The Apprentice (American TV series) season 4

This article is about the U.S. season. For the UK season, see The Apprentice (UK series four).

Template:Infobox Television The Apprentice The Apprentice 4 is the fourth season of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump as the executive producer and host. The show was aired on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on NBC and started September 22, 2005.

This was the first season of the show not to place in the Top 20 Nielsen Ratings; it averaged #38 with 11.01 million viewers.

Candidates

Team 1	Team 2
Capital Edge	Excel

Candidate	Age	Residence	Result
Randal Pinkett - Consulting Firm Owner	34	Somerset, New Jersey	Hired by Trump
Rebecca Jarvis - Financial Journalist	23	Chicago, Illinois	Fired in the Season Finale
Alla Wartenberg - Salon & Spa Chain Owner	31	Las Vegas, Nevada	Fired in week 11
Felisha Mason - Real Estate Developer	29	Kansas City, Missouri
Adam Israelov - Risk Manager	22	Atlanta, Georgia	Fired in week 10
Clay Lee - Realtor	28	College Station, Texas	Fired in week 9
Marshawn Evans - Recent Law School Graduate	26	Atlanta, Georgia	Fired in week 8
Brian Mandelbaum - Print Company Executive	23	New York, New York
Markus Garrison - Inventor	41	Sarasota, Florida	Fired in week 7
Mark Lamkin - Wealth Manager	35	Louisville, Kentucky	Fired in week 61
James Dillon - Sales Executive	27	Alexandria, Virginia
Jennifer Murphy - Ad Sales Manager	26	Los Angeles, California
Josh Shaw - Beauty Company Owner	30	New York, New York
Kristi Caudell - Sales Executive	24	Gainesville, Georgia	Fired in week 5
Toral Mehta - Investment Banker	29	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Fired in week 4
Jennifer Wallen - Realty Company Owner	31	Anthem, Arizona	Fired in week 3
Chris Valletta - Marketing Executive	27	Dallas, Texas	Fired in week 2
Melissa Holovach - Real Estate Investor	30	Tampa, Florida	Fired in week 1

^Note 1 : In an unannounced move, Trump fired four of the people on the losing team at one time.

Weekly results

Candidate	Original team	Week 5 team	Week 6 team	Week 7 team	Week 9 team	Final task team	Application result	Record as project manager
Randal Pinkett	Excel	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Excel	Excel	Excel	Hired by Trump	3-0 (win in weeks 3, 7, & 10)
Rebecca Jarvis	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Excel	Excel	Excel	Capital Edge	Fired in the Season Finale	1-2 (win in week 11, loss in weeks 3 & 9)
Alla Wartenberg	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge		Fired in week 11	1-1 (win in week 6, loss in week 10)
Felisha Mason	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge		Fired in week 11	1-2 (win in week 9, loss in weeks 4 & 11)
Adam Israelov	Excel	Excel	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Capital Edge		Fired in week 10	0-1 (loss in week 7)
Clay Lee	Excel	Excel	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Excel		Fired in week 9	2-0 (win in weeks 4 & 8)
Marshawn Evans	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Excel	Excel			Fired in week 8	1-0 (win in week 2)
Brian Mandelbaum	Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel			Fired in week 8	1-1 (win in week 5, loss in week 8)
Markus Garrison	Excel	Excel	Capital Edge	Capital Edge			Fired in week 7	1-0 (win in week 1)
Mark Lamkin	Excel	Excel	Excel				Fired in week 6
James Dillon	Excel	Excel	Excel				Fired in week 6
Jennifer Murphy	Capital Edge	Capital Edge	Excel				Fired in week 6	0-1 (loss in week 5)
Josh Shaw	Excel	Excel	Excel				Fired in week 6	0-1 (loss in week 6)
Kristi Caudell	Capital Edge	Capital Edge					Fired in week 5	0-1 (loss in week 1)
Toral Mehta	Capital Edge						Fired in week 4
Jennifer Wallen	Capital Edge						Fired in week 3
Chris Valletta	Excel						Fired in week 2	0-1 (loss in week 2)
Melissa Holovach	Capital Edge						Fired in week 1

Elimination Chart
Candidate	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13
Randal	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	HIRED
Rebecca	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	WIN	FIRED
Alla	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	FIRED
Felisha	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	BR	FIRED
Adam	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	FIRED
Clay	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	BR	WIN	FIRED
Marshawn	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Brian	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	FIRED
Markus	WIN	BR	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Mark	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
James	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Jennifer M.	IN	IN	BR	IN	LOSE	FIRED
Josh	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Kristi	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Toral	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Jennifer W.	IN	IN	FIRED
Chris	IN	FIRED
Melissa	FIRED

  The contestant was on the losing team.

  The contestant was hired and won the competition.

  The contestant won as project manager on his/her team.

  The contestant lost as project manager on his/her team.

  The contestant was brought to the final boardroom.

  The contestant was fired.

  The contestant lost as project manager and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: Let's Get Physical

• Air date: September 22, 2005
• Sponsor: Bally Total Fitness
• Project: Teams had to design and market a workout class for Bally Total Fitness.
• Capital Edge project manager: Kristi
• Excel project manager: Markus
• Winning team: Excel
  • Team's profit: $527
  • Markus not exempt: Only Adam and Randal voted to give Markus the exemption.
  • Excel's reward: Friar's Club lunch with Donald Trump.
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Team's profit: $516
  • Reasons for loss: Kristi's idea for the marketing flyer was awful; it said "Triple XXX Threat" that came out from the graphic designer and also they lost by $11.
  • Initial boardroom: Nearly all members of Capital Edge said that Melissa was negative and obnoxious. Melissa said that she has a hard time working with women. Kristi was responsible for her shoddy leadership and the awful marketing flyer.
  • Sent to boardroom: Kristi and Melissa
  • Fired: Melissa for not getting along with the team, being a disruptive force, and for not being able to work with women.
• Notes:
  • After splitting the candidates into the two teams, Trump offered a reward to the first person to reach his helicopter, which was on the other side of the golf course. The winner's team would be granted the use of the helicopter for the duration of the task. Mark, from Excel, reached the helicopter first.
  • Kristi asks if she could bring only one person back into the boardroom. Trump says yes, and she chooses Melissa.
  • Melissa's firing marked the first time a female competitor was "first fired" from the show. The initial firees on the first three seasons were David, Rob, and Todd.
  • Melissa virtually destroyed her chances of continuing on the show, and certainly from ever being hired by Trump, when she repeatedly and voluntarily said (in the boardroom) that she can not get along with women. She added that women generally dislike her because they feel threatened or intimidated by her, which did not impress Trump.
  • Melissa later appeared on a "Dr. Phil" episode where she continued to blame Kristi for her firing (though she didn't refer to Kristi by name) before conceding that she hadn't done a good job and needed to look more closely at herself for that.
  • During the filming of the first task, Randal was told that his grandmother had died. After announcing Excel's win, Trump gave Randal the opportunity to leave the show. Randal felt that his grandmother would have wanted him to stay on the show. During the filming of episode 2, Trump allowed Randal to borrow his helicopter and attend the funeral.
• Episode 1 Recap from NBC.com

Week 2: There's No Little "i" in Team

• Air date: September 29, 2005
• Sponsor: Lamborghini
• Project: Teams had to create an advertising campaign for Lamborghini cars.
• Capital Edge project manager: Marshawn
• Excel project manager: Chris
• Winning team: Capital Edge
  • Marshawn exempt: Capital Edge—with the exception of Kristi—voted to have Marshawn exempt from firing for Week 3.
  • Capital Edge's reward: Hockey with New York Islanders legends and prospects.
    • At the reward, Rebecca fell and broke her ankle.
• Losing team: Excel
  • Reasons for loss: Grammatical errors spotted on the team's printed advertisement; the ad read "Green With Envy" whilst Markus tried to inform his team it should have read "Green With Envy?".
  • Sent to boardroom: Chris and Markus
    • Firing verdict: Prior to Chris choosing only Markus back to the boardroom, Trump made it clear that Chris should bring Mark into the boardroom, because Mark was responsible for the bad grammar on the ads. Chris took the blame for Mark's mistake, saying that he was responsible as well.
  • Fired: Chris for allowing his emotions to influence his decision-making, for bringing Markus back to the boardroom instead of Mark.
• Notes:
  • This is the first time the project manager did not bring back the candidate Trump wanted back into the boardroom.
  • Trump and his advisors saw potential in Chris, but they did not like the fact that he deliberately brought back Markus and not Mark, after Trump clearly stated not to do so otherwise.
• In his exit interview, Chris continued to bad-mouth Markus.
  • In the middle of the task, Randal left to attend his grandmother’s funeral. He arrived back at the agency as Excel was getting ready to present their advertising campaign to Lamborghini.
  • The little "i" in the episode’s title refers to the error in Excel’s advertising. Mark thought that using the small "i" in "Rebirth of Italian Intimidation" to match the small "i's" in Lamborghini would "look better".
  • Because of the NHL lockout taking place during filming of this task, the reward only involved Islanders legends and prospects. Active players were not eligible to participate in the reward because of the lockout not having been settled at the time of taping.
• Episode 2 Recap from NBC.com

Week 3: Something Old, Something New

• Air date: October 6, 2005
• Sponsor: Best Buy Geek Squad
• Project: Excel and Capital Edge were both given space at the Cedar Crest Village Home in Pompton Plains, New Jersey to host a technology expo for the senior citizens. All the equipment was purchased at Best Buy using the allotted Best Buy gift cards.
• Capital Edge project manager: Rebecca
• Excel project manager: Randal
• Winning team: Excel
  • Randal exempt: Excel voted unanimously to have Randal exempt from firing for Week 4.
  • Excel's reward: Handing out toys to children at a hospital.
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Sent to boardroom: Rebecca, Jennifer M., and Jennifer W. in spite of the team's criticisms and a strong suggestion by Trump for Toral to be brought back.
    • Boardroom Verdict: Trump disagreed with Rebecca’s decision to not bring Toral back—as well as her decision to bring Jennifer M.--to the boardroom; however, he felt that Rebecca had potential. Rebecca also strongly defended Toral to the point where Trump allowed Toral one last chance to prove herself. Carolyn found Capital Edge’s presentation boring, dull and drab and was also the one to point out to Jennifer W. that instead of the cake saying "Techno Expo", it read "Tethno Expo". Jennifer W. was exposed to be primarily liable for the refreshments and the decorations, prompting Trump to find Jennifer W. to ultimately be liable for the loss.
  • Fired: Jennifer W. for lack of event planning and for not spotting the spelling mistake in the cake.
• Notes:
  • Rebecca started out the episode on crutches after breaking her ankle during the reward from the previous task.
  • After the candidates had left the boardroom, referring to Rebecca, Trump told Carolyn and George, "This girl's either gonna be great or a disaster."
  • In her exit interview, Jennifer W. claimed she is a great event planner.
• Episode 3 Recap from NBC.com

Week 4: Ice Cream of Genie

• Airdate: October 13, 2005
• Sponsor: Dairy Queen
• Project: Teams had to create a new promotional character for the Dairy Queen Blizzard Treat.
• Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
• Excel project manager: Clay
• Winning team: Excel
  • Clay exempt: All of Excel voted for Clay to be exempt from firing in week 5 before the reward was announced
  • Excel's reward: Playing Baseball with the New York Mets
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Reasons for loss: Jennifer M. lobbied for the Dairy Queen Logo to be placed on the Zip mascot design, but the entire team vetoed it.
  • Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom
  • Fired: Toral, for excessive procrastination, including but not limited to not stepping up and accepting the leadership role as Project Manager, and for getting caught lying about why she didn't participate more effectively on the task.
    • Reason for foregoing the final boardroom: Rebecca reluctantly had to admit that she would fire Toral when Trump asked her, for the aforementioned critical error described.
    • Supplemental firing points: Toral not only did nothing in this task, but also procrastinated during the costume presentation phase, including but not limited to not giving Felisha a hard reason why she can't wear the costume. She also disassociated herself from the result, saying the team deserved to lose, but Marshawn strongly pointed out that Toral didn't contribute to either wins or losses.
    • Boardroom tension: Although Alla wasn't polite throughout the task, she alongside Kristi, Jennifer M., and Felisha asked Toral to wear the costume (though the request wasn't polite nonetheless), but Toral refused not only because the costume was poorly-designed, but also for personal reasons (including but not limited to her religious beliefs), however not bringing up the hard reasons why she can't wear "silly-designed costumes" to her colleagues prior to both the presentation and before the boardroom.
• Notes:
  • Business lesson of the task: Not stepping up to lead the team in lieu of validating and expediting one's-self skills and credentials is considered a critical error as aforementioned.
• Episode 4 Recap from NBC.com

Week 5: Lost In Space

• Airdate: October 20, 2005
• Sponsor: Sony Pictures
• Project: The teams had to design a parade float in order to advertise for the upcoming release of the film Zathura.
  • Corporate restruction: Randal transferred to Capital Edge to even out the teams, since the women were down to 6 members
• Capital Edge project manager: Jennifer M.
• Excel project manager: Brian
• Winning team: Excel (Brian exempted)
  • Excel's reward: A Recording Session with Wyclef Jean where the men recorded a song called "Rubble Man".
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Reason for loss: Capital Edge missed the point, that in order to win, they had to do what they could to make Zathura a household name. Team Excel had audio to go along with the float, so that audience members would hear the correct pronunciation. In contrast, Capital Edge's Jennifer M. mispronounced Zathura (calling it "Zenthura") several times during the presentation, which gave the executives a very bad impression of Jennifer's team.
  • Sent to boardroom: Jennifer M., Kristi
  • Fired: Kristi, for being controlling, a distraction and a nuisance.
• Notes:
  • Carolyn believed Jennifer M. made too many mistakes and was visibly displeased when Kristi got axed.
  • After the firing, Jennifer M. tried to apologize to Kristi for getting her fired, but Kristi was infuriated after the boardroom and quickly snapped back at her.
  • Instead of the usual theme at the end of the broadcast, "Rubble Man" was broadcast as the show ended.
• Episode 5 Recap from NBC.com

Week 6: Take Me Out to the Boardroom

• Airdate: October 27, 2005
• Sponsor: Dick's Sporting Goods
• Project: The teams had to design a sporting theme that is designed to increases sales. Capital Edge chose golf and Excel chose baseball.
  • Corporate restructuring: Because Capital Edge lost 4 tasks (3 in a row), Carolyn asked each team's project manager to send three players they believed were weak to the other side. Alla sent Jennifer M., Rebecca, and Marshawn to Excel. Josh sent Adam, Markus, and Clay to Capital Edge.
• Capital Edge project manager: Alla
• Excel project manager: Josh
• Winning team: Capital Edge
  • Alla exempt: Before hearing their reward, all of Capital Edge voted to have Alla exempt from firing from Week 7, main reason was being the team thought Alla did a very good job.
  • Capital Edge's reward: Taking a Private Jet to Montauk for a fishing trip and seafood dinner on the beach.
• Losing team: Excel
  • Reasons for loss: Excel missed the mark in this task and had four people that dropped the ball: Jennifer M., James, Josh, and Mark. They just did nothing but marketing instead of selling the products. Excel had the worst failure ever in the Apprentice history. Also, James made a terrible idea for putting a batting cage. It took the entire space trying to get the products. Only Brian, Rebecca, and Marshawn did the sales rather than the other four people.
  • Apprentice first: Usually, Trump would allow the project leader to select 1-3 people of who should be responsible for the loss. But because Josh was responsible for the worst failure ever in the history of The Apprentice, Trump did not give Josh the opportunity. Trump let Brian return to the suite since because he earned exemption from the previous task, sold the products well, and followed the task properly. On the basis of selling the products well and following the task properly, he sent both Rebecca and Marshawn to the suite, as well.
  • Sent to boardroom: Josh, Jennifer M., James, Mark
    • Initial tension: Josh is criticized from Trump that he allowed Mark, James, and Jennifer M. to do the marketing of the batting cage. However, Bill also questioned that Jennifer M. is losing respect of him, Trump, and Carolyn.
  • Fired: All four of them are fired for the worst boardroom lost ever in the history of The Apprentice, plus the following, specific reasons:
    • Josh, for having poor quality of leadership, inability to control his team, and for making a numerous of horrible decisions
    • Jennifer M. for not delivering her promises, losing her control, acting disrespectful towards Trump, Bill, and Carolyn, and for making too many excuses of how she contribute correctly
    • James for building a batting cage which forced merchandise away from the display, which turned their event into a batting cage rather than a store and caused sales to drop drastically.
    • Mark for not selling anything, and for generally failing to step up and contribute in the previous tasks.
• Notes:
  • See Trump's mass-firing quote
  • Rancic assured Trump that this was the only choice he (Trump) had, since none of the four stepped up or hit the mark correctly post-firing.
  • This was the first time that Trump was not present to assign the teams their task; rather, Carolyn sat in Trump's chair and assigned the corporate reform and the task.
  • This was only the second time where more than one person was fired in a single episode (outside of the interviews); the first time was when both Wes & Maria were fired in Season 2.
  • This was the worst boardroom loss ever for a team on the history of The Apprentice (to be surpassed by Season 7); Capital Edge boosted sales by 74%, and Excel's sales went down by 34%. The margin was 108%—this irritated Trump, as the margin of defeat was large beyond imagination, although viewers recall Trump stating that he had to do something to seriously change Capital Edge due to the bad team record (As of the conclusion of this task, Capital Edge is 2-4).
  • This was also the first time that none of the candidates from the final boardroom returned to the suite, because all four of them were fired, a first in the history of The Apprentice. Trump wasn't happy about the disastrous loss margin, and Bill found the four boardroom candidates to be equally responsible for the loss which gave Trump enough information and reason to conduct a mass exodus.
  • Before the boardroom, Josh told Mark he would bring back Jennifer M., but that he didn't want to bring back James. Josh also thought that Brian, Rebecca, and Marshawn did an excellent job doing the sales.
  • Rancic thought Jennifer M. promised great things, but he didn't see her deliver on her promise.
  • After the boardroom, all four fired candidates loaded themselves and their luggage and into the one waiting taxicab. During the exit interview, all four just sat awkwardly and never looked at or talked to each other.
• Episode 6 Recap from NBC.com

Week 7: Back to School

• Airdate: November 3, 2005
• Sponsor: The Learning Annex
  • Corporate restruction: Since Excel was grievously decimated after the previous boardroom, the team is given the opportunity to take a Capital Edge member, and in turn they take back Randal, who becomes the team's PM for the task.
• Project: The teams had to promote a new class for the Learning Annex. Capital Edge chose Sex in the Workplace and Excel chose Stand Out to Hit the Mark.
• Capital Edge project manager: Adam
• Excel project manager: Randal (Excel took him back from Capital Edge)
• Winning team: Excel (Randal exempted)
  • Excel's reward: A shopping spree at Michael Kors.
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Reasons for loss: According to the adults in the presentation, the presentation was a total disaster. Clay said a number of statements that were offensive to a large group of adults.
  • Sent to boardroom: Adam, Clay, Markus
  • Final Verdict: Adam does not believe Clay is Anti-Semitic in the boardroom.
  • Fired: Markus, for not contributing anything, for talking too long (nobody understood Markus whenever he talked), and for not doing anything in the presentation.
• Notes:
  • Clay calls Adam a "shy, tight Jewish boy" during the sex presentation and was immediately chastised for it by Adam and George. Clay said that Adam was discussing his not wanting to pay a lot of money on dates, and he was going with Adam's own idea.
  • Markus is seen smoking a cigar before returning to the boardroom. Once doing the presentation, he was seen sitting in the back, playing with a yo-yo.
  • Trump asked Clay whether he was a homosexual and Adam whether he had any sexual experience. In a typical job interview, those questions should not be asked, but this is not a typical job interview.
• Episode 7 Recap from NBC.com

Week 8: Store Wars

• Airdate: November 10, 2005
• Sponsor: Lucasfilm and Best Buy
• Project: The teams had to design an interactive display for the DVD release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith & the video game release of Star Wars: Battlefront II
• Capital Edge project manager: Clay
• Excel project manager: Brian
• Winning team: Capital Edge (Clay not exempted—Reason: not functioning well as a leader and a team player, task imbalance according to Alla)
  • Capital Edge's reward: Spending time with Bill Rancic, and touring Trump Tower at City Place in White Plains—Trump deduced the winning team needed more tutelage from a proven worker since Clay is not exempt.
• Losing team: Excel
  • Reasons for loss: The executives from Lucasfilm and Best Buy was confused of how was Darth Vader was omitted in Excel's display. In business, it's really important to include central characters when making sales display for movies, television, or other entertainment that exists. Excel also missed the meeting from meeting the executives. Brian made the team leave just 15 minutes before a 10:15 meeting.
  • Initial boardroom: Carolyn and Trump brought a number of issues of why Marshawn didn't present. However, Bill also brought up an issue that Marshawn abandoned her team of the presentation and questioned of how Marshawn really stepped up and hit the mark in this task. Also, Trump is questioned of Brian for his contributions over the last seven weeks.
  • Sent to boardroom: All members of Excel—No "Internal Review" by the execs since Trump had enough evidence to fire 2 people
  • Fired: Brian and Marshawn for the following reasons:
    • Brian, for being late (He made the team leave just 15 minutes before the meeting was to begin and subsequently got caught in traffic) for the wrong reasons and missing the meeting with the clients (Randal took over and did the lecture himself)
    • Marshawn, for refusing to present (when Marshawn stepped down, Rebecca stepped up). Marshawn was repeatedly asked by Carolyn as to why she stepped down and never once gave a clear answer. She claimed she listened to Brian talk about the display and thought he would be better suited as the presenter. Both Brian and Trump agreed that Brian was a terrible presenter. Rebecca, not wanting to waste time, ended up doing the presentation herself.
• Notes:
  • This is the third time that two or more people have been fired on the Apprentice. The first occurrence was in Season 2 (Maria & Wes) and the second in Season 4 Week 6 (Jennifer, Josh, James, Mark).
  • This is also the second time this season that more than one person has been fired, making the event an Apprentice first.
• Episode 8 Recap from NBC.com

Week 9: One Hit Blunder

• Airdate: November 17, 2005
• Sponsor: XM Radio
• Team Change: Clay asked Trump if he could move from Capital Edge to Excel because he didn't like the way Adam, Alla, and Felisha were treating him. Trump agreed, and Clay joined Randall and Rebecca.
• Project: The teams had to choose an unsigned singer and create a song for them to sing. The song would be aired on XM Radio Café channel and critiqued by listeners who called in. Capital Edge worked with Levi Kreis[1] and Excel worked with Jide[2].
• Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
• Excel project manager: Rebecca
• Winning team: Capital Edge (No more exemptions issued)
  • Capital Edge's reward: A private helicopter tour of popular New York City buildings with Trump.
• Losing team: Excel
  • Reasons for loss: Instead of alternative rock, which XM radio specializes in, Excel decided to change genre and created a song that was not popular with the XM radio listeners. In addition, their radio channel was wrong on their marketing poster, which Randall was responsible of.
  • Sent to boardroom: None
  • Fired: Clay, for being too difficult to work with and for his poor attitude. Despite Randall and Rebecca performing poorly on the task themselves, Trump noted that Capital Edge was very ecstatic when Clay left their team and that everyone said they would never want to work with Clay ever again.
• Notes:
  • After working hard from the last eight weeks, it's time for the final six candidates that really have to step up. Exemptions are no longer needed, they don't count if you win as PM.
  • Clay was unhappy with Capital Edge; so he volunteered moving to Excel. But it didn't work.
• Episode 9 Recap from NBC.com

Week 10: Shaniagans

• Airdate: November 24, 2005
• Sponsor: Coty, Inc.
• Project: The teams had to wrap an object to promote Country Pop music star Shania Twain's new fragrance by Stetson
• Capital Edge project manager: Alla
• Excel project manager: Randal
  • Reason for Randal being project manager: Randal felt that he needed to prove himself that he made a fatal mistake on the XM Radio task.
  • Megaphone heist: When Randal called Radio Shack to ask for megaphones, the assistant told him another group of people (Capital Edge) called in for megaphones. Randal and Rebecca engaged in a "Megaphone Heist". This is the turning point of the task. Randall and Rebecca pretended to be Capital Edge's "colleagues" and went into the store to pick them up "for them". Randall and Rebecca left with only 9 instead of 10 because the tenth megaphone was set up in a display window and Rebecca was nervous of Capital Edge coming in and spotting them. When Alla called to check on Capital Edge's megaphones, the receptionist told them they had already given them to Excel.
• Winning team: Excel
  • Excel's reward: A horseback ride through Central Park and dinner with Shania Twain.
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Reasons for loss: Adam spent half of their budget working with the horse and carriages. This forced Felisha to cut the number of temps they could hire.
  • Boardroom issues: When Alla brought up Excel's Megaphone Heist caper, Trump and Bill Rancic thought Excel was smart and approved of it.
  • Before Verdict: Trump sent Alla back to the suite since she's not liable to this loss and being in the boardroom for the final verdict.
  • Sent to boardroom: Adam and Felisha
    • Firing points: Carolyn felt Adam and Felisha are now the weakest; but she decided to fire Felisha. Bill wanted to fire Adam for not contributing that much on this task.
  • Fired: Adam, for terrible decision-making and spending half of his team's budget on horse and carriages that looked awful and ineffective. Although Felisha was blatant from hiring more temps, he is fired for not giving compelling reasons to Rancic of why he's better than Felisha.
• Notes:
  • Alla is the first project manager not to face the boardroom, since Trump did not consider her responsible for the loss.
  • As this episode aired on Thanksgiving weekend, a one-hour highlight package of previously unaired footage and a summary was shown.
  • The Internal Review of the Execs was performed immediately after Alla was sent back to the suite; as in the final moments of Chris from The Apprentice 3, the candidates had to remain in the boardroom although it counted as an internal review.
  • As a result, Randal won the task with his third victory as Project Manager.
• Episode 10 Recap from NBC.com

Week 11: To Lead or Not to Lead

• Airdate: December 1, 2005
• Sponsor: Microsoft
• Project: The teams had to direct a commercial promoting Microsoft's Live Meeting program.
• Capital Edge project manager: Felisha
• Excel project manager: Rebecca
• Winning team: Excel
  • Excel's reward: A private sailboat ride around New York City
    • Throughout the private sailboat ride, Randal received a surprise visit by his wife Zahara, and Rebecca received a surprise visit by her boyfriend Matt.
    • Trump chose the Private Sailboat Ride as the reward mainly because he believed that Excel needed to "relax".
• Losing team: Capital Edge
  • Reasons for loss: The Microsoft executives thought Capital Edge's commercial was very unorganized. They thought it was too wordy and frankly Capital Edge put too much text in their video.
  • Sent to boardroom: Both Felisha and Alla, no internal review
  • Fired: Both of them for the following reasons:
    • Felisha, for being too emotionally weak to handle the toughness of New York City, lack of overall quality leadership, and losing control to Alla.
    • Alla, for insubordination and for producing/directing/compiling an unairable commercial, as well as for constantly attacking Felisha brutally in the boardroom.
• Notes:
  • This is the third multiple-firing conducted this year.
  • Season 4 had the most multiple-firings in one season of The Apprentice ever (all multiple-firings were unannounced).
  • This is the first time the finalists have been decided by an unannounced multiple-firing alone before the one-on-one interviews with the four prominent executives.
  • This is the second time in the series that Trump fired every candidate in the boardroom at the time. The first time was in week 6.
  • Capital Edge is the first team ever to be completely closed for business before the one-on-one interviews, because there are no more Capital Edge members.
  • The turning point during this task was when Felisha and Alla butt heads during the acting part of the task, where Felisha failed to halt Alla's insubordination.
  • During the boardroom, Alla and Felisha, again, argue, causing Felisha to break into tears. This occurred despite their supposed friendship. Trump told Alla she was unmanageable, citing that Alla acts like a bully even though Felisha is nice to her. Obviously Felisha was the only one expected to be fired for mass incompetence, but when Alla attempts to leave, Trump tells her to sit back down and fires Alla as well.
  • After the boardroom, Trump went to inform Randal and Rebecca that they were the Final Two.
  • After the task, and before the Boardroom, Randal had a 7-4 record in the 11 tasks. The women were 4-7 a piece. Alla was 1-1 as Project Manager, Felisha and Rebecca were 1-2 each. Randal had the best record with 3-0.
  • Normally, when there's only three or four candidates remaining, there would be an interview process in which Trump (at the behest of the executives) determines whether or not a candidate would be eligible to participate in the final task. For this season, there won't be an interview week since the number of candidates went down from four straight to two.
  • This is the first time two candidates that were interrupted by reward-related injuries and family-related issues refused to quit, even though they were offered a chance to do so.
  • Both commercials are available at Microsoft's official Live Meeting webpage
• Episode 11 Recap from NBC.com

Week 12: The Final Showdown

• Airdate: December 8, 2005
• Sponsor: Yahoo! and Outback Steakhouse
• Finalists: Rebecca and Randal
• Task Dossier for Rebecca: Work with Yahoo! to host a comedy event raising money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
  • Rebecca's Recruits: Chris, James, and Toral
• Task Dossier for Randal: Work with Outback Steakhouse to host a celebrity softball tournament for Autism Speaks.
  • Randal's Recruits: Josh, Mark, and Marshawn
• Notes:
  • There are no more teams from this point on— Randal and Rebecca are on their own.
    • Corporation names were used in the final task for the first time in Apprentice history—previously no corporation names would be used on the Final Task
    • Capital Edge "re-opened for business under new ownership and management"—with Rebecca as the sole candidate of the corporation
    • Randal is now the sole candidate of Excel, even though in the last task team names would not be used
  • Because Trump fired Alla and Felisha at the end of Week 11, Season 4 is the first season that does not require one-on-one interviews with the prominent executives.
  • This is the first time that Donald visited the candidates' suite on camera in lieu of declaring both Randal and Rebecca The Final Two.
  • As opposed to Season 3 which recruits were assigned, Randal and Rebecca were allowed to choose their recruits. Randal had originally chosen Josh, James and Mark, while Rebecca chose Josh, James and Chris. Rebecca and Randal compromised that she could have James and he would get Josh. Randal then decided the wanted Chris as well, so they flipped a coin and Rebecca "won" Chris. Then Rebecca chose Toral and Randal chose Marshawn for their third recruit.
    • As recalled from Season 1 of The Apprentice, Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson were allowed to choose their teams, but they were only allowed to choose among the last six fired candidates from that season (Amy, Katrina, and Nick for Bill and Heidi, Omarosa, and Troy for Kwame).
    • For this season, Randal and Rebecca could choose from any of the 16 already-fired candidates, regardless of what position they finished in.
  • As promised, the tasks were quite challenging, with obstacles that included executives threatening to pull out from the event planning project, acts of God (there was a thunderstorm and a very loud lightning flash shown at the end of the episode), and the need to entirely rejigger the venue.
    • After Trump fired Felisha and Alla, he went up to the suite and told Randal and Rebecca to meet George and Carolyn at a restaurant. Trump told both to enjoy themselves because he promised "the last task would be hell".
  • Both Randal and Rebecca reserved the right to re-fire any recruits should for any reason the recruits displease either of them.
• Episode 12 Recap from NBC.com

Week 13: Decision Time

• Airdate: December 15, 2005
• Preface: Aired live at the Alice Tully Hall within the Lincoln Center limits at New York City before a televised audience, with the remainder of the final task pre-recorded
• Project: Picks up from where the obstacles started to ensue from Week 12
  • Weather was a threat for Randal—Randal had no choice but to hold the event indoors, not just because of the rain, but because the cold weather as well.
  • Desertion was a threat for Rebecca—Rebecca was forced to utilize a Plan B.
• Outcome:
  • Rebecca hired a new comedian, but fails to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation
  • Randal forced the charity event inside. He failed to check the weather and used cramped space, but raised money for Autism Speaks.
• Boardroom: Each of the six recruits get to discuss their bosses, then both Randal and Rebecca had to defend their performance in the final boardroom.
• Decision: Aired live before a televised audience
  • Toral defended Rebecca since Rebecca did the same for Toral, Trump replied that Toral better defend Rebecca since Rebecca worked really hard for Toral. Trump also stated he agreed with Toral for the first time (he fired Toral on the spot in week 4, see above).
  • Marshawn was the most impartial of the "opinion board"—she gave neutral reasons why Randal should be hired.
  • Jennifer M. also got a chance to speak. While Jen M. really liked Rebecca, Jen M. preferred Randal citing Randal's natural-born leader tendencies.
  • Alla got a chance to respond as well. Alla preferred Randal and accused Rebecca of being the weakest link. Alla said she saw nothing in Rebecca.
• Fired: Rebecca mainly for her donation method.
  • Although it appeared that Randal was Trump's first choice, Rebecca seemed to be a close second choice until Randal made a controversial comment that Trump should not hire Rebecca.
• Hired: Randal for raising $11,000 for Autism Speaks.
  • What is next for Randal: Renovation of the chain of Trump Casinos at Atlantic City.
• Notes:
  • As with Season 3 of the Apprentice, the two projects were described prior to Trump's decision; in Seasons 1 and 2, they were always presented to the hiree after he or she was crowned. Trump asked each finalist which project they would choose if they were hired.
    • Choice 1 was the Trump Casino renovation spree at Atlantic City (Chosen by Randal)
    • Choice 2 was the Trump Tower project at Jersey City, New Jersey (Chosen by Rebecca)
  • A twist at the end was that Trump asked Randal if he would also hire Rebecca into the Trump organization, an Apprentice first.
    • Although Trump said he could have been convinced that Rebecca should also be hired, Randal recommended that Trump rescind that idea, citing that the premise of the "ultimate job interview" was to hire "only one candidate," not two as Randal (in an accidental act of improper word usage) suggested that hiring Rebecca would prompt the show's name to be changed into "The Apprenti" (See proper plural usage). It is also possible that he meant "The Appren-tie", thus alluding to the fact that hiring Rebecca could be viewed as a statement that the final outcome was a "tie".

At Randal's recommendation, Trump rescinded what could have been the first multiple-hiring and a US Apprentice first. Throughout the following week, many were critical of Randal's decision. In an interview with Larry King, Randal defended his decision and said he had no objection to Trump hiring Rebecca at a later date.

• • Series web sponsor Yahoo!, to make up for discouraging Rebecca from requesting donations during the task (although Rebecca could have held other fundraising events, such as a silent auction), opted to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation through their website. They also pledged $50,000 to both charities presented on the show.
  • On The Today Show after the finale, Rebecca received an offer from Wenda Millard (one of the Yahoo! associates who oversaw Rebecca's final task) to write for Yahoo! Finance. The show's official Web site is held at Yahoo!
  • Rebecca appeared at the final boardroom without crutches, as it was clearly evident the entire series had been taped in a span of 45 days, and she had completely recovered from the injury by the December live final.
• Episode 13 Recap from NBC.com

See also

• Season 1
• Season 2
• Season 3
• Season 5
• Season 6
• Season 7

External links

• NBC official site
• Yahoo!'s Apprentice 4 site
• The Apprentice Rules
• MSNBC.com - 'Apprentice' winner refuses to share title
• EW.com - "Famous Last Words"
• Transcript from Larry King Live on Apprentice controversy
• Realityblurred.com - Randal's choice
• "Josh Shaw: Fired. Exclusive interview with College Crier"

Candidate websites

• Marshawn Evans
• Markus Garrison
• Adam Israelov
• Mark Lamkin
• Clay Lee
• Brian Mandelbaum
• Felisha Mason
• Randal Pinkett
• Josh Shaw
• Chris Valletta
• Jennifer Wallen
• Alla Wartenberg
• Jennifer Murphy