The Apprentice: Martha Stewart is an American reality television series broadcast by NBC. Hosted by businesswoman Martha Stewart, the series premiered on September 21, 2005, and concluded with its thirteenth episode on December 21, 2005.
Tasks were centered on Stewart's areas of expertise: media, culinary arts, entertaining, decorating, crafts, design, merchandising, and style. The tone of the show was somewhat muted compared to the original, as Stewart brought her own sensibilities to the elimination process, often simply saying goodbye with her own catchphrase of "You just don't fit in", in contrast to original series host Donald Trump's catchphrase: "You're fired." She also wrote a cordial letter to the candidate who was fired; many times she took subtle jabs at the fired candidate and gave frank reasons for why the candidate did not succeed on the show. Several segments featuring Stewart were filmed at her home in Bedford, New York because at the time, she was serving the five-month house arrest portion of her ImClone scandal conviction.
Donald Trump, Mark Burnett and Jay Bienstock executive produced the show. Businessman Charles Koppelman and Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart accompanied the two teams during tasks and reported their observations to Stewart in the boardroom.
The two teams, Matchstick and Primarius, competed in 11 challenges. Overall, Primarius won eight, while Matchstick (candidates were reshuffled after Matchstick lost several times in a row) won only three.
The show's theme song is "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics. The logo is a businesswoman in a dress running with a bag instead of a businessman running with a briefcase. The background music is written by David Vanacore, Mark T, Williams, and Jeff Lippencott.
Despite the fairly big initial hype (Stewart was embroiled in a media firestorm over her criminal conviction), ratings for the spin-off were relatively weak. This show averaged only 7 million viewers, and garnered a mediocre 2.5 average in the very important demographic of 18- to 49-year-old viewers. However, this program aired against very tough competition, including ABC's massive hit Lost. After the second episode, the show was moved from the 8 p.m. time slot to the 9 p.m. slot, and in spite of facing Lost, saw a slight increase in ratings.
There have been numerous rumors thrown out as to why the show failed, including: "too much" Martha Stewart (her Martha daytime program and this prime time program), confusion between this version and Trump's version which airs the day after (on Thursday nights), apathy over reality shows in general, NBC's declining fortunes, fatigue with the Apprentice franchise itself, and weak casting, although some felt the cast was superior to Apprentice 4, which ran concurrently. Trump blamed the Martha series for the declining ratings of his own version, even though the ratings for his show began to fall over a year before Martha's version premiered. Stewart responded in turn that she was supposed to have "fired" Trump in the premiere episode, making her a successor to Trump rather than the host of a spin-off. In mid-November 2005, NBC announced that it would not bring back the show for a second season, although the network and Stewart claimed that the show was initially planned as a one-season endeavor.
Within a few years of the end of the series, three of the top runners-up (Bethenny, Marcela, and Leslie) were participating in other television ventures, with second-place finisher Bethenny Frankel parlaying her fame from the inaugural cast The Real Housewives of New York City into further reality shows, television hosting, books, and a successful business, Skinnygirl Cocktails. Fourth-place finisher Ryan Danz appeared on the 21st season of The Amazing Race alongside his girlfriend Abbie Ginsberg. They finished in 5th place. A third contestant, Shawn Killinger, would go on to be a popular on air host at QVC.
Candidates
Candidate Background Original team Age Hometown ResultDawna StoneMagazine PublisherPrimarius37 St. Petersburg, Florida Hired by Martha StewartBethenny FrankelNatural Foods Chef Matchstick34 New York City, New YorkSent home in the finaleJim BozziniAd Executive Matchstick36 Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania Sent home in week 12Ryan DanzRecent Law GraduatePrimarius28 Cardiff, CaliforniaSent home in week 11 Marcela ValladolidCooking Instructor Matchstick27 Tijuana, MexicoLeslie SanchezMarketing Company OwnerPrimarius36Alexandria, Virginia Sent home in week 10 Amanda HillAttorneyPrimarius30 Austin, TexasSent home in week 9 Howie GreenspanFashion Company OwnerPrimarius33 Closter, New JerseySent home in week 8Carrie GuggerCreative DirectorPrimarius31 San Diego, CaliforniaSent home in week 7Sarah BrennanEvent PlannerPrimarius25 Washington, D.C.David KarandishInternet Company Owner Matchstick22 Maplewood, MissouriSent home in week 6Jennifer LeProsecutorPrimarius32Los Angeles, CaliforniaSent home in week 5Dawn SilviaPR Consultant Matchstick33 Boston, MassachusettsSent home in week 4Shawn KillingerTV Newscaster Matchstick32 Grosse Pointe, Michigan Sent home in week 3 Chuck SoldanoInterior Designer Matchstick38 Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSent home in week 2Jeff RudellCreative Director Matchstick42 New York City, New YorkSent home in week 1
Weekly results Candidate Original team Week 4 team Week 5 team Week 8 team Application result Record as project managerDawna StonePrimariusPrimariusMatchstickPrimariusHired by Martha Stewart3-0 (win in weeks 1, 7 & 10)Bethenny FrankelMatchstickMatchstickPrimariusPrimariusSent home in the Series Finale1-1 (win in week 11, loss in week 8)Jim BozziniMatchstickMatchstickPrimariusPrimariusSent home in week 122-0 (win in weeks 6 & 9)Ryan DanzPrimariusPrimariusMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 112-1 (win in weeks 5 & 8, loss in week 11)Marcela ValladolidMatchstickMatchstickMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 110-2 (loss in week 6 & 9)Leslie SanchezPrimariusMatchstickMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 100-2 (loss in weeks 4 & 10)Amanda HillPrimariusPrimariusMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 91-0 (win in week 4)Howie GreenspanPrimariusPrimariusPrimariusPrimariusSent home in week 81-0 (win in week 3)Carrie GuggerPrimariusPrimariusPrimariusSent home in week 71-0 (win in week 2)Sarah BrennanPrimariusPrimariusPrimariusSent home in week 70-1 (loss in week 7)David KarandishMatchstickMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 60-1 (loss in week 3)Jennifer LePrimariusPrimariusPrimariusSent home in week 50-1 (loss in week 5)Dawn SilviaMatchstickMatchstickSent home in week 4Shawn KillingerMatchstickSent home in week 3Chuck SoldanoMatchstickSent home in week 20-1 (loss in week 2)Jeff RudellMatchstickSent home in week 10-1 (loss in week 1) Elimination chartNo.Candidate123456789101112131 Dawna WIN IN IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN WIN IN IN HIRED 2 Bethenny IN IN BR BR IN IN BR LOSE IN IN WIN IN FIRED3 Jim BR BR BR IN BR WIN IN BR WIN IN IN FIRED4Ryan IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN WIN BR BR FIRED5 Marcela IN IN BR IN IN LOSE IN IN LOSE BR FIRED6 Leslie IN IN IN LOSE IN IN IN IN IN FIRED7 Amanda IN IN IN WIN IN IN ININFIRED8 Howie IN IN WIN IN IN IN BR FIRED9 Carrie IN WIN IN IN IN IN FIRED10 Sarah IN IN IN IN IN IN FIRED 11 David IN IN LOSE IN INFIRED 12 Jennifer IN IN IN IN FIRED 13 Dawn BR BR BR FIRED 14 Shawn IN IN FIRED 15 Chuck IN FIRED 16 JeffFIRED
The candidate was hired and won the competition The candidate won as project manager on his/her team The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage. The candidate was on the losing team for this task. The candidate was brought to the final boardroom The candidate was sent home or fired The candidate lost as project manager and was sent home or fired
Episodes
Week 1: Once Upon a Time and Dream Airdate: September 21, 2005 Hosting Company: Random House Pre-task: After being shown to the converted loft that would serve as the candidates' accommodation, the group was instructed to divide itself into two teams of eight. Since the gender split was 10–6 in favor of the women, the teams could not be divided along gender lines as was usually done on the original show, and the candidates eventually organized themselves into a "business" team (Primarius) and a "creative" team (Matchstick). Project: Teams had to design and write a children's book and read it to a group of first graders. Primarius project manager: Dawna Matchstick project manager: Jeff Winning team: Primarius Reasons for win: Their book was entertaining, age-appropriate and near-unanimously preferred by the first graders, as well as Martha and the Random House executives. Primarius's reward: A Japanese dinner with Martha Losing team: Matchstick Reasons for loss: Though the story was fairly well-written and the illustration work was praised, the usage of rhyming verse was felt to have misfired badly, and the book was agreed to have been targeted at the wrong age range. The Random House executives said it would be more appropriate for fourth graders than first. Sent to Conference Room: Jeff, Dawn, Jim Eliminated: Jeff Rudell, for taking over the entire project and not listening to his teammates. While Dawn was sharply criticized for bailing out of her original task of writing the book, Martha decided that since Jeff had decided to take on virtually the whole task after that happened, he deserved total blame for the loss. Dismissal comment: "You just don't fit in." Martha's letter: "Dear Jeffrey, I'm sorry that you are the first to go. Not to fail, but rather, not to fully succeed. You entered this serious endeavor, knowing that someone would have to leave after the first task. Unfortunately, it is you. Personally, it is hard to make such a judgment call. But it is part of this interview process. Good luck, travel safely, it was great to meet you. Cordially, Martha Stewart." Special notes: As the series began, a possible conflict of interest arose, as Frankel used to be friends with Jennifer Koppelman-Hutt. Hutt is the daughter of Charles Koppelman, and is also Alexis Stewart's partner and co-host on a radio program broadcast through the Sirius Satellite Radio network. Koppelman and Alexis Stewart served as Martha's "eyes and ears," observing the performance of candidates during various tasks in the competition.
Week 2: Business Is Blooming Airdate: September 28, 2005 Hosting Company: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Project: Teams had to sell flowers in high-end floral shops. Primarius project manager: Carrie Matchstick project manager: Chuck Winning team: Primarius Reasons for win: The team hired a professional arranger to set up their shop. Despite trouble caused by the initially high prices, they ultimately managed to sell most of their stock after reducing their prices. Primarius made a profit of $1,866. Primarius's reward: Volunteering with New York Cares (New York City's leading volunteer organization - www.nycares.org) to create a garden for a Community Center in the Chelsea neighborhood Losing team: Matchstick Reasons for loss: Their mass-marketing strategy did not pay off, and they didn't sell nearly enough flowers to have a chance of victory. While their shop was well-decorated, their promotional scheme had a terrible idea of hiring the women selling flowers not only with their Dutch tacky outfits, but they were stood in the wrong corner of the street. They only had a profit of $969. Sent to Conference Room: Chuck, Jim, Dawn Eliminated: Chuck Soldano, for poor leadership, threatening to quit during the task, and for essentially admitting that Martha should send him home. Dismissal comment: "I wish you good luck and good-bye."