I just did not see why Tarek was fired last night. He did the same as Lee. The one who should've been fired was Charmaine. It was laughable that she got her hair styled during the task. She spent too much time organizing the hair products. Seemed to have her priorities out of line. She also appeared to have no game plan. What did Tarek do that was wrong. I know Trump had to fire 2 people because this show was behind the other reality shows as far as having contestents left. I think that Trump fired two people because he was under the gun and new two had to go. Tarek does seem to put up a little resistence but he doesn't seem as unmanagable as others I had seen on the show. I know others on here disliked him but I still did not see why he was fired last night.

• RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,tinkerer, 09:45 AM, 05-02-06
• RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,BOYmeetsREALITY, 10:00 AM, 05-02-06
• RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,lindan, 10:50 AM, 05-02-06
  • RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,Wacko Jacko, 11:00 AM, 05-02-06
    • RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,tinkerer, 11:21 AM, 05-02-06
      • RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,Mish, 11:31 AM, 05-02-06
      • RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,Wacko Jacko, 02:39 PM, 05-02-06
        • Hi, Wacko...,singer, 03:22 PM, 05-02-06
          • RE: Hi, Wacko...,iltarion, 04:12 AM, 05-03-06
            • Wow, Iltarion...,singer, 09:56 AM, 05-03-06
            • RE: Hi, Wacko...,lindan, 11:58 AM, 05-03-06
              • RE: Hi, Wacko...,Wacko Jacko, 04:23 PM, 05-03-06
            • RE: Hi, Wacko...,jackandjill, 01:23 PM, 05-03-06
• RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,LIVEURBESTLIFE, 12:56 PM, 05-03-06
  • Charmain, Tarek, Editing,tinkerer, 01:27 PM, 05-03-06
    • Tarek and Lee,tinkerer, 01:50 PM, 05-03-06
      • RE: Tarek and Lee,Wacko Jacko, 04:28 PM, 05-03-06
• RE: Tarek and Charmaine Firings,LIVEURBESTLIFE, 05:20 PM, 05-03-06
  • Michael Going Along,tinkerer, 05:58 PM, 05-03-06
    • RE: Michael Going Along,Wacko Jacko, 03:25 PM, 05-04-06

I don't know why Tarek was fired either. I suppose Charmaine could have been fired, for the reasons you stated. But not Tarek.

It wouldn't have been terrible to let Charmaine go, but I do think she might have been spared in favor of Michael, who seems to just slide by with invisible contributions week after week.

WOOHOO!

With TAREK gone, the show is watchable again! Something about him just gave me the creeps! If there is a bell tower where He lives the townies should be very nervous!!! You could almost hear Him **SNAP**!

Michael has been so under the radar this year, it's hard to imagine Him actually winning this thing. He's made no fatal errors because He's actually done nothing! HAHA!

Also, the "politician" comments were not meant in a flattering way for Lee. It was more like Donald saying "how could I ever trust you to cheat, steal, and lie for me when you can't even offer an opinion on this"???

I think Trumpy really likes Roxanne and Tammy so I'd look for one of them to win, even if it was just to invite Roxanne back to lecture the next cast in the Board Room when Carolyn is out!

One simple explanation why Tarek was fired last night.

TRUMP HATES HIM FROM DAY ONE

You might be right Trump seemed like he was on a vendetta to prove than Mensa people are no better than the rest of us. Trump did place him on a pedistal on week one. But he did nothing this week to get himself fired.

LAST EDITED ON 05-02-06 AT 12:39 PM (EST)

A couple of weeks ago, Lee and Leslie spent the entire boardroom period talking over each other, so that each was unintelligible.

Tarek and Charmaine did the same thing here, and Trump might have figured that he was going to nip this trend right in the bud, lol.

Seriously, Tarek took the wrong attitude in defending himself. He came in the first episode as an Ivy League Mensa member, failed in his first task, then made several mistakes in the early going, and came close to getting fired several times.

Lately, he has been working hard and making better progress. But in the boardroom this week, Tarek did not offer many specific things Charmaine did wrong. Instead, he offered such criticisms as Charmaine really is incapable of running anything at all, and other opinions which presuppose that Tarek has somehow proven himself as a manager.

Hey Tarek, guess what. You aren't a star in Trump's view. The only reason he's kept you around is that you seem like you are willing to work hard and take the opportunity to prove yourself after screwing up numerous times. You should have just humbly enumerated the mistakes Charmaine made, and said why you felt they led to the loss. Only a person with an established status as a manager can get away with what you did, which was to offer opinions that Charmaine can't run anything at all, she doesn't have the capability, etc.

Tarek's attitude was that his word about Charmaine's overall capability should be accepted by Trump, instead of going into specifics. He forgot that he was just hanging on by a thread himself,and that he has not proven to Trump that his judgments should be accepted.

First, Charmaine should have been fired after she recruited the comedian who performed at the golf outing.

Michael and Roxanne are cruising and to me, not contributing big time (especially Michael.)

If Allie plays her cards right I can see her overstepping the crew that is left at this point. I find her a bit harsh, but with time and if she makes it, Trump will change that.

LAST EDITED ON 05-02-06 AT 02:41 PM (EST)

Tinkerer, I agree with everything you said. But I try to look outside of what is said in the 'boardroom'. You gotta remember that everything is edited down so the task abd boardroom could fit in 44 miniute of air time. The boardroom lasts much longer than it is shown. Other than what you said the editing did not give any real explanation into why Tarek was fired. Sure if that was the entire boardroom I agree 100%, I just don't think performance wise Tarek did anything to be fired.

I agree with the comment upthread that The Donald just hated Tarek. His put downs were over the top, if you ask me.

Charmaine made significant errors last night, and she needed to go.

I thought the cab ride was hilarious. She just sat there chewing her gum and he just sat there looking deflated. Priceless, especially after the way that they yelled at each other in the boardroom!

--Singer

Tarek and Lee both cashed-out on that task, completely willing to fail and let Charmaine be fired. Unfortunately for Tarek, he didn't count on Lee's duplicity or Michael conspiring with Lee to get rid of him.
Charmaine was the one most liable for the loss, but Tarek fell victim to his past failures and Lee and Michael's cowardly conspiracy. Tarek also didn't help his cause by getting in a shouting match with Charmaine. If you attack an attractive woman in Trump's presence, you are just asking him to defend her. Tarek should have just defended himself by saying he did nothing to lose the task while Charmaine made many mistakes. He made Brent's mistake of going over the top with his criticism, and he paid the price for it.
I definitely think this is the weakest season for apprenti we have had yet. I thought Sean was the strongest player until he forgot to take his left nut out of his momma's purse and cooed to the camera about the prospect of him and Tammy having babies. Allie is a great saleswoman, nothing more. Roxanne and Tammy are nice, but don't strike me as great leaders either. Lee and Michael are pathetic as far as I am concerned. Lee showed Lenny loyalty and then stabbed Tarek in the back. And I think Lee is the only Apprentice applicant in history to be allowed to NOT answer the "who should be fired" question. Typically, Trump says "enough BS now just answer the question." But not with Lee. Instead everyone just laughs and remarks on how political Lee is. The preferential treatment for Lee is getting sickening. The only difference between Lee and Tarek as I see it are the two lost tasks that Lee got to SKIP and Tarek took heat on.

and an interesting post.

You are right about the lack of support for Charmaine. I wonder what will happen with Lee in the end? Can't wait to see...

--Singer

Great analysis and you have raised many great points. One question though. Do you really mean it when you say this is the weakest season for the Apprenti? That book smart vs street smart season has got to be the weakest.

I agree, the Book Smarts vs Street Smarts people were pathetic. They were a cast that was cast souly for ratings.....a cast of wack jobs. This cast aint great but still miles ahead of BSvSM. I think it was hurt some though however by Trump firing some of the stronger people early on.

Lee's inability to NOT talk like a politician in front of Trump will get him fired.

I think the final 2 will be Lee and Roxanne. Roxanne has been praised for her ability to speak clearly and intelligently which will win over Trump. Trump, with the agreement from everyone who can text-message, will agree that Lee is better served in a political role somewhere.

Both Tarek and Charmaine should have been fired.

Charmaine because the loss was directly related to her lack of leadership and poor management skills. Getting her hair done when she should have been out getting people in the door and selling product was very poor judgement on her part and definitely a firing offense.

Tarek because he can't get along with anyone. Last night was not the first time someone said he was unmanageable.

Tarek can lead but not follow. Charmaine can't lead but can follow. Neither of which is suitable to be the next apprentice.

LAST EDITED ON 05-03-06 AT 01:30 PM (EST)

But I try to look outside of what is said in the 'boardroom'. You gotta remember that everything is edited down so the task abd boardroom could fit in 44 miniute of air time. The boardroom lasts much longer than it is shown.

Good point. Too often I go solely by the shown editing because you have to go by something, but in this case Tarek might well have given very specific spots where Charmaine failed to lead before reaching his conclusion that she can't run anything. Even though Tarek was on the outs with Trump and trying to work his way back in, I don't think Trump would object to Tarek reaching a conclusion about another member if he justifies it with facts and specific instances.

Other than what you said the editing did not give any real explanation into why Tarek was fired......I just don't think performance wise Tarek did anything to be fired.

I don't see it either. Tarek tried to get enthusiastic about marketing, suggesting a theme, and Charmaine was clearly lukewarm-to-hostile, then asked him what his theme was immediately. Ummm, Charmaine, I think Tarek was suggesting the team discuss a theme.

Itarion: Tarek and Lee both cashed-out on that task, completely willing to fail and let Charmaine be fired.

I would disagree. And the official recap would tend to indicate otherwise: "After Lee spent hours shelving products, Charmaine came by and told him he did it all wrong. Lee expressed concern that they were wasting time in the store when they should have been out promoting the grand opening.

A lesson Lee learned, probably, from the Gilette task where Lenny got right up in the middle of Lee's meeting, grabbed some teammates, and went right out into the night to start getting people to text. He virtually ordered Lee to get his people down to work the lines at the theaters, Lee did, and they won handily. But Charmaine wanted Lee and Tarek to spend that time in the store putting up displays.

As it turned out, Synergy was going out into surrounding stores and getting customers, a holdover from the 711 task where many of the people they talked to the night before returned to buy sandwiches. Yes, Sean and Tammy spent a little time for pizza and making eyes at each other, but they did get some work done. While Charmaine made Lee and Tarek watch her and Michael stock shelves full of shampoo and hair spray.

Looks to me that Lee learned his lesson from the Gillette task, but couldn't use it. Synergy learned their lesson from the 711 task, and did use it. Tarek at least tried to get the ball rolling on the marketing, but met with resistance right off. Charmaine and Michael spent time stocking shelves a certain way.

I think Charmaine and Michael should be the prime candidates for firing.

I agree Tinkerer. Lee, Lenny and Tarek have been difficult to manage, because the team they are on stinks. They could be like Michael and stay under the radar and do what they are told to do and lose but not be scapegoats because they are on the project managers side of things. Charmaine was so horrible as a project manager that Lee and Tarek had no choice but to not be managable. If you ask me who the politian is it is Michael. He just goes along with whatever the project manager says. Lee is not political in my eyes by disagreeing with the project manager when the time is right. And funny thing is everytime Lee disagreed with the project manager he was right.....Trump pointed that out.

Michael is getting a raw deal from you guys. He is lucky enough to be the new member on a team that has alot of personal conflict. Being that he is new to the team he doesnt have the history that the rest of his teammates have. So he is lucky enough not to be involved in all the conflict and drama.

I think Charmaine is probably an easy person to work/get along with. Therefore Michael defended her because he wasn't on the team during all her other screw ups.

LAST EDITED ON 05-03-06 AT 06:28 PM (EST)

Except for the week he was Project Manager, which he won barely, I have not heard Michael make any suggestions or do anything really good to help his team. He did it on Synergy, now he's doing it on Gold Rush.

Each team is given a task, it's up to each team to know where to start and a concept takes shape. Michael seems to let everyone else work this out, and then listens to the assignment his Project Manager gives him. If the team loses, nobody blames him because none of the ideas that caused the loss were Michael's. if you don't put forth an idea, then none of your ideas can be wrong. I do not think this should earn a person a coveted $250,000 a year job.

As for coming over from the the other team, let's not forget they all live in the same suite. So they knew Michael almost as well as they knew their own teammates.

Yes, Michael plays his cards like this. He lets the project manager assign him his task. I give him credit for not rocking the boat, but he just does whatever they tell him to do. He is a good soldier. He agrees with the project manager on everything in the boardroom and therefore has no risk of being fired because the project manager will not nominate him because he was so cooperative. Great strategy to stick around long but not win the game. I think Michael's goal is to do this and hoepfully win the tasks where he is project manager. As long as he wins as project manager he feels he has a great chance of winning. Don't think Trump hasn't figured this out.