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Eliminated from The Celebrity Apprentice: Adam Corolla and Michael Andretti

Celebrity Apprentice Recap — Episode 4

Failure to Launch

In last week’s recap, the women won and George Takei was fired.

We join the survivors in their suite. Adam compliments the women on their win and takes the opportunity to press flesh with Tia. Dayana notes that the women need to continue winning. Arsenio says it was one of the worst experiences of his life to be in the boardroom.

Dayana delivers the check to her charity The Latino Commission on AIDS. One man tells the story of losing his entire family to AIDS.

Back to the grindstone!

The celebrities meet in Grand Army Plaza to get their task. It’s to give a 20-minute presentation about the new Buick Verrano. Clay nods sagely.

The Buick executives (hereafter known as the Grey-Haired Cuties) stress that the presentation needs to cover 4 key features (quiet environment, thoughtful technology, spaciousness, and something called “intellilink”). They want are looking for informational content, brand messaging, and creativity from the teams.

Trump declares that the task is a natural one for Michael Andretti, but the men choose Adam instead. Adam, who is playing for Catholic Big Brothers/Big Sisters, races vintage cars and is good in front of an audience. Debbie is chosen for the women. She likes that it’s a live presentation and doesn’t think it will be very difficult.

Buick adds $30,000 to the $20,000 prize.

The Grey-Haired Cuties meet with both teams. Adam asks about using humor and one executive replies, “We like humor, but it’s not a beer commercial.” Adam thinks they’ll love it when they see it. Then he mentions Tiger Woods (who used to be the Buick spokesman), and the blood drains from the faces of the Cuties. Meanwhile, Lou keeps wanting to tear off his suit as part of the presentation.

The women brainstorm. Debbie complains that “some people” have ideas that distract, so she puts them into one van, while she, Patricia, Lisa, and Aubrey are in the “idea” van. Tia (in the “some people” van) tries to communicate with Debbie by speaker phone, but Debbie hands the phone to Lisa and has her tell Tia that there’s nothing to talk about yet.

While Paul, Michael, and Adam go for a test drive, the other men are left with nothing to do but worry. Debbie drives for the girls and runs into many orange cones. “Stop!” pleads her driving guide.

Adam’s plan: the men will heckle him with questions about the car’s features. The topper will be Paul telling Adam, “You suck!” Clay is worried about the idea and Adam. “I don’t think he doesn’t hear us. I just think he doesn’t… care.”

Don visits the women and is concerned that they have a lot to do in a short amount of time. Ivanka visits the men and questions why Michael isn’t the Project Manger.

After an unproductive rehearsal, the women give their presentation. Debbie talks about the technology. Lisa talks about the quiet environment. Aubrey emotionally connects to the audience by inventing a story about her mother dying in a car accident. She calls the Buick Verrano a Buick Verona. Twice. Teresa brings in her family to show how they can all fit in the car. Tia (wearing smart glasses) fields questions.

Dee is anxious. The men will win or lose based on Adam’s choices. Adam gets some laughs, then brings up Michael to talk about the car. “His name’s Andretti and he likes the car,” Adam tells the audience.

On Adam’s cue, Arsenio begins the heckling. Penn’s part is fun, because Adam dares him to get into the trunk to see how big it is. The audience applauds when Penn fits. The only part that doesn’t seem to work is Paul yelling, “You suck!” while Lou drags him out.

What did Clay do on this task? Anything?

Coming into the boardroom, we get another business tip from the brown M&M. Trump ups the product placement by asking the celebrities what they thought about the car. Then he wastes a little more time by trying to get the celebrities to turn on their project managers.

Trump asks who Adam will bring back if they lose. “No one,” Adam replies. He doesn’t think they lost. Debbie says she’ll bring back Tia and Teresa. She blames Teresa for not “owning who she is.” Ivanka and Don criticize Teresa for not being scrappy enough. Adam tells her to flip over the table and be done with it.

On to the task assessments. Buick liked the way the women incorporated the four features, their passion, and Lisa. They didn’t like the brand integration and that Aubrey mispronounced the name of the car. They didn’t understand the “Reflection” theme.

Ivanka reports that Buick liked Adam and found him engaging. They liked the Q&A, and loved Penn. They wanted more presence from Michael Andretti.

Result? The women did a far better job. Adam looks stunned.

Debbie wins $50,000 for Children International. She cries as she talks about seeing children combing through trash to feed their families.

After the women leave, Lou throws Adam under the bus by saying everyone should have been utilized. Most of the men agree that Lou is the weakest member of the team. Michael notes that Lou only ever offers to do one thing: beat stuff up.

Trump and Don attack Michael for not stepping up as project manager. Trump asks Adam again for two names. Adam refuses to bring anyone back. “Okay,” Trump says. “Everyone go outside, then come back. I’m going to fire two people tonight.”

In the lobby, Penn says Trump is doing it to punish Adam for his solidarity to the team. He chides Lou for only having one thing to offer. He tells Lou to offer two things. Clay reminds Lou that everyone is learning. “If you survive to next week, the learning curve is over.”

They go back in. Adam explains that he was the general. “You don’t blame the soldier, you blame the general.” Trump fires him.

Adam takes it stoically. He says Debbie’s charity is a great one to lose to.

Up in the boardroom, Trump attacks Michael again. “If I’m selling a car, I want an Andretti to sell that car.”

Trump fires Michael. Ivanka and Don agree with him. I’ve never seen them disagree with their father, but they all seemed really annoyed that Michael didn’t shill more for Buick. He was basically fired for not putting his name on the line.

In the taxi, Michael feels disappointed because he didn’t screw up — and that Lou is weaker.

Next week, the task seems to be about selling a mop. It looks like Lou and Tia are project managers.