The Celebrity Apprentice (also known as The Apprentice 7) is the seventh installment of the reality game show The Apprentice, and the first of The Celebrity Apprentice. This season features celebrity candidates vying for the title of Donald Trump's, "Best Business Brain," as a way to revitalize the series, with the winner donating their proceeds to charity. This installment marked the series' return to New York after spending the previous season in Los Angeles and features abstract paintings by Seattle-based artist Maeve Harris. The series premiered on NBC on January 3, 2008, at 9:00 pm.
This is the first season where the candidates did not reside in a communal penthouse of Trump Tower which was more as a meeting vicinity and also the boardroom. The celebrities lived in Trump International Hotel and Tower. There are also no traditionally given rewards to the winning team apart from the winning project manager receiving an amount of $20,000 along with available proceeds from the tasks to be donated to the winning manager's favorite charity. Nevertheless, the firing rule remained. America's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan was the winner, beating country music singer Trace Adkins in the finals. Morgan was the only celebrity fired during the original British celebrity edition of the show.
Contents
Candidates
The following is the list of candidates for this season, with their original team placements. The show went back to its original concept of men versus women. The all-women team named their team Empresario (a Spanish term meaning "entrepreneur",) while the all-men team named theirs Hydra (after a monster from ancient Greek mythology.)
Donald Trump, in an apparent gesture to reconcile his feud with Rosie O'Donnell, offered her a contestant spot on the show but was turned down in a statement by O'Donnell's spokeswoman.
Weekly results
The candidate was on the losing team.
The candidate won the competition and was named The Celebrity Apprentice.
The candidate won as project manager on his/her team.
The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team.
The candidate was on the losing team and brought to the final boardroom.
The candidate was fired.
The candidate lost as project manager and was fired.
The candidate quit the competition.
The candidate was absent during the week due to previous engagements.
Episodes
Episode 1: Selling Hot Dogs
Airdate: January 3, 2008
Task scope: Each team had to sell hot dogs on the streets of New York City for as much money as possible.
Hydra project manager: Stephen Baldwin
Empresario project manager: Omarosa
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Hydra, with total sales of $52,286.
Reasons for win: Hydra used Radio City as their location and used their celebrity status to drastically up-sell the hot dogs and Gene Simmons used his contacts to put up impressive numbers. Piers Morgan also came up with an idea whereby anyone who paid $100 or more for a hot dog would get to have their picture taken with one of the celebrities, encouraging passers-by to make more substantial donations.
Losing team: Empresario, with total sales of $17,038.79.
Reasons for loss: Empresario did not use their celebrity status to the extent they could have and chose sound business principles instead. Many hot dogs were sold for much lower prices than Hydra had, and their location (which was near Penn Station) was deemed awful by the Trumps, mainly due to the numerous food courts at the station.
Sent to boardroom: Omarosa, Tiffany Fallon, and Carol Alt
Fired: Tiffany Fallon – for being the least effective saleswoman on her team, playing the game low-key, and for holding out on her contacts. While Omarosa led the team to failure after she forbid her teammates to use their celebrity status and Carol Alt was responsible for picking their bad location, Trump was nonetheless impressed with their hard work, and he did not like that Tiffany (a Playboy Playmate) did not call Hugh Hefner to help with the task. Tiffany stated that she was waiting for a more opportune event to use his services, but Trump ultimately fired her for it.
Episode 2: Pedigree Community Awareness Ad
Airdate: January 10, 2008
Task sponsor: Pedigree
Task scope: Each team must create a heart-warming commercial advertising for both Pedigree dog food and the Pedigree Adoption Drive.
Hydra project manager: Gene Simmons
Empresario project manager: Nely Galán
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Terry Lundgren
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: Once again, Hydra utilized their celebrity status to improve the quality of the commercial, using Trace Adkins' deep voice for the voice-over and having Lennox Lewis star in the commercial, which made it a success.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: The client felt Nely got carried away during their presentation for their advertisement, and Empresario did not utilize as much celebrity power to sell their commercial. Although they used Marilu Henner as a voice-over, it was not distinctive enough to empower their commercial and the other voice-overs that had been used were deemed undesirable for broadcasting.
Sent to boardroom: Nely Galán, Carol Alt, and Nadia Comăneci
Fired: Nadia Comăneci – for lacking a competitive drive and over concerns that she would be an effective leader. While Nely Galán admitted that she was too ambitious regarding the project and took full responsibility for the loss, Trump still believed that she was an exceptional teammate. Trump also felt that Nadia did not defend herself well enough against Carol and Nely, which added to his belief that Nadia could not lead the team.
Notes:
Episode 3: Mr. Outside the Box
Airdate: January 17, 2008
Task sponsor: Kodak
Task scope: Each team must highlight Kodak as an ink producer with significant cost reduction to consumers. Each team was provided with an empty Airstream trailer to use as part of their sidewalk promotion.
Corporate Reshuffle: Since the women are down to 5 members against 7 on Hydra, Mr. Trump placed Gene Simmons on Empresario to even out the teams, and perhaps help the team win a task. He subsequently introduced himself as the "benevolent dictator" to Omarosa's confusion and the Hydra's amusement.
Hydra project manager: Tito Ortiz
Empresario project manager: Gene Simmons
Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jim Cramer
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: While their presentation was not as refined as Empresario, Hydra was on target with the message Kodak wanted to promote: the reduction of ink costs with their printers. In addition, Hydra raised more revenue than Empresario.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: Even though the judges felt that they had a better presentation, Empresario did not use the appropriate message, focusing more on the functions of the printer and not so much the ink. Trump considered this to be mainly the fault of Nely Galán, who failed to relay the necessary information to the rest of the team after she talked over the Kodak executives and paid little attention to what they were saying.
Sent to boardroom: Gene Simmons, Jennie Finch, and Omarosa
Fired: Gene Simmons – by default, as the other two candidates he selected for the boardroom were not responsible for their team's failure. While Trump felt that Nely Galán was at fault for the loss, Gene believed his approach to the task was correct and the executives from Kodak failed to see it. Even when strongly advised by Trump to bring back Nely, Gene refused to do so, and his independence and steadfastness to his beliefs ultimately got him fired.
Episode 4: A Knight on Broadway
Airdate: January 24, 2008
Task sponsor: Nederlander Producing Company of America
Task scope: Each team must sell tickets to Broadway shows. The team that raises the most money wins.
Hydra project manager: Vincent Pastore
Empresario project manager: Marilu Henner
Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Vince McMahon
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: The men secured a last-minute donation for $10,000 from Richard Branson thanks to Piers Morgan, putting them just above the women in the final total.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: Both teams worked exceptionally well throughout the task, but the women lost narrowly by $2,000. It was also discussed that Nely Galán had arranged a donation that came too late to be counted toward their total.
Sent to boardroom: Marilu Henner, Carol Alt, and Jennie Finch
Fired: Jennie Finch – for her minimal contributions throughout the process and her discomfort while working in a cut-throat business environment like The Apprentice.
Notes:
Marilu Henner had help from David Hyde Pierce from the Broadway show Curtains. Bob Saget also came into Hydra's area to buy tickets.
Vincent Pastore praised Piers Morgan for bringing in the big bucks and willing to get his hands dirty. He also called him the MVP of Hydra.
Episode 5: The Croc and the Rat
Air date: January 31, 2008
Task sponsor: Crocs
Task scope: Each team had to come up with a marketing campaign dealing with donating shoes to children in third world countries.
Hydra project manager: Piers Morgan
Empresario project manager: Carol Alt
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Empresario
Reasons for win: Despite the judges' concern about the cost of their campaign, they created a more effective and creative marketing approach.
Losing team: Hydra
Reasons for loss: While the men were acclaimed for using Trace Adkins' slogan ("Wear Them, Share Them"), they only prepared a donation bin without any additional supporting materials and were criticized for not having the "complete campaign package". Their marketing plan was also viewed as not being as creative as the other team's design and Trump felt that the men were overusing Lennox Lewis in their tasks and that his novelty was wearing off.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom – while all the men but Lennox Lewis wanted Piers Morgan fired, Vincent Pastore told Trump that he did not wish to continue in the process and tendered his resignation.
Resigned: Vincent Pastore – due to his resentment of working in such a cut-throat work environment. He did say that he would have stayed if Piers Morgan was fired.
Notes:
Tito Ortiz was absent from this entire task because he was attending a fight. He was not penalized and returned for the following task. This is the first time that an active candidate was not present for the revealed results, though not the first time that a candidate was given a bye from the task.
Episode 6: Window of Opportunity
Airdate: February 7, 2008
Task sponsor: Vera Wang by Serta
Task scope: Each team is to create a living window, using actors and actresses in a shop window to promote Vera Wang's new mattress line by Serta.
Hydra project manager: Lennox Lewis
Empresario project manager: Omarosa
Judges: Donald Trump; George Ross; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: Hydra learned that the Serta executives wanted to move away from an existing "bridal" image and used this information to help think outside the box, thus fashioning a more creative and original window than Empresario.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: Despite asking similar questions as Hydra did, Empresario did not pick up on what the executives really wanted. They created a decent display but it was nowhere near as creative as Hydra's was.
Sent to boardroom: Omarosa, Marilu Henner, and Nely Galán
Fired: Nely Galán – for not helping Omarosa coming up with a better concept, along with her less than stellar performances in past projects.
Notes:
Stephen Baldwin refused to work with Piers Morgan after being called a hypocrite by Piers in the previous episode's boardroom. He also threatened to quit the show, but Trump recommended that Stephen be transferred over to Empresario instead. Stephen then became a member of the women's team, losing the respect of his competitors in the process.
Episode 7: The Mane Event
Airdate: February 14, 2008
Task scope: Each team is to make the most money using horse carriages located in Central Park.
Hydra project manager: Piers Morgan
Empresario project manager: Trace Adkins
Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, George Ross
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: Despite the contentious bickering between Piers Morgan and Omarosa throughout the entire task, along with Omarosa not bringing in any donations yet again, many of the team's contacts came last minute and helped propel Hydra to their win.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: There seemed to be no specific reason that Empresario lost other than just not raising enough money. Contrary to their opponents, the team worked in terrific harmony and kept the carriages moving all day, making their loss a baffling one.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom needed. Trump did not feel anyone on the team did anything that warranted a termination, so he chose to fire no one for the first time in the show's history.
Fired: No firing – due to the team's unity and hard work.
Notes:
This was the first time in the history of The Apprentice that no one exited the show.
At the beginning of this episode, the new Hydra consisted of Carol Alt, Lennox Lewis, Omarosa, and Piers Morgan. The new Empresario consisted of Marilu Henner, Stephen Baldwin, Tito Ortiz, and Trace Adkins.
Episode 8: Quality, Value, and Chaos
Airdate: February 21, 2008
Task sponsor: QVC
Task scope: Each team is to promote their selected products on QVC live on television.
Hydra project manager: Marilu Henner
Empresario project manager: Stephen Baldwin
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Empresario
Reasons for win: Trace Adkins (who was selected as the speaker for Empresario's product) spoke clearly and calmly while promoting their vacuum, which positively contrasted from his opponent (Marilu Henner) who had a hyperactive presentation of her product. Trump also liked the fact that Trace used nuts and bolts to promote its strength and utility. Additionally, they offered an alternative payment plan called "Easy Pay", which Hydra did not. Empresario raised $43,000 to Hydra's $35,145.
Losing team: Hydra
Reasons for loss: Hydra had a lower price point and sold fewer units than Empresario. While Carol Alt and Marilu Henner had both done multiple stints on QVC in the past, both of them were completely unaware that QVC offered an alternative payment plan, which could have promoted sales. Also, Trump believed Marilu Henner was too garrulous during the advertising of her product.
Sent to boardroom: Marilu Henner, Lennox Lewis, and Piers Morgan
Fired: Marilu Henner – for being too overzealous while selling Hydra's products and for not bringing back Carol Alt into the boardroom, who had been deemed more accountable for the loss over Lennox Lewis and Piers Morgan.
Notes:
Episode 9: The Money Shot
Airdate: February 28, 2008
Task sponsor: Dial Corporation and Redbook
Task scope: Each team is to design a 4-page photo essay to promote Dial Corporation's Dial Yogurt on Redbook.
Hydra project manager: Carol Alt
Empresario project manager: Tito Ortiz
Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, George Ross
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: Their message of incorporating both the Redbook target audience and the Dial brand worked very well, and their use of Carol Alt as the model also appealed for the target demographics of Redbook readers. Although the executives thought the picture on the last page was too risque, ultimately Hydra was superior.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: The theme and text for Empresario's campaign was not consistent enough for the executives and they didn't take the necessary risks by adding more provocative images of Trace Adkins. Tito Ortiz also gave a very shaky presentation, which did not help with impressing the executives of Dial and Redbook.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom – Trump had announced that the losing project manager would be fired by default this week, and Tito Ortiz was unable to say anything to change Trump's mind. In fact, Tito actually made Trump even more inclined to fire him by indicating that he would have brought back Trace Adkins instead of Omarosa, despite Trace having been praised by the executives and Omarosa backing out of the project manager's role in the task briefing.
Fired: Tito Ortiz – for not being a successful project manager, giving a bad presentation, deferring too much to Stephen Baldwin during his decision-making process and for saying he would've saved Omarosa if he had to choose one person to not come back into the final boardroom.
Episode 10: Painting by Numbers
Airdate: March 6, 2008
Task sponsor: Artaissance
Task scope: Choose an artist, set up an exhibit, sell their works of art, and earn the most profit.
Hydra project manager: Piers Morgan
Empresario project manager: Omarosa
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: Hydra picked an artist that had a much bigger inventory with a higher price point and had sold 14 out of 20 paintings, earning $164,000 and blowing Empresario out of the water. In addition, Piers Morgan got several wealthy donors to come and support him.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: Empresario had far less volume and sold only 3 out of 16 paintings, which resulted in a sales total of just $7,000. Additionally, their prices from their artist were far too low and would've only earned $40,000 had they sold out. Stephen Baldwin also did not make a single sale, despite bringing in some of his close contacts.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom – Given the magnitude of the loss and this being her third failure as a project manager, there was no reason for Omarosa to continue in the process. While Trump was upset that Stephen did not bring any money whatsoever, he ultimately chose to eliminate Omarosa only.
Fired: Omarosa Manigault – for being Project Manager/Team Leader in the worst defeat in the history of the show and having a horrendous record of three failures as Project Manager/Team Leader.
Notes:
Episode 11: Bread and Badda-bing
Airdate: March 13, 2008
Task sponsor: Quiznos Sub
Task scope: Each team is to create a new sandwich for Quiznos and sell it over a two-hour period – without the benefit of their Rolodexes.
Hydra project manager: Lennox Lewis
Empresario project manager: Trace Adkins
Judges: Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Daryl Roth
Winning team: Hydra
Reasons for win: While their sandwich appeared less innovative (it was just an adaption of Quiznos' most popular sandwich), their use of Lennox Lewis as their main marketing tool helped sell their sandwich very well.
Losing team: Empresario
Reasons for loss: Even though Empresario sold out and was more original, their marketing tool to sell Trace Adkins did not work because he was not well known in the New York area.
Sent to boardroom: Trace Adkins and Stephen Baldwin.
Fired: Stephen Baldwin – for being considered a weaker candidate over Trace Adkins. While both members did equally well and Stephen had two successes as a project manager, Trump and Ivanka discussed that Stephen's contributions over the last few tasks had not produced much for charity and felt that Trace Adkins would do better overall.
Notes:
Hydra sold 313 "Champ Sandwiches" while Emprasario sold 253 "Cowboy Clubs".
At the end of the episode Trump stated that by the end of the night two more celebrities would be fired, leaving only two of the final four (Trace Adkins, Carol Alt, Lennox Lewis, and Piers Morgan).
Episode 12: Going Once, Twice, You're Fired
Airdate: March 20, 2008
Prologue: Trump first introduced the four remaining candidates to two people he has known a long time, Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett. Trump then revealed the next challenge to the contestants: they would each have an interview with Jim and with Erin, and through answering Jim and Erin's questions, they were to demonstrate why, out of the final four, they alone deserved to be crowned as 'The Celebrity Apprentice'. Trump said that he respects the opinion of Jim and Erin, and that based upon their feedback (Jim and Erin served as the judges for this task), he would immediately fire two people.
Fired:
Lennox Lewis – for his laid-back demeanor and lack of focus during his interviews. He also admitted that he needed Piers Morgan throughout the job process.
Carol Alt – despite impressing the interviewers with her professionalism. Trump saw a feud brewing between Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan, and finding it an interesting "good vs. evil" situation, he decided to see the men battle it out in the final task, therefore defying the interviewers' recommendation (as they didn't like Piers Morgan at all) and fired Carol Alt in the process.
Donald Trump contradicted the rules that Trump himself set out for this challenge. Trump set out the rules for the challenge being that based on what Jim and Erin said, he would fire two people immediately. Both Jim and Erin acknowledged Piers Morgan's fundraising proficiency, but unequivocally said to Donald Trump that Piers Morgan must not advance to the next round based on personality, both judges ranking Piers Morgan last out of the four remaining candidates. However, Trump advanced Piers Morgan to the final round.
Task sponsor: Backstreet Boys, Auction Society
Task scope: Organize a charity auction and concert in the Broad Street Ballroom featuring the Backstreet Boys. The two competitors would need to work together on the task; one would be responsible for decorations and handling the band, the other would be responsible for the appetizers and the charity auction event. Both competitors would vie for a list of items to be donated for the auction, but they would be able to add any other items they could to the auction. The winner would be judged on three aspects: how well they handled their task, how much money their items raised at the auction, and how effectively they handled their teams. Trace selected the decoration and handling of the band task, while Piers took over the food and auction events.
Episode 13: Season Finale: Under the Hammer
Airdate: March 27, 2008
Task Sponsor: None
Task Scope: The task scope, introduced during the previous episode, was to organize a charity auction and concert featuring the Backstreet Boys.
Judges: Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump
Named the Celebrity Apprentice/Winner: Piers Morgan – for raising the most money in the process by a wide margin, beating Trace Adkins by a nearly 5:1 ratio even before the final prize money was taken into account.
Runner Up: Trace Adkins – for raising less money than Piers Morgan in the final task, and for his less impressive overall track record in the competition.
Notes:
Piers Morgan became the first ever Apprentice to have lost a task as project manager (loss in week 5).
This episode featured two first-time occurrences for The Apprentice: a live satellite feed from overseas (Tokyo, Japan) for Gene Simmons' appearance and the first live musical performance from one of the candidates with Trace Adkins singing.
The episode aired live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center, the same studio that served as the home for The Apprentice Season 1 finale. The studio is also home to Saturday Night Live.
Piers raised $376,000 with his auction items and $12,000 through the ticket sales. Trace raised $64,000 with his auction items and $38,000 through the ticket sales. As opposed to previous episodes, the proceeds went directly to both individual charities, instead of going entirely to the winners charity. As of the 3rd celebrity series, Piers had the record for the most money earned on the show. However, this record was later broken by Marlee Matlin in the 4th celebrity series, where she raised $1,000,000.