On "Celebrity Apprentice," Trump fires two

IndyCar champ Michael Andretti on "The Celebrity Apprentice"

/ Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

(CBS News) Two contestants on "The Celebrity Apprentice" reached the end of the road in Sunday night's episode after the men's team failed to use race-car driver Michael Andretti in a promotion for a new Buick. (SPOLIER ALERT)

Pictures: "The Celebrity Apprentice"

The task was a 10-minute presentation to introduce the Verano, Buick's luxury sedan, and Buick spokesmen offered to add another $30,000 to the prize given to the winner's charity.

Host Donald Trump clearly told the men's team what he expected of them (and what Buick may have signed on for) - that race car driver Michael Andretti be made team leader.

Instead, the low-key and retiring Andretti suggests Adam Carolla and the radio comedian, who also races vintage autos and hosts a shop-talk radio show for car enthusiasts, agreed to take it on.

The women chose Debbie Gibson as project manager but, as the episode would later reveal, it didn't much make any difference who was chosen or what the team did (mispronounce the car's name!!).

They were bound to win because of the choices the men made. In the board room later, Trump revealed that the Buick execs judging the task liked the men's presentation but were disappointed that Andretti was not better utilized. Therefore, victory went to the women.

In the endless discussion of why Carolla was or was not the better choice, only talk show host Arsenio Hall got Trump's complaint: The Buick folks wanted the Andretti name attached to their car and it didn't happen.

When Carolla refused to take anyone else to the boardroom with him - despite Trump's harping about Andretti's failures and his team mates' whining about how little Lou Ferrigno does - Trump said he would fire two.

Carolla and Andretti got the ax. Carolla said as project leader it was only fitting that he "take a bullet for then team." Andretti complained that he hadn't done anything wrong.

And while that is true, it was what he didn't do that counted. Not only did Andretti fail to step up as project manager, he also failed to make his secondary role in the presentation a star turn, as several of his scenery-chewing colleagues easily could have done.

The only head scratcher is why Ferrigno is still around. But that may be remedied next week as he promised Trump he would step up as project manager, no matter what the task.

But the men's team - and coming episodes - will be dimmed by the loss of Carolla's tension-breaking humor and good will.

What did you think of this episode? Take our poll, leave your comments below and return here next week for more commentary.

[sirslice]

The Adam's first presentation was totally different and involved all of the players front and center. A show producer kept telling them the execs wanted something more like the men's second presentation. in the boardroom Trump asked: "Adam who would you fire?" Adam responded: "The producer who kept telling us you wanted a Steve Jobs' like presentation". This exchange never made it to air. The fix was on. Adam stated on his podcast, he was upset with how the episode depicted him (as a result of editing). He also answered 10 plus minutes of technical questions (which were never shown). If this were the 1950's I'm sure the feds would investigate this set up, since CA is really a game show with six figures up for grabs for various charities.

[gmregret]

If I were Andretti, I would not want my name attached to such a piece of crap brand. All GM is good at doing is rebadging cars which makes their cars stale whenever it hits the US market. The Buick Regal has been out in Europe for years as an Opel Insignia - stale! Chevy Cruze is a Holden Cruze and if I'm not mistaken the same underpinnings for the Buick Verano! GM, please look at what Ford is doing. Focus is now global - your Sonic cannot match up. Fusion and Mondeo will be global! Pontiac G8 never succeeded because by the time it came to the states, it wasn't very innovative since it's been out in Australia for years!

[notspin]

The Buick executives thought they could get basically a free endorsement from Andretti and when it didn't happen they retaliated against the men's team.

The women's presentation contained fake crying, mispronunciation of the car's name and an unanswered question about the car's safety rating. How could they have won?

It is obvious what was happening, everyone sees it. It is as easy to figure out as shooting a tame elephant.

The Don should step up and apologize for being a tool.

How many B***ks will be endorsed by Andretti now?

[Isabella87]

The men were handed this Buick- GM project on a silver platter and the general audience expected more from A* and the men. The presentation was full of reckless abandon and it was also rather rude with very poor business standards. To say that it was too menial for Mr. A* to take it on or that he was saving his skills and charity - dollars for another task is just a another reason he received an "F" for failure in Mr. T*'s Business School. You have to succeed at the first task before you can go on to the second and A* failed.

A* was obviously very confused but his indifference was not a winning work ethic for this task, The woman also were struggling but they managed to beat the men's failing promo, which speaks volumes.

Ivanka T* asked a very simple question, "If you weren't going to step up to this task, which task would you step up for?" That was a fair question, after the 3rd episode of almost nothing from A*
Certainly A* is not a victim in this situation and he failed at something that he may not be used to delivering and that is meeting the expectations of others. Also, who cares about his dirty garage when his friend just died? After her show, Wendy Williams said he was a very tiny man. Well spoken IMHO

[dhs47]

Why would anyone care what that wack-job Trump does?

[Kzut111]

Shame shame shame.....a total BS.
It was hilarious what Adam said of the episode on Jay Leno show last nite. Thank you Adam and Michael for being so classy.

[Chasrob46]

I have to agree with most of the comments. It was clear Trump was going to fire Andretti, no matter what. When other project leaders have given themselves up, it was always accepted. This tarnished the image of the show, what a disappointment.

[buzz4t]

Yeah, I dont know how this was edited but based on what was shown, it was a stupid decision. There was no weak link responsible for losing the task, and what possible connection does a Indy car driver have with a stock Buick? To say this is a no brainer for Andretti to be project leader on this task because he races cars shows a huge deficit in creative thinking on Trump and his assistance part. The exact thing he fires other for every week.

[Terry1247]

I just saw a picture of Don Jr. taken during an elephant hunt in Africa. He was holding a knife and had slaughtered the elephant and was holding up its tail for a trophy. It took me a minute to connect this seemingly intelligent, wealthy man to this senseless slaughter of a sensitive, intelligent endangered animal who is part of a family group just as Don Jr. is. I am done with the Apprentice or anything else this miserable family is associated with. Shame on you Don Jr.!

[Isabella87]

I think you may be mistaking Don Jr, for Dr, Bob The No-Daddy guy. Shame on Dr. Bob, the No Daddy guy for shooting elephants in Africa-

[isit5pmyet]

This was a total setup. Buick of course wanted the Andretti name and for only an extra pop of 30,000 on top of the normal 20,000. If they had approached him in real life the price expected would be much much more. Plus Andretti is now a Chevy man with IndyCar. Do you really think Chevy would like that almost free Buick recommendation? Trump tried shenanigans and I think Andretti did the right thing without calling him out on it. The contest was not judged fairly as it came down to Andretti was not the PM. I call foul on a complete setup and "The Donald" was visibly angered by Andretti not stepping up to the plate.

...and since when is not bringing back two into the board room a crime? I seem to recall in the past that was what was called "honor", something Mr Trump sadly cannot recognize due to his underhanded ploy with Buick.

This show is a pure commercial, getting endorsements free for those that sign up or friends / family of Trump. What would normally cost millions costs a bit over a 20,000 match to a charity. Considering the salary of those that create the show, I think the real losers are the charities. They deserve much much more than what would constitute a large tip from the crowd that is on this show.

I used to be a fan, but no longer. My time will be spent better elsewhere.

[trumpedout]

I couldn't agree more! It's clear Trump had promised Buick they would have the Andretti name for this challenge and was pissed when they chose Adam instead of Michael. To me, it made perfect sense to have Adam lead this challenge. Unbelievable. My favorite part was when Donald tried to say the team had labeled Michael as being a weak link. The look of shear bewilderment on Michael's face was amazing.

You would think a businessman such as Donald Trump would learn to leave his emotions at the door. It's clear he was pissed and embarrassed his promise to Buick hadn't transpired so he took it out on Adam and Michael who did a tremendous job.

This show is a load of Buick.

PS - The other classic line of the night was Aubrey saying she was never a fan of Debbie Gibson... she was more of a Tiffany girl. Hilarious. Debbie Gibson is surprisingly annoying.

[notspin]

I also agree. The Buick executives thought they could get basically a free endorsement from Andretti and when it didn't happen they retaliated against the men's team.

The women's presentation contained fake crying, mispronunciation of the car's name and an unanswered question about the car's safety rating. How could they have won?

It is obvious what was happening, everyone sees it. It is as easy to figure out as shooting a tame elephant.

The Don should step up and apologize for making a tool of himself.

I wonder how many Buicks will be endorsed by Andretti now?