The Apprentice: Martha Stewart

42
Metascore
2005-2005
1 season
NBC
Game Show, Reality

A reality-tv based program in which contestants compete for a job with media mogul Martha Stewart.

42
Metascore
2005-2005
1 season
NBC
Game Show, Reality

A reality-tv based program in which contestants compete for a job with media mogul Martha Stewart.

A Night Out With Bethenny Frankel

Memo to Heidi Montag: This is how a career in reality TV is done. Smart as a whip and just as thin, Bethenny Frankel rose to fame on the small screen — first as the runner-up on the Martha Stewart edition of The Apprentice, later on three seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City, and now on her own show, Bethenny Ever After, which kicked off Season 2 last week, all the while parlaying her notoriety into a multi-million-dollar healthy lifestyle brand in the process. The new mom — she and husband Jason Hoppy welcomed daughter Bryn in May — took a breather at ...

Mon, Mar 7, 2011

Apprentice: Martha's Baker Gets Burned

Despite pulling together a fun circus-themed event for the final task, outspoken Bethenny Frankel found herself playing second banana to The Apprentice: Martha Stewart winner Dawna Stone. The 34-year-old natural-foods chef was just a little too much of a wild card for Martha Stewart's liking, so instead Miss Good Thing chose the person with a bit more of a corporate attitude. TVGuide.com spoke with Bethenny the day after her dismissal to find out what she thinks of coming in second place. TVGuide.com: Were you expecting Martha to choose Dawna, or were you still optimistic going into the finale? Bethenny Frankel: It depended on if somebody wanted someone predictable or not. Dawna's a great competitor, a very quiet and solid person. But if Martha wanted someone who is charismat

Wed, Dec 28, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart...

The Apprentice: Martha StewartWell, I pegged it. Martha chose Dawna as her Apprentice and shoved Bethenny to the side. I was somewhat disappointed in the finale of this one-and-only season of Martha Stewart's Apprentice. Overall, it left me wanting more, so I'd like to observe a moment of silence for the show's passing and a moment of mild outrage for its poorly executed ending. Believe me, I'm glad that it wasn't a big three-hour to-do, artificially inflated with season-in-review clips that signified nothing, followed by a live finale incapable of living up to its hype. But, since we'd already been mishandled by NBC's programming department — hello? Up against Lost?! and then canceled? — you'd think we could at least get a finale that w

Thu, Dec 22, 2005

Martha Cans "Crazy" Apprentice Jim

While most of this one and only season of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart was fairly uneventful, Jim Bozzini was one contestant who could always be counted on to liven things up. Alas, though his over-the-top antics carried him to the final three, Martha and Co. eventually realized that the spontaneous, sometimes out-of-control, fella just didn't fit in with her corporate image — especially after MSLO honcho Susan Lyne had dinner with Jim and became privy to his plan to boost up the weaker players so that he could stay around longer. TVGuide.com grabbed Jim for a whirlwind interview to ask him if he really is "crazy" and if he has any regrets. TVGuide.com: I want to know who the real Jim is!Jim Bozzini: Is there a real Jim? That's the question! TVGuide.co

Wed, Dec 21, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Pair Sing Swan Song

On last week's The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Ryan Danz and Marcela Valladolid tried to impress the domestic diva with their humorous commercial for Song airlines. Unfortunately, M. Diddy thought that they were out of tune with the company's target customer, and she sent both candidates packing. TVGuide.com caught up with Ryan and Marcela after their ouster to find out what went wrong, to set the record straight about "drinking on the job" and to uncover their big plans for the future. TVGuide.com: What was your goal in going on the show? What did you want to do for Martha?Marcela Valladolid: Wholeheartedly to work for her, in her food department or on television. As long as it's food-related and it's probably not an executive job. Ryan Danz: What really attracted me at first was the opportunity to get a top-level executive job wor

Wed, Dec 14, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Pair Sing Swan Song

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart didn't get the job done for NBC (oy — 16 phrases, none of them catchy), but the domestic goddess/ex-con's daytime talk show has a new topic of conversation: its renewal. Martha will be back for a second season to teach us how beautiful our lives could be if only we'd been sprung from prison with time on our hands and millions in our coffers. Thanks, Martha. Thanks a lot.

Mon, Dec 12, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart...

The Apprentice: Martha StewartIt wasn't an impossible mission: Create an in-flight promotional commercial for Song airlines. Ryan, PM for Matchstick, took that to mean that he could turn the ad into a vehicle for one's latent acting aspirations. Poor guy thought he was Kevin Costner, starring in, directing and producing a baseball commercial. Why didn't Marcela remind him that their product was an airline? A cat somewhere must have her tongue — not being PM doesn't mean not advancing any ideas of your own. I want to think that Marcela was working a Jim-style strategy by letting Ryan get drunk and flame out on his own, but we all know that's not the case. Marcela's passionate about her cooking interests, but she's not a forceful person. Whatever th

Thu, Dec 8, 2005

NBC RESTS JOEY, SCRUBS BACK IN

NBC has announced its mid-season game plan, and it goes a little something like this: Effective Jan. 2, My Name Is Earl and The Office, as speculated, move from Tuesday to Thursdays-at-9, where they will follow a pairing of Will & Grace and the new sitcom Four Kings (starring Seth Green, Shane McRae, Josh Cooke and Todd Grinnell). Filling the Tuesday void are back-to-back airings of new Scrubs episodes, which will have Fear Factor as its lead-in. Succeeding The Apprentice: Martha Stewart on Wednesdays at 9 is The Biggest Loser: Special Edition, a series of standalone and themed spec

Thu, Dec 1, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart...

The Apprentice: Martha StewartThe more I watch this show, the more I like it and the more I like Martha. I'll say it again: I cannot believe this will be its one and only season. Six candidates remain and the teams were equally matched. Leslie was PM for Matchstick and Dawna ran the Primarius crew. Both teams were to design an installation for the new Buick Lucerne sedan. Leslie felt her team hit it out of the park, but it really was more of a foul ball, and it landed them squarely in Martha's conference room. Primarius, however, got to dine at the Four Seasons with the CEO and chairman of the board of MSLO. Not bad company for a job interview. Back in the conference room, Charles was on fire with many a comment to be tossed around and he almost took c

Thu, Dec 1, 2005

Martha Clips Legal Eagle's Wings

On paper, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart's Amanda Hill looks like one of the most-qualified employees for any job you could dream of. The 30-year-old Texan is an attorney who has a degree in public relations, she has survived eye cancer (and thus does a lot of volunteer work for cancer research) and she loves to cook and host parties. Heck, on the Nov. 16 episode she even was concerned that her husband was going to mess up her garden-planting! Sounds like a model Martha if we've ever seen one. Alas, Ms. Stewart was underwhelmed by Amanda's lack of enthusiasm in selling coffeemakers. Here TVGuide.com begs Amanda to spill the beans on her experience. TVGuide.com: How is your garden? You said you were worried about what your husband might do in your absence.

Wed, Nov 30, 2005

Martha Apprentice Deemed Out of Style

Last week on NBC's The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Primarius suffered another loss when Martha politely showed Howie Greenspan the door. The 33-year-old fashion-company owner contributed to his team's losing streak when he couldn't remember the name of the product he was supposed to be hawking on QVC (!) and had to be replaced at the last minute by wild-card Jim, who has been dubbed the "male Omarosa" by some. TVGuide.com checked in with Howie to see how he has been doing since his send-off. TVGuide.com: Are you back to work?Howie: Back to work, running my clothing company, Priorities. TVGuide.com: Yes, Martha said in her letter that she thought your business could be very successful.Howie:

Wed, Nov 16, 2005

GOOSE COOKED

In a move that will surprise no one (except, maybe, M. Diddy herself), sources tell TVGuide.com that NBC has opted not to renew The Apprentice: Martha Stewart for a second season. Since debuting in September, Martha's Apprentice has proven to be a bad thing ratings-wise, averaging less than seven million viewers. Officially, NBC is saying the show was only intended to run for one cycle. In other words, even if it had pulled in 35 million viewers a week, it still would have been axed after one season. Um, right.

Mon, Nov 14, 2005

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart...

The Apprentice: Martha StewartI really enjoyed tonight's show. Martha has a good bunch of people left from which to choose her apprentice. This week, teams were to sell an item of their choice on a live QVC broadcast. Last week's double ouster left the teams uneven, so Dawna moved over to Primarius, led this week by Bethenny. Both she and Ryan, PM for Matchstick, took the leadership role to heart and acted accordingly. They tackled problems and personalities head-on, made executive decisions, adjusted course when needed and on the whole, kicked butt. I've been waiting to see project management like this for a long time. Bethenny surprised me. She effectively handled the disparate personalities on her team, which included Dawna, a woman who

Thu, Nov 10, 2005

Apprentice: Martha Picks Two "To Go"

Not to be completely overshadowed by the Donald's quadruple ouster, Martha Stewart served up a double-elimination last week on her own version of The Apprentice when she sent home project manager Sarah Brennan and her second-in-command, Carrie Gugger. Sarah, an event planner, and Carrie, a financial-analyst-turned-glassblower, headed up Primarius' effort to promote the new Tide to Go stain remover. Alas, their disorganized and themeless float seemed more likely to discourage people from purchasing the product. TVGuide.com talked to the terrible twosome about the task and about Martha in general. TVGuide.com: Why did you go on Martha's Apprentice in the first place?Sarah Brennan: I'm a huge Martha fan. I was at this place in my life where I didn't know what I wanted to do, so w

Wed, Nov 9, 2005

With all these multiple firings...

With all these multiple firings going on at the Apprentice franchise — four last week by Trump and two this week by Martha — you have to wonder who chose these people as the top contenders in the first place? But I'll leave that alone. This week teams were to design a live-action mobile billboard for Tide to Go, a pen that instantly removes stains. Dawna, PM of Matchstick, pulled out a win with a cohesive promotion, while Primarius, under Sarah's leadership (if that's what you want to call it), created a colossal failure. They had no concept, relying instead on an odd performance-art-like, chaotic, loud mish-mash-of-a-mess promotion that won no love from Martha or her henchmen. Watching Jim "dance" and chant along with the team that "It's time for Tide to Go, it's time for Tide to Go!" was like watching them boycott the product rather than sell it. This is probably the reason why "silent brainstorming" didn't catch on. Who bra

Thu, Nov 3, 2005

Martha Deletes Computer Geek

On last week's The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, the contestants went to the dogs — to raise money for the Broadway Barks auction benefit, a challenge that came back to bite David Karandish. The 22-year-old Internet-company owner, who invented the AIM Talk feature for instant messages, found out that spending too much time with his laptop could be a bad thing. (Even easygoing Merv Griffin, who was making a donation to the auction, told David that his constant note-taking was annoying!) TVGuide.com quizzed the Mensa member about why he was so obsessed with jotting things down and whether Martha will take him up on his offer to revamp her website.  TVGuide.com: I like that you didn't try to drag project manager Marcela through the mud in the boardroom. You just stated why you should stick around.David Karandish: I've

Wed, Nov 2, 2005

Martha Newscaster's Story Gets Spiked

Instead of breaking news, this past week on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart Shawn Killinger made some news. The 32-year-old TV newscaster was called back into the conference room even after project manager David absolved her and blamed Matchstick's loss on two other apprenti. But Martha was unhappy when she discovered that Shawn told Charles Koppelman that if the team lost the challenge, he could fire her. (The reporter also made the faux pas of sharing her philosophy about faking it until you make it. Big mistake.) TVGuide.com talked to Shawn who, for having been unceremoniously dismissed, sounded surprisingly happy. TVGuide.com: You seem very excited despite having been fired.Shawn Killinger: Well, this is fun, talking to people. I've never been fired before, but if it's always like this, you can fire me every day! TVGu

Wed, Oct 12, 2005

Apprentice: Martha Chucks Chuck

In case you missed this past week's The Apprentice: Martha Stewart — and according to the ratings, a lot of you did — the domestic goddess took Chuck Soldano to task for nearly quitting when his team, Matchstick, refused to cooperate. The 38-year-old interior designer struggled to rein in his team ("Win the show at all costs" Jim and his target du jour, Dawn, included) on a flower-selling task that should have been an easy win for the creative types. TVGuide.com talked to Chuck the day after his ouster to see what nearly caused him to throw in the towel. TVGuide.com: What has the response from your family been?Chuck Soldano: Watching the first episode, everybody said that I looked like I wasn't really enjoying myself. And quite frankly, the people who know me and know my expressions were dead on. I really was not enjoying myself. They were

Wed, Oct 5, 2005

MARTHA DUELS WITH DESMOND

NBC is already shuffling around its Wednesday-night lineup, swapping time slots for newcomers E-Ring, which will now air at 8 pm/ET, and The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, which is moving to 9 opposite ABC's Lost. (Who wishes they were a fly on the wall when M. Diddy got that memo? I can promise you there was no handwritten thank-you note.)

Mon, Oct 3, 2005

Today's column was written by Ben KatnerIT'S A BAD THING

To borrow a phrase from the domestic diva herself, it appears The Apprentice: Martha Stewart is having a little trouble fitting into NBC's Wednesday lineup. The much-hyped spin-off debuted with a measly 7.6 million viewers and ranked a distant No. 2 behind ABC's Lost clips special. Speaking of Lost, a whopping 23 million viewers followed Jack and Co. into the hatch (Hi, Desmond!), and most of them — 16.8 million to be exact — stuck around at 10 pm for the series premiere of Invasion. And over on Fox, Head Cases completely lost it in its second week, drawing just over 3 million viewers. On the bright side, I'm so gonna win TV Guide's "Which show will get axed first?" office pool. Just kidding. There's no office pool. Gambling is illegal. (Tee-hee.)

Thu, Sep 22, 2005

Today's column was written by Ben KatnerIT'S A BAD THING

You can't watch the premiere of...

You can't watch the premiere of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart without weighing it against the original Trump version, but comparing the two is like comparing Red Delicious apples to Goldens: They're the same thing except for the wrapping. So I'm moving on to the 16 candidates — half creative, half corporate. The creative types called their team "Matchstick," because they're "going to be the start of something big." Based on names alone — the corporates chose "Primarius" — I'm thinking there's going to be a rip-roaring barbecue in the final conference room. Primarius is a horrible name. It sounds like some condition I don't want to have. Anyway, there are 10 women and six men competing to work for Martha. I am surprised to find that much testosterone on the playing field. Yet in this premiere episode, it's the men who make the strongest first impressions. Jim bears a passing resemblance to Latin crooner, Mark Anthony. Unfortunately, Jim th

Thu, Sep 22, 2005