person? Like I said before, definitely. Joan proved that her famous tenacity is still intact, even after almost fifty years in show biz. I mean, the woman's 75 years old and she has more energy than I do, and I'm half her age. And, despite her ability to cut a person in half verbally and hold a grudge like no one's business, people seem to like her and want to do well for her. You can't really say that about Annie.
But who Donald really should have had in the finals was Jesse James, mainly because of his likability and fly-under-the-radar business sense. But he couldn't pass up the Annie vs. Joan grudge match, and it made for a fun (but 90 minutes too long) finale.
Quick question: Do you think Joan let bygones be bygones in the months between the final task and the live finale? When she walked in, she patted Annie on the shoulder, then hugged her after she won. It even seemed like she was about to say that she didn't dislike Annie, but she was interrupted. For her part, Annie still seems to have a blinding hatred for Joan, but that might have just been to make her case during the final boardroom.
Did Trump make the right decision? Who do you want to see on the show next year? Let us know in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
5-11-2009 @ 4:14PM
boxlight said...
I was disgusted that Trump rewarded Joan's juvenile and psychotic (and possibly senile) behavior with the win. Annie was professional, productive, and surprisingly capable in all aspects.
It's obvious that Apprentice has nothing to the contestant's abilities, work ethic, or integrity. It has only to do with Trump's whims and his Pharoah-like ego.
Celebrity Apprentice has the air of a fixed 50s game show, and I don't see myself tuning in for future contests.
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5-11-2009 @ 10:31AM
Bill said...
I enjoyed this season. Maybe Annie should have won, but I was Ok with Joan winning. I would have preferred a Jesse-Annie final two. I thought Jesse, even though he saved his fund raising (and never got to use it) was the best player along with Annie. But the final task, Joan won. So she deserved it, I guess.
http://tvnewsandnotes.blogspot.com/
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5-11-2009 @ 2:40PM
Peggy said...
NOW I understand Edgar's Suicide.
5-11-2009 @ 3:33PM
Bill said...
Wow Peggy, that's a pretty insensitive and stupid remark.
5-11-2009 @ 10:36AM
virginia patrician said...
joan rivers was not the best choice - it was fixed - trump had her in mind all along or he never would want to embarass the old 75 yr old tramp from the past - she thought she had a license to be rude - well guess what joan - you are no longer funny - you are pathetic as is your horsemouth daughter melissa - you taught her to be just as obnoxious as you- you're both gross - you heated and lied and pacted with donald for the win even though you embarassed the trump family jewels on that jewlery auction nighht with YOUR poor planning and unwillingness to step up to the plate til shoved - well joan - hope not to ever see you again - you;re a disgrace to women
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5-11-2009 @ 12:40PM
dkny said...
wow that is a sad amount of anger
5-11-2009 @ 1:19PM
Scott said...
Virginia, dear... bitter much? Joan Rivers does more on an average Saturday afternoon to better mankind than you'll do in your entire life. Shame on you.
5-11-2009 @ 4:47PM
dovetail said...
Totally fixed Annie was better by a mile. I can not believe people watched the same show becasue I used to love Joan, not anymore. She did cause the party planner to quit and in the real world Trump would have hired Annie all the way. I will find it hard to watch again, I am not sure I will.
The rules were actually changed to let Joan win. It has always been about the money and all of the sudden they make it 5 categories, come on last years winner would never have won under this 5 category format either.
Obviously in all her years Joan has no friends and no matter how Annie was portrayed on the show, she must be nice as her friends always put their money up. Where the heck are Joan,s friends she has been around a lot longer and should have many more than Annie.
5-12-2009 @ 8:01PM
becca said...
Fantastic remark. I agree that Joan is a plastic has-been... I also agree with the comment that we know now why Edger committed suicide. Oh, and that ugly daughter of hers...Does she have her jaws wired shut???(she only opens her lips ,,,and not her teeth !!I agree that Trump had her picked from the start. Always asking her her opinion. Annie, you were the best. AND bought in more money....wasn't that what it was all about. MONEY FOR CHARITY..??
5-11-2009 @ 10:41AM
Eludium-Q36 said...
I can't believe he selected Joan Rivers. She was caught lying about pissing off the event planner who was so turned off by Joan's attitude that he would have nothing more to do with The Celebrity Apprentice (!) and she has so much vitriolic hate in her it blinds her. How could Trump even want someone like this winning his competition ?! No, that was really messed up, but you know, that reflects equally badly on Trump, too, and that won't surprise most people.
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5-11-2009 @ 10:54AM
Snife said...
I've not read such a biased and delusional article for a while.
What is the show about now?, other than being a 2 hour advert for failing brands, its about raising money for charity - there is no job to be had; in that respect this should be the most important criteria for any task. The way they set up the criteria with vague, overlapping and less important aspects was clearly to allow Joan to win the show, something which I started to suspect several weeks ago when she should clearly have been fired (odd that a relative of Trumps helps run her Charity). As I say, for this final task, the criteria set was intentionally very subjective but it can't be argued that Annie raised 3x that of Joan and there is no way her event was 3x better to compensate for this.
Annie Duke without doubt was the apprentice this year - nobody else was even close to her performance and she did it with a much greater deal of integrity than Joan Rivers who I now think is quite detestable; I had previously thought her nastiness was delivered only to be humourous but thats clearly not the case - she is just vile. Yes, Annie got a bit personal on the final but she could clearly see what was happening with Trump and had enough of the un-protested abuse from Joan for the previous 5 weeks. Many corporations i'm sure would be happy to have Annie working for them based on her apprentice performance, I do not think the same could be said of Joan at all.
I don't think i'm going to bother with the Apprentice next year at all - it has become just a joke and i'm not sure exactly why i'm watching.
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5-11-2009 @ 11:46AM
MarkFu said...
I totally agree with your assessment. I'm done with the now cartoon-ish and fixed show. When Rivers pulled the "Hitler" card and her daughter did the drama queen exit, I was essentially over it. Annie was Machiavellian in the way she played the game, yet never had to resort to the vitriol that spewed out of Joan and Melissa. Rodman and Green could not have been more useless. The person I came away with some admiration for was Jesse James, though.
The rest, not so much.
5-11-2009 @ 11:46PM
giin thompson said...
What a disgrace, I will never watch the apprentice again,or buy a kodak product again
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5-11-2009 @ 11:07AM
Keith said...
That show was way too long with way too many commercials in the last hour. They could have done it in 2 hours. I didn't like the abruptness of the ending though. "Joan you win, good night everyone, we'll see you next season"
Annie was too much I. I. I. I and seemed to take over from the first task assignment. Yeah all her rich poker buddies helped her out, cuz that's all they do, play poker. Not like any of them actually need jobs or have gigs and appointments to cover. Take away that poker money and she's nothing but annoying.
Joan's charity is based here at home where you can actually see results. It is an all volunteer organization and all the money goes toward the things they need for the people they take care of. I bet Donald Trump has doubts about those charities who claim to help people in 3rd world countries. Many take a little off the top for themselves and filter the rest of the money. The one claiming to save the children is one of those money laundering charities that no one investigates. "For 20 cents a day you can feed this child" I knew 3 people who did that and they all got the same picture of the same kid along with the same letter and info. I found that rather odd.
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5-11-2009 @ 7:01PM
Brent McKee said...
"Joan's charity is based here at home where you can actually see results."
What has that got to do with anything? And just for the record, while Joan is on the board of her charity, so is Donald Trump's soon to be ex-sister-in-law Blaine Trump. I could say "conflict of interest" right there.
"I bet Donald Trump has doubts about those charities who claim to help people in 3rd world countries. Many take a little off the top for themselves and filter the rest of the money."
The board of Refugees International includes Queen Noor (the widow of Jordan's King Hussein), former Republican Senator and Ambassador to the UN John Danforth, Richard Holbrook, and actors Sam Waterson and Matt Dillon. The chairman of the board is Farooq Kathwari, the president and CEO of Ethan Allan interiors. Yeah, a real corrupt organization.
5-11-2009 @ 11:37AM
Andrew Cheadle said...
I'm no huge "Joan Rivers" fan but this is the Celebrity Apprentice where the winner, and the contestants, are supposed to be celebrities. You asked "What was Annie's downfall?" The real question should be "Who the $% is Annie Duke? For those who don't know she's a 'professional' poker player. WOW! Talk about stretching the definition of celebrity past the point of not having to ask "Who the $% is that?" Seriously, Joan is no prize, but you know who she is.
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5-11-2009 @ 6:47PM
Brent McKee said...
Annie has never made any secret of the fact that she's a professional poker player. She's not the best female poker player in the world (I'd say that would go to Jennifer Harman) but she is probably the best known woman poker player. She finished 10th in the 2000 World Series of Poker while nine months pregnant with her third child, and won $2 million in the televised Legends Of Poker tournament.
5-11-2009 @ 11:43AM
Duane said...
That wasn't hard to guess, here's what I wrote on the poll last week:
>See, I think it's too obvious that Annie will win. I'm >betting that, once the final teams are formed, we get a >bunch of "team rallies behind Joan...but nobody likes >Annie and won't work for her" stuff, which Trump >alluded to in "Annie, do you think people will follow you?"
>The only way to "win" is to be the one that Donald likes >the most for the role. He's already got the brutal >"nothing personal" guy who'll do whatever it takes - >Pierce. Does he need another one? It's not like they >*do* anything, other than present an image. So I think >that this time he's going to round out that image a bit >and soften the "anything goes" with more morals and >hard work and never giving up, etc etc etc... and Joan >wins.
Haven't watched the episode yet, but it sounds like it was pretty predictable. Unlike viewer vote shows, the Apprentice always comes down to simply who they want to pick. To win you have to be the one Donald wants. That's your lesson - sometimes the guy who gets the job isn't the one who did the best job, it's the guy who played golf with the boss, or the guy who is the nephew of the vice president ...
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5-11-2009 @ 12:00PM
MarkFu said...
Previously, I said no more Apprentice for me but, if they do a "Political Apprentice", I'm in. I would like nothing more than to see a bunch of political hacks (pundits too) lie and cheat their way to be an "Apprentice".
Nancy Pelosi would probably win though!
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5-11-2009 @ 12:20PM
Garrett said...
The fact that Donald had however long to actually watch the show and see stuff that he couldnt have seen during the filming of the season and still picked Joan shows how much of a hack/ham for ratings Donald is. Cant fault that but dont disguise it as Joan being a better Apprentice.
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