The Apprentice Los Angeles Sneak Preview: Pitching a Tent

It’s time to get back to work. For the first task, the candidates will run a car wash. The team with the most money at the end wins. The losers will go to the boardroom, and the winning project manager will remain project manager until his or her team loses. Ivanka, of course, will observe.

Frank’s team gathers at a car wash, and the first order of business is that old Apprentice favorite: running to Kinko’s to make flyers. They quickly agree on a base price of $10, with optional upgrades. Martin says that the scene was absolute bedlam, comparing it to the beach and Normandy. Someone else says, “Frank led like a hyperactive three-year-old on grape soda.” Alas, we don’t know who said it. More’s the pity.

Frank grabs Aaron, and the two of them take off to make flyers. Unfortunately, the team hasn’t yet set the upsell prices. Tim decides to take over, gathers everyone together, and quickly sets three price points. Frank then calls them and tells everyone to hurry up and get some cars in. He’s afraid the other team is already making money while they stand around. He wants the women in the street pulling in business. To the women’s credit, when they change clothes it is not, as I’d feared, into bikinis, but rather shorts and tank tops. Big love to the women for their lack of skankiness!

Meanwhile, Frank and Aaron run like crazy to Kinko’s, not quite sure where they’re going. In an interview, Tim says they’d better come back with something really great to make it worth this effort.

Heidi’s team is also hard at work. They quickly grab pieces of cardboard and make really crappy looking signs that offer a free lunch with a car wash. Heidi explains that their car wash is located in a gay neighborhood, so they hired some guys to stand at the street shirtless holding their signs. Is it sad that I find it a wee bit of progress when this show exploits men instead of just women? Yeah, I think it’s sad.

Ivanka arrives, and tells Amy that she’s surprised that they’re not doing more detailing. Amy says that they are going for volume, rather than the more expensive but slower service. In an interview, Ivanka observes that it’s an interesting strategy. She’s not sure if it’ll work. Ivanka then says hi to one of the shirtless guys. He asks, “You want to take your shirt off and help us out?” Ivanka laughs and politely declines.

Let’s just take a moment to think about how our dear departed Carolyn would have shot ice daggers into that guy for asking her that. It would have been a thing of beauty.

Over at Frank’s car wash, the flyers are finally there. The team does their best to yell at passing cars and show them the flyers, but the papers are just too small. In an interview, Carey says that while he loves Frank’s enthusiasm, they really need signs to be effective. He grabs someone (Frank, I think) to buy some posterboard and markers at a nearby store. Nice work, Carey.

Just then, Ivanka arrives and is surprised that Frank isn’t around. Aaron shrugs and says that Frank is delegating well. It’s nice to see that he’s not ready to immediately badmouth the team leader. Ivanka notes that they really need signs. Aaron tells her that he’s tired, and Ivanka laughs that it’s awfully early for that. Meanwhile, Martin wanders aimlessly, no cars to wash.

Heidi’s team has the opposite problem. Cars are backed up and they don’t have enough people washing. Surya wonders if maybe their marketing was too effective. Customers are getting frustrated, so Heidi gathers everyone around and assigns them to new tasks, concentrating on washing cars. She crouches down in her lovely suit to scrub someone’s car. Marissa says that everyone pitched in. Angela says that the only reason she can think of that they’d lose is if things are a little too chaotic.

Franks’ group is finally getting some customers. James says that two-thirds of the way into the task, they got signs, and it seems to really be making a difference. Tim, Martin, and James are working on up-selling the customers, and Martin appears to be failing. Martin sees it differently, explaining that he has a more subtle approach. He says that there’s an old saying: Drip, drip, drip, water cracks the stone. He is like that water. As the day ends, James notices that Martin is reviewing a little notebook with his sales in it. James takes that to mean that Martin is worried that his efforts might not have been good enough – he and Tim aren’t at all concerned about how much they sold.

Time’s up! The candidates all gather in front of the mansion. Frank is confident, saying that they had a constant flow of traffic and did lots of up sells. Heidi is proud of her hardworking team. Both, of course, think they won. Who did win? I guess we’ll find out Sunday, because the preview ends there.

I’m not feeling a whole lot of suspense. The lack of signage was a huge problem for Team Frank for most of the task. Plus, we saw two potential people to blame for a loss – Frank and Martin. From what we saw of Heidi’s team, there really wasn’t anyone falling down on the job. Of course, I could be wrong, and those sneaky editors might be trying to trick me. I’ll see you on Sunday night to find out what’s next.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! For more news about this show, be sure to check out SirLinksALot’s Apprentice page!