The Curse is Broken as Celebrity Apprentice Returns

The Celebrity Apprentice is back with "bigger" stars and most likely less money then last season. Hey in this tough economic times even celebrities don't have the dough to donate! Once again the team was broken into the guys versus the girls to begin the season. As Donald arrived via helicopter the new cast met and Melissa Rivers was excited to be around the group she was with. Andrew Dice Clay had some words about the mother/daughter duo and I for see some trouble between them. Back at Trump Tower the ladies chose Joan RIvers as the first Project Manager. They ended up choosing the name "Athena" while the guys complained about the lack of bagels. They threw out a few crazy names before choosing Hershel Walker as project manager. Dennis Rodman didn't seem to agree though but everyone else was fine. They ended up picking the name Kotu which is a bit strange, but hey they have a strange group now don't they.

Inside the boardroom Donald told the teams that their first task would be to bake and sell cupcakes. The team who sold the most cupcakes, making the most money, would win. The ladies were off to a good start with a well picked name while the guy's name showed disharmony. Jesse didn't like it, along with Dennis, plus Andrew Dice Clay called out Donald for the bagels. He didn't really say anything about it though, not sure why. The guys were up and decided to use Andrew Dice Clay as their main celeb for New York. Apparently he's famous there but they DO have the more famous group, which could prove helpful. The ladies had some trouble making a decision of where to stand which caused some friction between Joan and Annie Duke. She brought up last year and brought up the location that Joan wanted to use. Brandi did have a good point though and wanted to use the Playboy building. She wasn't making the same mistake as last season of NOT using Hugh Hefner.

Back over on the guys side Jesse started working on the car since his fame is from Monster Garage. Oh yeah, he's also married to Sandra Bullock so I'm sure that helps. Tom Green knew Joan Rivers would call a bunch of people so he tried to get some big donations. Not sure how many people he really knows, maybe Carson Daly will pitch in? At the bakery Herschel decided to do lesser flavors which would let them make more. Andrew didn't like the idea of wearing the chef outfit but Jesse had fun taking all their pictures. He'll be using it for the truck which should be interesting. When the ladies got to the bakery Annie took control as Joan was helping with the car. Khloe didn't like the fact that she was being bossy but didn't really speak up, besides in confessional of course. Over at the truck the other four ladies got things ready where Joan wanted bubbles to fly out of it. Not a bad idea but surely crazy coming from her. The guy's had things more under control though as Jesse made decals of the guys to place around the truck. Brian McKnight went along but didn't do much, hoping if Jesse took the fall he didn't get any blame for making no decisions.

While the ladies worked on the decals it became obvious that Melissa controlled Joan a bit. At least that's what Brande thought. Back in the bakery the guys began mixing and their cupcakes were starting to pile up. Andrew didn't do a single thing in the bakery but headed off to do radio spots. Herschel didn't seem to mind though so he could throw him under the bus later. Good strategy, although Tom caught on which could prove negative if he goes into the boardroom with him. Back over at the laddie's bakery things were going well, for the vanilla at least. Their chocolate ones ended up sinking though which put Natalie on the chopping block. She was the one mixing the chocolate but Annie improvised, more vanilla! Chocolate must have been bad for everyone though as the guys forgot to put he sugar in. One of the ladies helping them realized that brushing some syrup on top could give them the sweeter taste.

With the girls all reconnected they realized that the chocolate cupcakes actually tasted ok, even if they were a bit flat. Annie was annoying everyone though as Claudia found her orders somewhat pointless when she wasn't even the Project Manager. The next day the teams got up early to get their trucks ready. Melissa was surprised by the guy's truck which easily beat team Athena's truck. The guy's used their celebrity status to sell the cupcakes and pull in customers. The ladies weren't doing too bad either as they sold their cupcakes for whatever people would give. The guys were able to pull the first real celebrity in though as Tony Hawk arrived to buy a $1,000 cupcake. The naked cowboy also made an appearance, not that big of one but big enough I guess. With the ladies in front of the playboy tower one of the bunnies came down in full costume and pulled out $5,000 from Hef. Brande was doing well and Joan realized that, showing she's probably safe with her.

As the day progressed Kotu was realizing that Dennis and Andrew weren't doing a single thing. Dennis was in the truck all day long, even though he was the most famous among them. Dennis felt that standing outside would hinder people buying cupcakes, so hiding in the truck was better apparently. Back at the girls Claudia got Eric Bonet to stop in while Khloe pulled in Kathy Lee Giffort. Annie had some poker players top buy, nobody really famous but rich at least! While the groups kept selling both team leaders got a call from Donald telling them to pick their best cupcake. They would have someone at a bakery taste one cupcake from each and give the best one $15,000. It's a huge lead for one of the teams and could possibly hand the win over. While Melissa went for Athena, Andrew went for Kotu. At the Crumb bakery the taster wouldn't reveal who was better but rather said they would tell Donald. Oh the suspense! Not really.

With Melissa back on the street Annie was not happy with the "chocolate bomb" selection that Melissa gave to the bakery. Apparently the vanilla were better, something she wasn't aware of. Annie was also pushing Brande the wrong way by not letting her sell the entire truck of cupcakes. The guy's that Brande had were willing to pay $9,000 yet Annie complained because they ran out. They continued their argument in the car where Annie continued to dig herself a bigger and bigger whole. With the few minutes left the guys were starting to sell more then before as big spenders were showing up one by one. Tom's big spender finally arrived with two minutes left and Donnie Deutsche gave $10,000 for one lousy cupcake. At least its for a good cause.

Now that the cupcake selling was done it was into the board room for their very first time. Brande was selected as the best worker by Joan. She made the most money and it was obvious while Claudia called out Annie as being the weakest for the team. The two then got into a small spat as they argued about the frosting incident, Donald seemed to side with Annie though. Not surprising. Over at the guys side Andrew was said to be the weakest as he wasn't up for the baking. He called himself the "court jester" and Donald was speechless, hard to do. But he turned the subject to Dennis who he apparently really likes. Do we have some favoritism? Donald then revealed who won the cupcake winner from Crumb as the girls took home the win. They hated the guys cupcake but in the end their total raised was $49,000. The women took home the win, easily though, taking home $61,000 for Joan's charity. That kills the women's horrible curse from last season, but then again was a cupcake challenge made for them? I don't think so, but let conspiracies begin!

As the women celebrated it was time to watch the guy's boardroom. Andrew called out Tom for being high strung early on but Tom fought back by saying he made the most money for the team. Donald called out Jesse though for making hardly any money, he said he didn't have any rich friends. *cough*your wife*cough*. Scott Hamilton said everyone should be blamed but Andrew cut him off, along with Evanka. Apparently he wasn't happy with Donald calling him a womanizer, constantly, but he still fought to stay. He brought up his celebrity as being the most famous between them all, but I'll probably have to disagree. Herschel chimed in then by saying HE brought in the most money, even though he didn't. Donald then went back to Jesse where he called Dennis the weakest member. He vocalized his strategy to hide and let people come to him but Herschel disagreed. Dennis called him out for being a poor leader though, which is probably true, but they kept on bickering. I think the girls are VERY happy now that they don't have to go through that. I can guarantee first time they go in there will be a cat fight!

Clint Black was first to get the deadly question of who he would fire and he chose Andrew. He fought back though that his contribution was just as much as others, just in a different way. He then went on to say that he's willing to leave if people don't think he's not doing what he's doing, even if he is. Donald didn't really want him to quit and basically called him a loser if he quit. Andrew then backtracked by saying he'd stay and chose Scott if he had to choose someone. Scott then made the decision, after a little pull, and chose Dennis and Andrew to be fired. Brian also chose Andrew while Jesse chose Dennis. Tom's choice was Herschel who continued trying to make himself look better. In the end Herschel chose Andrew and Dennis to go into the elimination with him, an obvious and easy choice. Inside the closed doors Evanka believed Herschel could take the blame while Don Jr believed that the other two cannot be led by anyone but themselves. As the three guys came back in it was two against one. Andrew and Dennis targeted Herschel for not leading them while Herschel lashed back. He obviously can't take criticism, even it's 100% true. In the end Andrew Dice Clay was fired for wanting to quit. It's probably best for the team but a sad day for the show. The funny guy going first is never a good thing but hey what can you do.