Episode Recap: Week 1 (2/27)
Trump arrived at Republic Airport in New York where George and Carolyn were waiting to introduce him to the new candidates aboard his jet. Back on the tarmac, Trump had each candidate say a few words about him or herself. Because Tarek had a high IQ and was a Mensa member, Trump had him step forward to be a project manager. And because he had a great deal of respect for Harvard Business School, Trump asked Allie to be the other project manager. For her team, Allie chose Tammy, Andrea, Michael, Sean, Pepi, Roxanne, Stacy and Brent. They decided to call themselves “Synergy.” For his team, Tarek chose Dan, Bryce, Charmaine, Lee, Leslie, Theresa, Lenny and Summer. They decided to name themselves “Gold Rush.” Once the teams were chosen, Trump gave them their first task: use a Goodyear blimp to drive business to Sam’s Club with the goal of getting people to sign up for a “Membership Plus” level membership. Gold Rush arrived at Sam’s Club where Tarek tasked Theresa with working with Goodyear’s graphics specialist to create a logo for the blimp. Tarek then had Summer call restaurants to try and get them to come down to Sam’s Club for the promotion, but after making only one call, she gave up on the assignment. Synergy also got together at Sam’s Club to discuss their own strategy. Brent threw out the idea of putting a karaoke machine in front of the store – it was summarily rejected. His other ideas were also rejected with many rolled eyes, though Allie did like the idea of giving free manicures and massages outside the store as a means to sell people upgraded Sam’s Club memberships. Brent was resentful that Allie put him inside the blimp the day of the promotion rather than at the store. He felt that the idea to have manicures and massages evolved from his initial ideas and that no one appreciated that fact. The other members of Synergy worked the floor to get people to upgrade to Membership Plus. Sean, with his melodious British accent, had a great deal of success with the female shoppers. From the ground, Tarek directed Lenny, who was riding in the blimp, on where to navigate in order to reach the most people. Lenny was familiar with the area, which was a boon to the team, but Summer, who was also riding along, was on board because Tarek felt she wouldn’t contribute anything on the ground. Gold Rush offered free tote bags to customers to entice them into signing up for Plus memberships. However, Lee, a business analyst, didn’t feel that giving out bags was enough of a hook to get people to join. Instead, he felt they needed to rely on their sales acumen. Trump greeted the teams in the boardroom to find out the results of their promotions. Both teams were confident that they won, but the numbers spoke differently. Gold Rush sold 40 new memberships while Synergy sold 43 new memberships, making them the winner. Up in the suite, members of Gold Rush got together to decide who they would like to see fired. Virtually everyone thought that Summer contributed nothing and had to go. Lee didn’t feel it was Summer's fault and thought the blame lied with Tarek for not giving them a creative direction. Tarek pulled Lee aside and warned him not to bring this up, lest he set himself up as a "target." For their reward, Trump took Synergy to lunch at the Wharton Club where everyone had the chance to ask him questions about business and what's really important in life. Summer and Lenny sat down to discuss boardroom strategy. Lenny implored her not to bring anything up in the boardroom. In the boardroom, Tarek defended his leadership of Gold Rush, signaling out Lenny and Summer as the two teammates who didn't step up to the challenge. Lenny felt that it was Tarek's fault they lost; Lee thought the same. Trump asked Tarek to pick up to three people to bring back to the boardroom. He chose Summer, Lenny, and Lee. After consulting with Carolyn and George, Trump called the four candidates back into the boardroom. Lee immediately attacked Tarek for being a hypocrite since earlier Tarek said he wouldn’t bring him back to the boardroom. Tarerk then attacked Lenny for doing nothing, but Trump quickly turned the tables, asking Tarek directly, “Didn't this thing fail because of you?” Carolyn asked Summer, "What did you contribute to this team?" Summer had a difficult time explaining what she did and couldn't defend her decision to only make one phone call. George hammered on Tarek for not giving anything away to entice people into the store. As Trump continued this attack against Tarek, Summer interrupted to say a few kind words about her team leader. Trump couldn't understand why she opened her mouth to defend him when he was possibly getting ready to fire Tarek. "You know what," Trump said, "Summer, you're fired."Source: http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice_5/recap/week1_p1.shtml#main
Trump arrived at Republic Airport in New York where George and Carolyn were waiting to introduce him to the new candidates aboard his jet. Back on the tarmac, Trump had each candidate say a few words about him or herself. Because Tarek had a high IQ and was a Mensa member, Trump had him step forward to be a project manager. And because he had a great deal of respect for Harvard Business School, Trump asked Allie to be the other project manager. For her team, Allie chose Tammy, Andrea, Michael, Sean, Pepi, Roxanne, Stacy and Brent. They decided to call themselves “Synergy.” For his team, Tarek chose Dan, Bryce, Charmaine, Lee, Leslie, Theresa, Lenny and Summer. They decided to name themselves “Gold Rush.” Once the teams were chosen, Trump gave them their first task: use a Goodyear blimp to drive business to Sam’s Club with the goal of getting people to sign up for a “Membership Plus” level membership. Gold Rush arrived at Sam’s Club where Tarek tasked Theresa with working with Goodyear’s graphics specialist to create a logo for the blimp. Tarek then had Summer call restaurants to try and get them to come down to Sam’s Club for the promotion, but after making only one call, she gave up on the assignment. Synergy also got together at Sam’s Club to discuss their own strategy. Brent threw out the idea of putting a karaoke machine in front of the store – it was summarily rejected. His other ideas were also rejected with many rolled eyes, though Allie did like the idea of giving free manicures and massages outside the store as a means to sell people upgraded Sam’s Club memberships. Brent was resentful that Allie put him inside the blimp the day of the promotion rather than at the store. He felt that the idea to have manicures and massages evolved from his initial ideas and that no one appreciated that fact. The other members of Synergy worked the floor to get people to upgrade to Membership Plus. Sean, with his melodious British accent, had a great deal of success with the female shoppers. From the ground, Tarek directed Lenny, who was riding in the blimp, on where to navigate in order to reach the most people. Lenny was familiar with the area, which was a boon to the team, but Summer, who was also riding along, was on board because Tarek felt she wouldn’t contribute anything on the ground. Gold Rush offered free tote bags to customers to entice them into signing up for Plus memberships. However, Lee, a business analyst, didn’t feel that giving out bags was enough of a hook to get people to join. Instead, he felt they needed to rely on their sales acumen. Trump greeted the teams in the boardroom to find out the results of their promotions. Both teams were confident that they won, but the numbers spoke differently. Gold Rush sold 40 new memberships while Synergy sold 43 new memberships, making them the winner. Up in the suite, members of Gold Rush got together to decide who they would like to see fired. Virtually everyone thought that Summer contributed nothing and had to go. Lee didn’t feel it was Summer's fault and thought the blame lied with Tarek for not giving them a creative direction. Tarek pulled Lee aside and warned him not to bring this up, lest he set himself up as a "target." For their reward, Trump took Synergy to lunch at the Wharton Club where everyone had the chance to ask him questions about business and what's really important in life. Summer and Lenny sat down to discuss boardroom strategy. Lenny implored her not to bring anything up in the boardroom. In the boardroom, Tarek defended his leadership of Gold Rush, signaling out Lenny and Summer as the two teammates who didn't step up to the challenge. Lenny felt that it was Tarek's fault they lost; Lee thought the same. Trump asked Tarek to pick up to three people to bring back to the boardroom. He chose Summer, Lenny, and Lee. After consulting with Carolyn and George, Trump called the four candidates back into the boardroom. Lee immediately attacked Tarek for being a hypocrite since earlier Tarek said he wouldn’t bring him back to the boardroom. Tarerk then attacked Lenny for doing nothing, but Trump quickly turned the tables, asking Tarek directly, “Didn't this thing fail because of you?” Carolyn asked Summer, "What did you contribute to this team?" Summer had a difficult time explaining what she did and couldn't defend her decision to only make one phone call. George hammered on Tarek for not giving anything away to entice people into the store. As Trump continued this attack against Tarek, Summer interrupted to say a few kind words about her team leader. Trump couldn't understand why she opened her mouth to defend him when he was possibly getting ready to fire Tarek. "You know what," Trump said, "Summer, you're fired."