In tonight’s episode, “The First Leaf That Hits The Ground,” The All-Stars must produce a silent film promoting Australian Gold Products.
Trace Adkins team won the challenge. Gary Busey led the losing team. He brings Penn Teller and Stephen Baldwin back to the board room.
Penn was sent out of the room first. It was a difficult decision for Trump, but he decided to fire Stephen Baldwin, because he was the director of the film, and failed to showcase the products.
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The First Leaf That Hits the Ground
We start with Penn delivering his two winning checks to Dignity Village, which is Los Vegas organization that helps disabled people integrate into the community. I never really thought about this before, but they must tape these segments after the season is finished, since it’s not like Penn could pop over then and get back before lunch the next day.
I guess Trump has run out of world famous landmarks to film in, because this week’s task is assigned on some random rooftop. The task is to create a short silent movie — 45 to 60 seconds long. The film must promote Australian Gold tanning products. Having announced that, Trump asks Trace who he’d like to join Team Power to even up the numbers. Trace admires Penn’s smarts and wants him to join. Bzzzzt! Wrong answer. Survey says Marilu Henner joins Team Power. She jumps up and down like someone on The Price Is Right and comes right over to her new best friends.
Gary is eager to take this task for Plan-B. Brande is not, so Trace finally steps up as Project Manager for his team. The teams split up to brainstorm and meet with the executives from Australian Gold.
In brainstorming, Gary wants the 1920s, but Stephen is leaning towards a contemporary storyline. Over on Team Power, Trace suffers through his team’s ideas, then comes up a cavemen concept that everyone seems to like.
Gary, as usual, spouts a lot of random word salad at the meeting with Australian Gold. Stephen presents this facade of being a savvy businessman that’s even odder than Gary’s act. As it turns out, Gary comes out of the meeting with a more useful perspective, since he’s grasped that Australian Gold loves their koala bear mascot. Stephen, meanwhile, is fixated on the fact that, out of a wide range of products, the best-selling item is the bronzer.
Lil Jon and Trace clash a little on the focus of the movie. Lil Jon worked on an Australian Gold task in his season and he stresses the importance of product integration. His former team lost their task because of failing in that aspect of the task. But Trace is adamant that they put the story first.
Now it’s time to do the actual work: Team Plan-B splits up. Gary goes shopping with Lisa, while instructing Stephen and Penn to prepare a shooting script and shot list. Penn is not impressed with Stephen’s corny jokes, but, instead of being verbally pompous and overbearing, he contents himself by making stank faces and interviewing that his and Stephen’s humor doesn’t mesh.
Over on Team Power, Marilu goes into a slight OCD flurry over all the work they have to do. Trace comments that Marilu is “meticulous.” Brande ignores the chaos and starts making impromptu bikinis for the film. Trace comments that the scantily-clad models don’t phase him, since he’s had such women in all his videos. He seems to be having fun playing a silly caveman.
Don and Ivanka visit the teams in the studio. Lisa is embarrassed to be seen by Don in her swim suit. Ivanka can’t stop laughing at Trace and his caveman costume. She calms even to interview that Trace has an excellent concept, but a lot of work to get through in order to pull it off.
Back to Plan-B, where Stephen has once again seized autonomy on the shoot by playing director. Gary brings out a toy koala bear and hands it to Lisa with some mumbo-jumbo about how she fears the suns and the bear protects her. As Stephen seizes the production reins, Lisa worries that he’s putting himself at risk by taking on that responsibility.
There is a lot of work for Team Power. They have to do three separate scenes, which means changing props and costumes and all sorts of hassles. Marilu starts turning into Monk, insisting that there were no self-opening umbrellas in the 1920s, so the models need to pretend to open them. Lil Jon has only one thing he cares about: getting a shot of all the Australian Gold products. They can barely squeeze it in, but he gets his shot.
The teams move on to editing. Penn suggests having the video sped up in order to prevent Stephen’s jokes from sucking completely. Stephen is aware that Penn hates his jokes, but eventually they come to some compromise and both appear to be happy with the finished film.
The videos are presented to the Australian Gold executives. Gary brings in the koala bear and gives a little speech that, Gary-like, makes no sense. Real world business executives must have a higher tolerance for the unhinged than I thought, because they seem to dig Gary’s crazy talk.
Afterwards, Trump meets with the Australian Gold executives. It’s notable because Trump gets them to admit that, not only is Lisa a star, but her lips are the real standout performance. Thinking about that conversation, I realize that, yes, real world business executives do have a high tolerance for crazy-talk. I wish I had known that earlier. My life would have been much different.
In the Board Room, Trump is unable to get Gary to differentiate between any of his team mates. They were all great and equal. No stars or losers on his team. Penn gives Stephen the credit for writing and directing the movie. Trump once again stresses the stardom of Lisa. He then goes on to assign credit to her success. It was because she returned to Celebrity Apprentice. Because Trump makes everything better. Even Lisa Rinna’s lips.
Gary jumps on that bandwagon by praising Lisa’s shopping skills. Ivanka asks if Gary took on the accountant role for his team because he did well at it before and he’s superstitious. Gary replies that he had brain surgery and a cocaine overdose. Okay, then. That guess that explains everything.
Trace doesn’t credit anyone on the team as being a star this week. He came up with the concept. Lil Jon directed the shoot. Trump wonders if Lil Jon was at a disadvantage because Gary is more experienced with film. Lil Jon disagrees and says, “We got Marilu!” He does agree that his own experience working with Australian Gold was an advantage.
Trump starts to announce who won the task, but suddenly realizes he has time to fill. He shows the videos to get reactions from the opposing teams.
We see Plan-B’s video first. In black-and-white, a man cavorts with Lisa, who hides under an umbrella from the sun. Gary comes and hands her a koala bear. Then it turns to color. Lisa turns to kiss the man and Gary holds up a spray can of bronzer between them.
Team Power’s video starts with Trace as an unhappy caveman in a black-and-white world. He is sunburned and longs for shade, moisture, and color. He crawls through a time tunnel and emerges in the 1920s. There, they have shade but still lack color. So, he goes through the tunnel again and ends up on a beach with a cart full of Australian Gold products. He beams because now he gets color, moisturizers, and shades (sunglasses).
Of course, each team thought their video was better. Ivanka and Don describe the client’s reaction to both videos — each has a negative and a positive. They loved that Team Power showed the full range of Australian Gold products. They loved that Plan-B featured their koala bear mascot, but didn’t like that only the bronzer product was shown.
In the end, Team Power wins for the first time in a long, long while. Brande practically starts singing hallelujah. Trace wins for the second time, earning another $40,000 for the Red Cross. Team Power goes to party upstairs in the suite, while Plan-B prepares for the Board Room fracas.
It’s a very subdued affair. The problem was definitely the lack of product placement. Penn names Gary to be fired on his firm principle of putting responsibility on the Project Manager in all cases. Penn also mentions that the group discussed showing the whole product line, but couldn’t come up with a proper integration with the story they were telling. Sensing his own liability, Stephen gingerly suggests that the problem was “time management.”
It’s very obvious where things are headed this week. Gary releases Lisa and her lovely lips from consideration and brings Penn and Stephen back into the Board Room. Within about a minute, everyone has agreed that Penn has no hand in their screw-up and he’s allowed to leave.
Penn does a funny bit where he moves like a spy into and out of the elevator and tries to psyche Team Power into thinking he snuck out of the Board Room.
Back in the Board Room, the phrase “Gary really stepped up to the plate” is repeated about a million times. Then, Stephen is fired for saying that Gary “did an amazing job,” instead of telling the truth and saying that Gary did a merely okay job.
There is a moment of shock at this news, then Stephen leaves with dignity and Gary genuflects his way back to the suite. In the town car, Stephen advises the remaining contestants to follow the Trump way: Disregard your morals and your character in order to become successful.
I don’t know, Stephen. That didn’t really work out for you, did it?
Are you glad Stephen is gone? Looking forward to seeing Gary crazy his way through another task? Let me know!