And in the end, whatever the fix had originally been, it had to be Bret. To not hire the one who had barely survived to reach the finale in the really literal sense might have gotten Donald a good writeup in Heartless Mogul Monthly (only $1,500,000 an issue from Trump Press), but would have seen him potentially eviscerated by a fanbase he's never met and really doesn't want to have mad at him. Or Lacey, which would be worse.

So the main question becomes 'Was it always going to be Bret, or did his illness bring him the victory?' In the traditional business model, Holly outperformed him in many aspects and free thinkers are frequently only welcomed when they're in charge -- but last year's Hag victory meant justifying things for the viewership wasn't really a concern. If Bret was meant to win, he would have won if his chosen custom flavor had resulted in an allergen epidemic, and Holly couldn't have taken the prize if her concoction turned out to be zero-pollution jet fuel. Flip the script and Bret would have lost if his drink cured diabetes.

Well, at least he showed up.

And brought a camera dolly!

• RE: Last-minute pages.,mysticjay, 08:58 AM, 05-24-10
  • RE: Last-minute pages.,qwertypie, 09:33 PM, 05-30-10
• RE: Last-minute pages.,realworld10, 09:12 AM, 05-24-10
  • RE: Last-minute pages.,Loree, 09:33 AM, 05-24-10
    • RE: Last-minute pages.,JessicaRN, 12:16 PM, 05-24-10
  • RE: Last-minute pages.,Nume, 12:51 PM, 05-27-10

As Ivanka said, Bret was there on merit. He won every time he was project manager. Holly didn't. She raised a record amount of money so that is her stand out thing. But she wasn't liked by half of her team. Bret was liked by everyone on his teams, and by the executives they dealt with. He is creative and charismatic, and Trump wants someone flashy as his Apprentice.

Especially with a new version of the old show debuting in the fall and the next Celebrity Apprentice in the Spring. He'll find a way to have Bret on both shows, and the ratings will go through the roof every time he does.

The Snapple people loved Bret. And in the final task, Bret used himself as a celebrity spokesperson for Snapple. And he is an unforgettable character, from the hat to the hair to the bandana, the blue eyes and that charming smile. Snapple-icious is what the Execs called him.

Holly was capable, real world, and boring.

Even without Bret's health issues, Trump would have gone with Bret. No one wants a boring Celebrity Apprentice. Bret is anything but boring. It was the right pick.

I agree that Bret is the better choice, even without the aneurism, but the Hag's win last year was very stinky and obviously fixed from before day 1 (one of Trump's in-laws was on the board of Joan's charity), so who knows who the original pick was.

LAST EDITED ON 05-24-10 AT 09:14 AM (EST)

Holly won ONE task and that was only on the money end of it. The actual task of creating a work-out for 24 Hour Fitness was won by Sharon's team. Holly is, basically, a professional fund raiser for HER HollyRock Foundation. Yes, she collected more money than Sharon - but almost half of the $347,xxx was won by Sharon's team plus the funds added by 24 Hour - it was just a winner take all (which I totally did not agree with - each charity should have received the money donated for that cause).

On a side note - I didn't hear why Sharon was not there. Was the reason given?

Goldberg was not there either. Trump never bothered to mention why Sharon or Goldberg were not there. Probably they were busy with more important things than rushing to NYC.

I got really sick of listening to them go on and on about Holly earning the most in history. It was one task and she did not earn it all herself. She was the reason her team lost the 2 challenges she lost as PM. Trump preferred to ignore that. Bret won the 2 he PM'd. And he did it without having half the cast hate him. Bret didn't have to make a speech that he wasn't as nasty as he came off on TV. And was that a dig to Michael when Holly explained that she had personal issues too (her mother) and didn't leave?

Loved seeing Bret's dad in the bandana. Bret was a good choice as the Celeb Apprentice.

I had really only known Bret from his 80's hair band days and the little that I had watched him on Rock of Love, so I was amazed at how much I liked him from the very first show. He is warm, outgoing, treated everyone with respect and very well-spoken. I ended up admiring him a lot and even though he is a rock and roll star, he didn't have any problem coming out on stage with obvious weakness down one side of his body.

I actually enjoyed this whole season. Found the Gov's ineptitude with simple technology hysterical. Cindi Lauper would drive me crazy also, but her interviews were a riot and her performance last night was pretty good.

Holly was impressive because she was so driven, but I'm glad that Bret was "hired."

I really think Holly's only strengths were her fund raising and her ability in the board room. She wasnt strong at any tasks, but she knew how to work the board room to keep herself safe. Also, people forget that Brett had almost no chances to raise the money like she did. He won the only fund raising task he managed (the first one) and during the 2nd one Sharon told him not to raise any money. So who knows how much he could have raise if he'd have gotten a chance.