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The Apprentice: Michael is fired

“Morons and idiots.” That’s what Michael said about Magna, the college educated team, in the cab after he was fired. Sour grapes, perhaps. But he was also critical of the fact that a lot of them are lawyers. From the previous two seasons, we see that Donald Trump doesn’t appreciate lawyers very much. I think it’s Mark Burnett, the producer, who picks lawyers because the common man watching television is impressed if someone is a lawyer. (Read my essay, Law School, the big lie.)

Backing up a bit, I should say something about last week’s show, since it seems that I’ve skipped a week of Apprentice blogging. Last week, Magna had the more creative idea and the executed it a lot better. It actually made sense to me, it shows the cucumber being washed, and then when the guy turns out to be homosexual, that part does add a new “twist.” It may not be suitable for broadcast TV, but I liked it nevertheless.

Net Worth lost the cucumber body wash assignment because they couldn’t get along. As I explained a few weeks ago, the ritualistic polite behavior of the college educates allows them to work better as a team.

This week, Magna lost because they didn’t have as much hustle when it came to selling their services on the street. And Michael had the least hustle of all, and that’s why Trump fired him. Net Worth probably proved their superior hustle before the show even started, because they supposedly have three times the net worth of the college educated team.

Because our society is now marketing oriented and no longer information oriented, hustle can count more than book smarts. The college team’s real advantage is not their book smarts, but their ability to get along with each other better.

posted Sunday, February 20, 2005