So here we are at the end of ninety minutes filled with twists, changes, and people who feel that the reading skills in West Hollywood are strong enough to get the small print on a 8.5*11" sign while driving by at forty miles per hour. The reading skills in West Hollywood are suited for looking at the first two lines of a screenplay before declaring it svcks. And that can take hours, mostly in finding someone under you who can do the dirty work of turning the pages. 'Cast to lose' may not apply to most of the reality shows -- no, really -- but 'cast to be fired' for this one? Mortal lock. Good luck proving it, but in this one area, my faith is strong.

What have we learned after ninety minutes? Here's six quick points that don't encompass every lesson, but should at least be enough to show just how few people are watching this thing...

1. Who are these people? The rapid-fire introduction segment (first seen last season) still isn't enough to give us the idea of personalities and backgrounds. It just comes across as an endless list of resume accomplishments: this is what I've done, and it's supposed to be all of who I am. What it winds up sounding like is 'Brag. Bragging -- bragging -- Baron Munchausen...' Try to remember anyone out of the contestant pool. Who comes to mind first? The ones who led, the ones who complained, and the ones who screwed up. Oh, and we have an Olympian. Right now, most of the group is background noise.

2. Donald cannot get a full episode of timeline-honest shots to save his life. Or his hair. Anyone who thinks Donald was looking out the window and yelling just when Frank was taking over on the tent assembly, raise your hand. Really? Welcome to the boards!

3. Nobody knows anything. Please see Frank's initial PM performance for details. These are sixteen -- eighteen? -- however many people showed up -- of the best business minds in America? One day, I will see a first task on this show that I couldn't have won, and then I'll believe there's a real challenge to it. Until then: hello, Morons v6.0. They're not all idiots, but it's amazing how the low end keeps getting built into the pool.

4. We have whinesign. Oh, no! It's tents! And showers! And grills! And lighter fluid! You know what this means? Becky and Sundra can finally make fire! You're not living in the lap of luxury? You're on a reality show and just about any Survivor in the history of the series would have broken your neck to get half of what you wound up with in the backyard. Shut up and enjoy your flashlights. Ye gawds. Wimps.

5. Intelligence can be gathered, because screaming can't postponed. This is a major issue with having the winning PM in the Boardroom. The other team doesn't want the competition to know about their weak spots, problem areas, and who might be exactly the wrong person to grab on a minicorp switch. The other team has to identify their trouble spots to Donald in the hopes he'll get rid of them. Problem. If Heidi got anything last night, it was three to six hours' worth of insight into the other team's structure. Whether she can do anything with it is a completely different question, but at least she got something out of her presence beyond a reminder of just how little she'd won by.

6. Ivanka is an improvement on her father. At least someone finally realized -- and was willing to admit -- that the first tasks tend to be chaotic messes because you don't know who you're working with yet, much less what they can really do. Oh, and having Frank lead was probably a factor. (Again, though, note the winning margin and then think about the editing. Frank was a portrayed mess, but Heidi's skills didn't exactly produce a clobbering.) It looks like Ivanka has some intelligence, insight, and possibly even the most valuable thing of all: she can get Donald to listen. Expect that last one to be short-term, but at least it stands a chance of being there. However, she's overworked: we need two scouts for two minicorps, and making her shuttle means having her miss half the action every time.

Did Donald have any of this for his Lesson Of The Week? Did Donald have a Lesson Of The Week? 'cause I may have missed it. Oh, and cute kid. Completely staged shot, but the kid? Cute.

And of course, 6a: We have a tall, slightly angular blonde named Angela and a hyperkinetic bundle of potentially drugged-up energy named Frank. Exactly which universe are we operating in?

• RE: Sixth First impressions are lasting.,Wacko Jacko, 02:54 PM, 01-08-07
  • RE: Sixth First impressions are lasting.,iltarion, 04:15 PM, 01-08-07
    • RE: Sixth First impressions are lasting.,Wacko Jacko, 05:10 PM, 01-08-07
      • RE: Sixth First impressions are lasting.,mistyrose52, 11:56 AM, 01-09-07
        • RE: Sixth First impressions are lasting.,Estee, 12:06 PM, 01-09-07

My first impressions.....

First off, why was this an hour and a half? Seems like it was the same amount of Apprentice but with more commericials to make the show stretch out. Every ten minutes there where more commericials.

You are right the first week it is basically an episode of seeing only those that screw up and the winning project manager.

Also, where did they get some of these people...they were some of the ugliest people I have seen in a long long time....especially the women. Although that one African American guy left looks like an alien.

$10 for a plan car wash is a one day special? Even in LA that seems high. ANd to think these contestents where WAY TOO AGGRESSIVE in trying to upsale customers into $100 car washes. Did they think of donating profits to a charity?

To hear Ivanka say that Martin is not the type of person that she sees working for her father.........Is Frank?????? Seriously that guy was so obnoxious there is no way someone like him is getting the job either. Frank was the one that screwed up the first task...not Martin. I know the real reason Martin was fired over Frank.........Frank means bigger ratings down the line that Martin.

Also, when is someone like Martin going to learn. You don't go after the project manager....it just lands you in the boardroom. Best thing to do is to try to be everyone's friend....like that one suit that followed Frank around all day. Martin deserved to be the first to go just for that.

Too even argue that price point was the problem was dumb even if it meant $100 car washes....the group only lost by $60. It was anything but price point.

Frank did deserve to be fired for calling Martin brilliant. Lucky for him Trump kept him around for ratings.

Impressions:

Martin deserved to go. I don't know what he was doing there. The editing portrayed him as lazy and conniving, and though he might not be the biggest reason why they lost, in most reality shows, the least popular is often the first to go.
Frank has no shot. He is a big mouth and a hothead who will make many enemies before he's gone. We have seen his type before.
Is there a non-GQ member in the group? Are all top business people attractive and in-shape? I don't think so. What is with everyone being in their 20s? With Martin gone, Derek and Michelle are the oldest remaining contestants at a mere 34.
Speaking of which, Michelle is ridiculously attractive. The oldest woman is also the most attractive: strange but true. Why wasn't Michelle trying to upsell the customers?? She sells real estate and is nicknamed "the closer" (as lame as that is). And a lot of the customers were men, as far as I saw. Who would have been better to talk them into a full detail than Michelle?
Is Heidi really a good manager? Her team had no strategy other than to do as many cars as quickly as they could. They worked their butts off and won by a couple cars only. The best management means working less and getting more. I like Heidi, but she might be on a high horse right now. I doubt her team wins next week.
Props to Nicole and Aaron for sticking up for Frank even though most the team had already sided against him. That took guts. No props to Carey and Veronica for giving the "Lee" answer and choosing both. At least Carey thought of it first.
Derek and Heidi would be my favorites to win right now. Tim and Jamie also got heavy edits. Too early to say much else though.

LAST EDITED ON 01-08-07 AT 05:15 PM (EST)

>Speaking of which, Michelle is ridiculously
>attractive. The oldest woman is
>also the most attractive: strange
>but true. Why wasn't Michelle
>trying to upsell the customers??
>She sells real estate and
>is nicknamed "the closer" (as
>lame as that is). And
>a lot of the customers
>were men, as far as
>I saw. Who would have
>been better to talk them
>into a full detail than
>Michelle?

Wow, we have totally different tasks. I think Michelle, Muna and Kristine are extremely ugly. Them and Carey all look like aliens. Too each their own.

Heidi is by far the most attractive female on the show.

KINDA A SPOILER BUT NOT REALLY............

I don't like spoilers so much of this is speculation but in an aired interview. Trump says one team loses many weeks in a row and spends a lot of time in the tents. His comments along with spots airing with James complaining about being in the tents....a spot that has not aired yet......seem to hit to me that it is James's team that spends a lot of time in the tents.

I just have one question-why does there always seem to be a HEIDI in each of his Apprentice seasons????

Oh well.........maybe it was the name of the decade for the early 80's, huh?

Donald's not only a big Jets fan, he's a corporate Raider.