Monday, March 7, 2011

David Cassidy pushed around and bullied: Why Would Anyone Agree to Be on "Celebrity Apprentice"?

Celebrity Apprentice 4
NBC Sundays

Back-biting, physical bullying and $40,000 pizza pies high-lighted the season debut of "The Celebrity Apprentice". Where else can you get drama & D-list celebrities slugging it out in a fake board room ?
The season debut will long be remembered for the firing, bullying and humiliation of former "Partridge Family" star David Cassidy. Cassidy was hoping that his stint on the reality show would do for him what "CA 3" did for Brett Michaels last season : elevate his career from playing state fairs and doing phone interviews on oldies radio stations.
We felt bad for Cassidy --he wasn't the worst player during last night's task. And he certainly deserved a lot more respect than he was treated with. C'mon, the guy was Keith Partridge for crying out loud.
But Cassidy's all-male team, Team Backbone, lost big time to the ladies' team A.S.A.P., lead by an effective Star Jones.
For those too young to know, David Cassidy was a huge star back in the early '70s, bigger than Justin Bieber is today. He had a hit sitcom and was considered a bona fide rock star. Cassidy was a global sex symbol and had a jet-flying rock star lifestyle. While living in Los Angeles in the 1970s, John Lennon would often party at Cassidy's house. The guy was big.
So, it's kind of sad that Cassidy's early exit was orchestrated by Richard Hatch, a person who hasn't really contributed anything to pop culture other than winning the fist season of "Survivor". Oh, an he was convicted on tax evasion charges.
Back in the day, Hatch would have given off his left arm to be in the same room as Cassidy to get his cast-offs.
Hatch was expected to be aggressive, given his modus operandi on "Survivor". But even still, his behavior in Episode 1 was surprising. He basically told Cassidy to keep quiet every time the former Partridge attempted to speak. And then he proceeded to shove and poke poor Cassidy as if he was his personal pinata.
Particularly distasteful is the fact that Cassidy is now 60 years old and in his own words, 140 pounds. We noticed that Hatch didn't get physical with any of the other contestants. At least next time pick a fair fight.
In the boardroom, Donald Trump likes people who fight for themselves and show fire, things that Cassidy didn't do. Cassidy joins the likes of Tiffany Fallon, Andrew Dice Clay and Carol Leifer to be the first to hear "You're fired" in their respective seasons.
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The acrimonious start of "Celebrity Apprentice 4" got us to ponder: given the intense fueds and rancorous rants that occurred in the first three seasons, why would anyone agree to be on the show ? Who could forget --and trust us, we tried-- Piers Morgan vs. Omarosa ? Or the even nastier Joan & Melissa Rivers vs. Annie Duke & Brande Roderick feud. Then there was Piers vs. Stephen Baldwin...OK, you get the idea.
So, we crunched the numbers: in the three previous seasons of "CA" there have been a total of 44 contestants. Virtually all of 'em were skewered by teammates and rivals and eventually were fired on national television by Donald Trump.
The one contestant in all three season to come out unscathed was rocker Brett Michaels. Yeah, he did receive mild criticism in mid-season for being on "rock star time" when he got up late. And comedian Sinbad tried to freeze him out of task. But ultimately Michaels came across as an affable dude and a loving father. "Celebrity Apprentice 3" transformed him from VH1 nostalgia act to a household name.
Piers Morgan and Joan Rivers both received huge career-bumps from "The Celebrity Apprentice", but unlike Michaels, they both paid a huge price. Omarosa mocked Piers' family and even his sexuatlity. The Joan Rivers vs. Annie Duke will go down in the annals of Reality TV history.
So, is it worth getting kicked around on prime time television to win some money for charity ?
I'll ponder that question while I await the next episode.

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