The Apprentice: Why Tammy Lost

I’ve been waiting to write this column for a while. OK, so I just started writing this column last week, but you know what I mean. Tammy has been a constant source of irritation to not only the viewers, but all of her team members as well. So how has she managed to stick around so long? Because she was lucky enough that she was always on the winning team until now. But finally we get to take a look at why Tammy lost.

In trying to think back about what we’ve seen of Tammy, I can only think of one contribution she gave to her group that was actually worthwhile: She came up with the phallic idea for the Marquis Jet Card. What’s interesting is that even then, some of her teammates thought she was nuts. They had no idea. As it turned out, the idea won because the judges didn’t want business as usual – and that idea certainly wasn’t. However, it was an incredibly risky move and could have just as easily gone the opposite direction. It seems her team won because the ad was different, not because it was necessarily good.

Other than that, nothing she has done has been memorable except the stupid things. In fact, that’s all I think about when I think of Tammy – her saying stupid things.

Early on, she asked Donald Trump’s girlfriend how she keeps the apartment clean. Um. Yeah, that was a smart question. OK, so it didn’t have any effect on the game, but it was a hint of things to come.

As we progressed in the game, Tammy was a constant source of irritation for her teammates and anybody who was supposed to be working with them. At the most inappropriate moments, she would say things that just made you wonder what planet she is from.

Some perfect examples occurred in Episode 6. The teams were supposed to be negotiating with celebrities for special auction packages to benefit charity. The first time we saw Tammy trying to be a part of this challenge was in the negotiation with Carson Daly. Ereka and Amy were talking to Daly and inquiring if he was hosting any shows or doing anything else for which he might be able to donate backstage passes. They got him to agree to donate a limo ride and passes for a special Christmas concert. But just as things seemed to be looking good, Tammy chimed in. She wanted to know if he could get Tiger Woods to play a round of golf with him and the winner of the auction. Daly tried to be polite and get out of it, but Tammy just kept pushing right ahead, completely oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t interested and she was making it seem like they were more interested in somebody other than him.

As they say in the infomercials: But wait, there’s more! When that didn’t go over, she suggested a romantic weekend getaway with Daly! Um. He puts the kibosh on that since, well, he wouldn’t even know the person. So certainly she finally got the hint and shut up at that point, right? Wrong. As Amy tried to get the discussion back to the real world, Tammy tried to bring it back to golf with a different famous friend.

Thankfully, the other two prevailed and they got something from Daly. But it was completely in spite of what Tammy was doing.

Cut to their meeting with Rocco Dispirito. The guy runs a restaurant, so it would make sense to do something related to that. Ah, but not to Tammy! She suggested that Rocco rent a chateau in Europe to take a vacation with the person who bids highest! That was clearly not realistic and Amy summed it up well by saying that Tammy consistently says things they wish they could erase.

But that’s not all! Next up was a meeting with Regis Philbin. Having learned absolutely nothing from her previous attempts at negotiation, she suggested that Regis donate a trip for four with his wife, the winners, and another couple to his favorite vacation spot. Regis had the same concerns as Carson Daly about taking a trip with somebody he’s never met. But Tammy had the answer to that – it will just be two days. Um. That really didn’t solve anything, did it? But once again, the rest of her team came to the rescue and managed to bring them back to Earth. They got a very nice package in spite of Tammy.

And just to emphasize how totally bizarre Tammy is, as they were leaving Regis’ dressing room, everybody touched a good luck sign above the door – except Tammy, who said she was too short. Too short to reach the top of a door? Short on rationality, maybe.

But she didn’t just say stupid things, she did stupid things as well. Now you might not remember this, but think back to Episode 1, when the teams were selling lemonade. Tammy decided to go off on her own and have a lunch break! When Omarosa tried to be nice (probably the only time that has happened during the show so far) and talk to her alone about how to get along better with everyone (how ironic), Tammy came back to the group and started a new conflict about why they were mad at her! At the time, we had no idea this was just the tip of a very large iceberg dealing with her complete inability to deal with other people.

This week, however, her team lost. Arguably, she had little to do with it. Then again, she didn’t have anything to do with winning previously, and she certainly didn’t contribute anything positive to the team effort this time. For example, she was arguing about how the paint would dry. I have to admit that when I first painted a wall, I thought the same thing she did – that it would dry looking the same way it would when wet. But when somebody told me it would be okay, I didn’t argue and badger them – I just waited a few minutes. Voila! It dried just fine.

But Tammy was like the female version of Sam. She came up with these crazy ideas and could not let them go. Besides the paint incident, she was also pestering the workers that her team had hired to help with the apartment. It got so bad that her teammates had to tell them to ignore her because she’s crazy!

Tammy doesn’t seem to have a regulator in her brain that stops her tongue from wagging. Every thought that enters her head immediately comes out of her mouth. For example, some people might see a big piece of jewelry and think, “Wow, that’s some bling they’ve got going there.” But few people would actually say it – to George Steinbrenner, no less, while Donald Trump is in the room with them!

Similarly, when both teams were in the boardroom at the end of this most recent challenge, a normal person would have realized that even if they thought their team leader had been duped, they shouldn’t say it out loud while the rest of the team was asserting otherwise. But Tammy is not most people. It came into her mind and POP! out of her mouth it came.

Trump had seen her in action before – with Steinbrenner – and had probably heard from his girlfriend about the stupid contestant who asked her how she keeps the apartment clean. Plus I’m sure he heard from his lackeys how she behaved in the challenges. But to let something like that pop out and to be so disloyal in front of Trump, a man who certainly values loyalty, was the last straw.

As we’ve already discussed, the only reason Tammy has not been fired sooner is that her team never lost. But this was always in spite of her actions, not because of them. This time, Tammy’s team finally lost. Her flaws were put on the table – and she had many of them. What were he strengths? Well, as one of the Trump lackeys said, she didn’t bring anything to the table.

As she took her cab ride off the show, she complained that she was ganged up on because she brought out the truth and it was just because she said that they were duped. This shows how completely and utterly clueless Tammy truly is. I do hope that she has been sitting at home watching the show and realizing what she looks like to other people.

Tammy had no idea how to negotiate, not even a clue on how to talk to people in normal situations. While her final action seemed disloyal, and that may have contributed to her demise on the show, it was really only the last of many statements that were made without thinking. That is why Tammy lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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