Following the interview round elimination of Lil Jon and Meat Loaf in The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 11, the final two of John Rich and Marlee Matlin got to work on their final task for 7UP Retro.
First thing’s first. Donald Trump has made the ever so shocking announcement he has no plans to run for President. Although it was all just an attempt to grab some attention, Trump’s not the worst person I can think of to run the country. He’d be hard pressed to do worse than we’ve seen the last several years. Immediately after NBC said he was expendable and would be replaced on this show if he were to run, he all of a sudden made the decision to stick around. Some fresh blood wouldn’t be the worst thing for this show. It’s not like Survivor where Jeff Probst is a critical element to the show’s success. Sure, they don’t want to do another Martha Stewart season, but it wouldn’t be difficult to drop a business person into the show’s current format and basically keep things going as is.
We were left with a cliffhanger, one that I doubt will hurt either team for long.
First, Marlee’s team is dealing with Geoffrey Holder refusing to sign his contract. Yeah, because I’m sure an 80 year old who’s most well known for some commercials in the 1970s has more pressing matters than appearing on the season finale of a popular TV show. Eventually, he does show up as expected.
Meanwhile, John Rich has to deal with Def Leppard. Unlike the other team, which has no backup plan, John is willing to just do the show and send these guys packing, complete with all the bad publicity that refusing to do a celebrity performance would entail. They still refuse to bow to his idea of using a kickdrum, but they’re willing to work with him. I don’t get the sense they weren’t willing to work with him. This is so lame.
Ivanka is pregnant. I’m sure we’ll see her child appearing on the show some time soon, like the rest of the Trump family. Remember when people who were not related to Trump used to be able to get on this show? Or people who were friends of Trump were not given instant get out of jail, go straight to victory cards no matter how poorly they and their offspring performed? Don Jr. is expecting his third child. We’ve already seen his other kids on this show. Speaking of which, Marlee’s basketball game is the perfect opportunity for them to make another appearance.
Marlee’s team knows they have things to do. Except they just don’t know what needs to get done, or who’s supposed to do it, as nothing has been delegated. La Toya’s getting worried John Rich is going to win. By the time the Globetrotters show up, they seem to have everything in order.
The whole cast is back for the live show, minus the jailed Richard Hatch. Even NeNe the quitter is back, although the season’s other quitter Jose Canseco is not. David Cassidy is happy Hatch is in prison. Lisa blames Star for her departure. She’s not alone, but for all the people complaining about Star, she was just better than they were.
It’s not a fundraising task, but that’s not stopping John Rich from getting donations without trying. He raises $25,000, then he gets another $250,000, putting him over the $1 million mark.
Marlee had Meat Loaf greeting people at the door. John Rich decides not to greet anybody, including Trump.
John has another problem. He’s running ahead of schedule. It’s 6:40 when he introduces Def Leppard. He told them 7. They’ll be down at 7 and not a minute sooner. His resolution is to play some songs to fill time. I find him more entertaining than they are.
Both events go well. In the end, I’m not clear how it would have been possible to screw up either.
The 7UP execs have decided they will be using the cans from both teams, which isn’t going to help Trump in making a decision about the winner.
NeNe stands by being a raving lunatic. Star is embarrassed for her. La Toya says NeNe has a good heart, deep down.
Now for the final boardroom. First up, they bring out the cans. La Toya says the other team’s can pops.
John’s defense for the timing mishap is that he was rattled by having raised $275k just before they went on stage. This puts Marlee on the defensive, although Trump says he’s not going to give a bonus for it.
In total, almost $3 million has been raised this season, mostly by Marlee and John.
Everybody initially dances around the question of who should win. Meat Loaf says Trump’s broken the rules already, and should break the rules again and let them both win. In season 4, Trump made this offer to the winner, but Randal declined to share. Star finally gives an answer, saying the money raised in the final task by John Rich takes it over the top. Lil Jon obviously supports his buddy John. La Toya continues this trend. David supports Marlee. Mark McGrath supports John because he had the best season ever, not just one great week.
They keep talking about how close this is, but it has been John Rich’s to lose from the beginning. Either way, they’re both a lot better than either Joan Rivers or Bret Michaels were.
The Celebrity Apprentice 4 winner is John Rich.
NBC has already confirmed that the show will be back next year for season 5.