To quote Randall can someone hilight the "pressure points" of last nite's show on Larry King??

PS I hope Rebecca got a new hair stylist

KING: Welcome back to LARRY KING LIVE. The remainder of our program tonight we'll take a look at the latest occurrences on "The Apprentice." Donald Trump seems to never be too far away from controversy.

Donald, by the way, will be on with us right after the New Year. In fact, he'll be on January 4th for the full hour. But last Thursday night the wind up night of "The Apprentice," which by the way won the ratings for the evening that night, even Donald Trump had a hard time deciding who should be his next apprentice, the beauty with a head for business or the Rhode scholar. He picked Randal Pinkett and then threw him a curve.

Take a look at what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, "THE APPRENTICE": If you were me, would you hire Rebecca also?

RANDAL PINKETT, "APPRENTICE" WINNER: Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, I firmly believe that this is "The Apprentice," that there is one and only one apprentice and if you want to hire someone tonight it should be one.

TRUMP: OK.

PINKETT: It's not the apprenti, it's "The Apprentice."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: OK, there you have it. There's been writing about this, talk about this everywhere and we've got all three of them tonight, Donald Trump on the phone, Rebecca Jarvis with us here in Los Angeles, the financial journalist and runner-up, and in Las Vegas is Randal Pinkett the newest apprentice who shocked the viewers when he said no.

First Donald, what was your reaction to that occurrence?

TRUMP (by telephone): Well, when I decided to do it, it was a live show and I thought about a half an hour into the final decision that I might very well do it because they're both outstanding. Rebecca is outstanding. Randal is outstanding. And, they both did a really good job during the 16 weeks.

I mean you know it's tough stuff but I really thought Randal would probably say "I'd love the idea" and that would have been the more popular thing to do but he chose a different route. He took the tough business route and a lot of people respected what he did.

Now there are some people that are disappointed but as you know, Larry, that's true with everything. A lot of people respected he did the thing that he felt. He went with the tough business decision. He said it's "The Apprentice." It's not, you know, five apprentices or two apprentices.

I mean it's "The Apprentice" and he wanted to be -- he worked very hard. He did very well and he wanted to be "The Apprentice." So, he did something that he knew would not be as popular but he also made the tough decision and you have to respect that.

KING: Were you disappointed, Donald? TRUMP: I was surprised because I really thought he was euphoric, which anybody would be. I mean I would know that whoever gets chosen is euphoric. We had a tremendous audience both at Lincoln Center and on television, as you know. So, he was euphoric and I really thought that based on that he was a happy guy that night right after that decision was made that he probably would do it.

But he's an unusual guy. He's a brilliant guy and he decided to make a decision that he knew would not be as popular but for him was the right decision. And, by the way, a lot of other people told me it was the right decision.

And I had Miss USA, I own the Miss USA/Miss Universe contest and she had recently won the Miss USA and she maybe said it better than anybody. She said, "Mr. Trump, I just won Miss USA. Supposing they said but the runner-up was also nice, would you like to share your crown?" She said, "I wouldn't do that." And, in a sort of surprising way when you break it down into a pageant, a beauty pageant, it makes total sense and why is life so different than that, Larry?

KING: All right, Rebecca were you shocked?

REBECCA JARVIS, "APPRENTICE" RUNNER-UP: I was shocked.

KING: First at the offer.

JARVIS: Well, I was shocked. I was shocked that I guess, yes, that the offer was out on the table for Randal to make the choice but, you know, it's been a while since that decision was made and a lot of things have changed and a lot of movements have been made.

KING: Were you surprised that he said no?

JARVIS: Yes, I was as a matter of fact. I was very surprised that Randal would say no.

KING: Because you got to know him pretty well during all this huh?

JARVIS: Yes. We got to know each other quite well. In particular, you know, we had worked together on those last two tasks leading up to this. We both saw the fight in one another and, you know, I -- I think -- I think that surprised me the most.

KING: Randal, the obvious, why did you say no?

PINKETT: Well, Larry, you know first let me just say that I have a tremendous amount of respect for Rebecca and I think she's outstanding. And, as she mentioned, you know, we worked extremely well together on the last few tasks and I think we both had a high level of mutual respect for each other.

But, at the same time, you know, I believe that the competition was indeed about selecting "The Apprentice." You know nothing I said that evening, as some may have interpreted, precluded the possibility of Rebecca still joining any organization, including the Trump organization.

But for that evening I believed that much like other finales, we've had three previous apprentices. None of the three have ever been presented with the opportunity to hire their adversary and I felt like I sufficiently distinguished myself, having worked extremely hard, much like Miss USA or Michael Jordan or any other competitor that I had distinguished myself as "The Apprentice." I think my record really spoke for itself.

KING: But upon further reflection couldn't you also say, you know, good business is teamwork? She was terrific. We worked together. I've got a chance here organizationally to be above it and say OK.

PINKETT: Right. Right, well hear what I'm saying, Larry. All I said was that if you're going to hire somebody tonight that did not preclude hiring her the next day or two days later.

So there's still -- I mean I still left room for the possibility of her joining the team. Nothing I said precluded that. My comment was that tonight in particular is about hiring "The Apprentice," so what I've done is not contradictory with what you've just said at all.

KING: I see. We will pick up on that because maybe things are moving a little. We'll be right back with Randal Pinkett, Rebecca Jarvis and, on the phone, Donald Trump. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People follow Randal. Whenever there's a choice we want Randal. I mean, it just happened four or five times. I've never seen anything quite like it. Rebecca, you're outstanding. Randal, you're hired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PINKETT: This is it. This is the end of the process. There's one last opportunity for me to show Mr. Trump that I deserve to be his next apprentice, so that Mr. Trump has no question who his next apprentice should be, me.

JARVIS: The characteristics about me that have driven me to this point are drive, passion, intelligence and an attitude that nothing is out of my bounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Rebecca Jarvis, this is hard to answer, of course, it is retrospect. If you had won, Mr. Trump had said to you, make him co- apprentice. Honestly, what would you have done?

JARVIS: It's actually not hard for me to answer at all. As a business leader, I make business decisions that are best for business. And when you see talent in the business world, you snatch it up as soon as you have the opportunity to do it.

KING: You would have said yes?

JARVIS: Absolutely.

KING: Donald, Randall is now saying that was that night. He was the apprentice that night. He wouldn't mind tonight if you made a decision. Can you bring her in as a whatever you want to bring her in as?

TRUMP: Larry, I've told you before how much I like and respect Rebecca. I think Rebecca probably has so many job offers right now that she's just sifting through. You know, everybody that's been on the apprentice, frankly, has done well.

And, I mean, people that haven't done nearly as well or aren't nearly as good as Rebecca. But I think she's got so many job offers by now. I know she was offered something by Yahoo. I believe Microsoft also offered her something and probably lots of others.

But I would say this. If for some reason she's not satisfied with those offers, if she called me, you know, I'd be honored to talk to her. And I think Randal would also like that. Is that a correct statement, Randal?

PINKETT: Absolutely. That's 100 percent correct, Mr. Trump. I agree with that 100 percent.

TRUMP: But I do believe she's been offered so many jobs, from what I understand, and rightfully so, that, you know, she's going to call me, but she's most likely going to say, Mr. Trump, thank you very much, this has been a great experience. You know, again, everybody has been happy with The Apprentice.

KING: Randal, on further reflection might you tonight maybe change your mind a little and say, Rebecca, in good business sense, come join us. I don't want to lose you to Microsoft or to Yahoo, I think you belong with us at Trump. Come along.

PINKETT: Well, absolutely. I certainly speak on my own behalf and on Mr. Trump's behalf in saying, you know, we would certainly encourage Rebecca to join the organization. And again, she has plenty of offers on the table. And I'm sure that she's in hot demand, as Mr. Trump said has been the case for previous apprentices.

But my words that evening and my words hereafter have and will continue to be very, very supportive of Rebecca joining the organization. And I encourage her to consider it. And I think we'd all be honored if that were something she'd consider.

KING: Rebecca?

JARVIS: Well, you know, it's a wonderful offer on the table among many wonderful offers on the table. And it's something for me to consider.

KING: Well, doesn't it make sense, Donald, in good business, shouldn't Randal have said yes, in the sense that a good -- you have always told me that the best thing about your business is the team?

TRUMP: You know, Larry, I've been called by so many people over the last couple of days talking about Randal's decision. And I have to tell you, I do The Apprentice as a real business tough show, right? I don't do it for the entertainment. If the entertainment's there, that's great. The fact that a lot of people watch, that's great.

But I do it really for the business -- you know it's reality and it really is reality. But I've been called by so many people. And I'll tell you, I break it into groups.

The hardened veteran killer business people all thought what Randal did was 100 percent right. He made a tough business decision. He did what he thought was best. And it was a tough decision. And he knew it wasn't as popular.

The other people I deal with that aren't necessarily as business oriented, fine people, but they thought Randal's decision was a tough one from the standpoint that he should have probably done something with Rebecca.

So you have two different groups of people. But, you know, many, many people thought what Randal did was really right.

KING: All right.

Randal, were you shocked when Donald made that offer?

PINKETT: I have to say it was a bit surprising. You know, I jumped out of my chair and shook everyone's hand, and I hugged Rebecca. And then when he called me back to the table, you know, there had been discussion about and rumors floating about a potential double hiring.

But I don't think I sufficiently anticipated that in the process of trying to do that he would actually consult me. I imagined that if Mr. Trump had wanted to hire us both that he would have either done that outright or he would have hired one of us. It was a little surprising to be put in that position.

TRUMP: You have to say, Larry, it was good television.

KING: Yes, it was that.

Donald, if he had accepted your proposal, would you have been happy?

TRUMP: Well, if he had accepted, I would have also hired -- I would have done a double. I would have also hired Rebecca. And I think Rebecca knows that. If Randal would have said, I would be honored to do that, Mr. Trump, that would be great. Which, again, probably would have been, definitely would have been, the more popular decision, not necessarily the right one, but the more popular decision. Perhaps it would have been a decision that was less business oriented but a more popular decision. But if he had said that, I would have also hired Rebecca.

KING: But Donald, isn't PR part of the business? And wouldn't that have been good PR?

TRUMP: Well, business is part of the business. This was Randal's night. Randal wanted to be the apprentice. As he said, the show is the apprentice. It's not, as he also said, the apprenti. Nobody is sure whether or not that is correct or not, but that's OK.

PINKETT: That's not a word.

TRUMP: It may very well be correct, actually.

KING: Well he's the Rhode Scholar. Is there a word like apprenti?

PINKETT: No the correct is apprentices.

TRUMP: Yes, but I think there is a word apprenti now, Randal. You've created a word. It actually works a lot better than apprentices.

KING: We'll come back with some questions for Rebecca in all this.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a little comedy, a couple of comedy routines. Come on, let's go.

JARVIS: I really expected Mr. Trump to come up and say a few words to the VIPS. I didn't expect him to tell people that they should follow him downstairs for the comedy event.

Trump got people going downstairs for our comedy event 30 minutes before we anticipated its start. It is kind of humorous that out of all the things Trump ended up being the biggest wild card.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You think you're better than Randal?

JARVIS: Mr. Trump, I think...

TRUMP: ... you think you're better than Randal? JARVIS: As an apprentice, absolutely, Mr. Trump.

PINKETT: I would beg to differ, Mr. Trump. In fact, I run business. Rebecca writes about business. There's no comparison. In our academic background, there's no comparison. In our academic background. No comparison on professional experience. And I have an undefeated record, Mr Trump. She has a one in two record and a losing team record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: In a sense, Rebecca, in a twist of fate, couldn't this be the best thing that ever happened to you?

JARVIS: It could absolutely be the best thing that ever happened.

KING: You're the most famous runner-up in history.

JARVIS: That's very true. It's very true. And I feel really good about it.

KING: Supposing tonight, Randal said, "I've been thinking about it and maybe you got a point, join me, your co-apprentice." What would you say?

JARVIS: I would have to say that thank you, thank you for the consideration, but I'd also have to tell him that there's a lot on the table right now. And Thursday is a long ways away. I mean, that's kind of light-years in my past.

KING: You'd turn it down?

JARVIS: I wouldn't say I'd turn it down. But I would say is that I'd need to think about it because there are a lot of wonderful things on the table right now.

KING: Randal, when you go to bed at night, any of these nights since Thursday, have you given any consideration to maybe, maybe I'll change my mind?

PINKETT: Well, realize Larry, again, I stand firm in the decision that the evening was about "The Apprentice." I also stand firm in the notion that I believe Rebecca would be a wonderful addition to the Trump organization. And those to me are not contradictory.

Again, I feel as though I sufficiently distinguished myself through an undefeated record, through a winning team record, through the best academic credentials in the history of the show, to having started five businesses, to having even beat Rebecca head-to-head as a project manager.

So I feel in all honesty that I earned the apprentice. But I believe that Rebecca is fantastic, I think she's outstanding, I think she'd be a great addition to any organization. The evening was about the apprentice. However, at the end of the day, I believe Rebecca is fantastic.

KING: Donald, some bloggers are saying there's racism here, that the request to hire Rebecca was an effort to water-down that it was won by an African-American.

TRUMP: Well, that's one I have not heard at all, Larry. But I will tell you that Thursday night was a great evening. I would recommend to Randal, and I recommend to myself, I think we should just let it be. It was an amazing evening.

Randal won. Rebecca did great. And I think we should just let it be. I think Rebecca's going to do fantastically well. She's going to end up getting a job. Maybe she'll be the head of Microsoft or Yahoo some day and she'll say, "Hey, 'The Apprentice' had a lot to do with it." It was just an amazing evening. And the one that was happiest of all? You know who that was? NBC.

KING: By the way, can you unequivocally say that race had nothing to do with this?

TRUMP: Absolutely. Of course it didn't. Why would I have picked Randal if it did, Larry? You're just doing that because you want to get a couple of rating points yourself.

KING: I don't know what you're talking about. On one of my notes here said that -- I don't get bloggers. I don't how to reach a blogger.

TRUMP: Hey, Larry, can I tell you what? I don't even think your question is appropriate.

KING: Well, I'm told that some bloggers are saying it.

TRUMP: I don't know if you are told that, Larry. I don't even think your question is appropriate. I picked Randal. If race was a part of it, I wouldn't have picked Randal. So I just think your question is totally inappropriate.

KING: All right. All I'm telling you is that my notes say that some bloggers are saying that.

TRUMP: OK. I'm sure they say that.

KING: I don't even know how to touch a blog. Do you know how to get a blog?

TRUMP: Larry, I'm sure your notes say that, but I think your question is inappropriate.

KING: If it's inappropriate, I apologize to you, Donald. Is that OK?

TRUMP: Yes, that's fine.

KING: Do you know how to reach a blogger?

TRUMP: I have no idea. Everybody that works for me knows. Me? I have no interest.

KING: I have no idea how to reach a blogger. I've never sent an e-mail. I don't know what I'm doing.

All right, if Randal was so outstanding, what were Rebecca's strong points, Donald?

TRUMP: Well, she really was amazing under pressure. You know, she broke her ankle. And most people would have gone home. And that's male or female. They would have just gone home to mom as I said on the show, and just say -- they'd call it a week.

But the fact is, she was hobbling -- and it was a bad break. She was hobbling around on crutches for weeks and weeks. And she -- despite the crutches, and that's a huge handicap, she did fantastically well. I mean, she was really a star of the show.

And I think her ability under pressure really was amazing. And the other thing I loved about Rebecca was loyalty. Loyal to Toral, who in many cases, in my opinion, didn't deserve that loyalty. But she was really loyal. I think she's an amazingly loyal person and I love that about Rebecca.

KING: I'm going to ask you more when we're together on January 4th, on how tough this is for you, Donald, to do a show like this. I know you enjoy it. But how tough is it to fire people? I want to get into that with you when we're together on the 4th.

TRUMP: Yes, I mean, my whole life is really about this. This is really an extension of business. And I think that's why this show -- you know, we've had 15 copies of "The Apprentice." And as you know, Mark Cuban and Richard Branson and Tommy Hilfiger, and I won't mention Martha.

But we've had 15 copies of "The Apprentice." Every single one of them has failed and been taken off the air. And yet we win Thursday night in the ratings. So you know, what's going on? It's an extension of my life. And it is not that difficult for me because basically it's the same thing I do in the office, Larry.

KING: We'll be right back with more, Randal Pinkett, Rebecca Jarvis and Donald Trump. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARVIS: Rebecca Jarvis. To help nonprofits on how to work more efficiently. Consulting and working with you here at the Sue Duncan Children's Center. And we want to make sure you guys get the resources that you need. We're helping Sue Duncan Children's Center raise more funds over the next couple of years.

I wanted to give you this. We've got a five-phase plan so that we can do special projects and things like that. I hope to hear Mr. Trump say, you're hired. And by saying that, he gets an individual who will bring a drive for absolute success every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back.

There was a time when Randal and Rebecca teamed up during this competition. Found out the other team ordered a bunch of megaphones. And you and Randal posed as the other team and picked all of them up to use for your own task.

JARVIS: I wouldn't say we posed as the other team. We got information, and we acted on that information.

KING: Dirty pool?

JARVIS: Not at all.

KING: Those ends justify means?

JARVIS: No, I don't believe in ends justify means, but I do believe that when there's information in the marketplace in any business setting, there's information in the marketplace. You have to react to it to stay competitive. We found information.

We were looking for megaphones. We found out they were located at an alternate location. And we decided that we would go to that location despite the fact there was another team on their way there as well.

KING: Randal, you have any qualms about that before I ask Donald about ethics?

PINKETT: Well, you know, I had received a good number of e-mails about that move. And I'll just say this. I think it would have been an even more powerful statement if we had been able to beat them without taking those megaphones.

I think, you know, in retrospect, there are some questionable ethics in that move, but it would have been a really strong statement for us to not even have to worry about and still beat them nonetheless. That was a close call. I mean, we made the decision that we made. And, you know, we were victorious, but it was an interesting move on our part.

KING: Donald, ethically, good move?

TRUMP: Well, it was certainly smart. I mean, the other side didn't know what happened. They walked in like a bunch of lost sheep. And I would say that it was a strong business move, and, you know, they were given like, as Randal said, you know, maybe some people didn't like it, but a lot of other people really gave them a lot of credit for smarts.

KING: Randal, what job are you going to have now?

PINKETT: Well, Larry, I'll be working in Atlantic City renovating some of Mr. Trump's casinos down in Atlantic City. I'm from New Jersey. I live in New Jersey, so this won't require that I relocate. I've been a big fan of Mr. Trump's work in the state of New Jersey. And I'm looking forward to getting involved.

KING: Do they pick their own job, Donald?

TRUMP: Well, they're involved with a lot of my great people in Atlantic City. We have a great staff and a great team. And Randal's going to be involved with that team. And he's going to learn a lot.

And I would be very surprised, frankly--you know, as you know Bill has been with me now two years, and he's going to be extended for another year. He wants to stay. And Kelly's done a great job. And Kendra's doing a good job. I wouldn't be surprised if Randal is with me for many years to come. But I would certainly hope so.

KING: Rebecca, why would you want to work for Donald Trump?

JARVIS: Well, I have said it from the beginning. The reason I would like to work for Mr. Trump is because I think he is one of the ultimate businessmen. He's seen absolute highs and lows. And he has continuously persevered through tough times and through great times.

So he's got a lot to teach to, I think, from his example and that's exactly why I would like to work for him.

KING: But his name commands his organization. There's nobody else in the organization as well known as Trump or close to it.

JARVIS: Certainly.

KING: Doesn't that humble you a little?

JARVIS: Well, you know, I'm 24 years old. So it is easy to be humbled in this world, right?

KING: So you're a journalist, essentially? Would you like to continue doing that?

JARVIS: Oh, I love what I do as a financial journalist. I love the ability to be able to ask any person, any person, any question.

KING: Have you written about Donald Trump?

JARVIS: That's against my ethics.

KING: All right. We'll take a break and be back with our remaining moments.

Tomorrow night, sensational show. Erik Menendez from prison. We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PINKETT: I was not at all aware or familiar with the extent to which autism has become and is becoming a very prevalent issue and a very prevalent problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, here you could see that in a carnival atmosphere, that there is a genuine man that's committed to autism and the lives that it affects.

TRUMP: Thank you, everybody for coming out. And Randal, congratulations, it looks like you have it well under control. Come here Randal. Good. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We have a few minutes remaining.

Randal Pinkett when Mr. Trump hit with you offer, naturally you didn't expect it to come. And when you answered, did you realize when you answered that there would be some criticism?

PINKETT: Well, I have to say I've been a bit surprised by the reaction. I didn't expect that the reaction would be as strong as it's been. I think it's really been a polarizing issue.

As Mr. Trump said, some people receive e-mails and they say, you know, you stuck to your guns. The show is about the apprentice. I respect your decision. And then others believe it would have been a nice gesture to bring her into the fold at that particular time as a co-apprentice.

You know, I feel very comfortable that if anyone looks down the line at how we compare to previous finalists on the show, to me, I was the clear-cut winner along every objective criteria that one could imagine. And so I feel comfortable of the decision, but again think the world of Rebecca and believe that she is fantastic. And Rebecca knows that.

KING: A very self-confident man. Were you surprised when Mr. Trump did it?

JARVIS: Well, absolutely very surprised when Mr. Trump did it. Who wouldn't be? I think everyone was.

KING: Did you expect Randal to say yes?

JARVIS: I did. I did.

KING: You did even though you know him as a pretty self- confident...

JARVIS: Oh, absolutely.

KING: ...pretty hard lining person.

JARVIS: Why would it be a knock to self-confidence to point out talent when you see it and to suggest that it should be commended?

KING: Will this change The Apprentice in the future in any way, Donald? Might there be Apprenti?

TRUMP: Well, I think what is happening, as you know, NBC has renewed The Apprentice for two more years, two more seasons. And we're going to do one in New York. We're almost finished with that. And we're going to actually do one in Los Angeles, which I think is going to be exciting. And it's a little bit of a change of pace.

But the interesting thing, I don't think anybody ever believed that this move and this little question that I asked Randal could have ever turned into this controversy. I mean, outside of the war in Iraq and perhaps one or two subjects other than that. I mean, this is like the hot subject in the United States right

now. In all fairness if I said you're both hired or if Randal said go ahead and get her. We wouldn't be on your program right now, probably.

KING: Right.

TRUMP: This thing has turned out to be so unbelievably controversial. And that's both good and bad, Larry. That's not all good. It is both good and bad.

But Randal did something that was very brave. He did something that I believe he knew probably wasn't going to be the most popular decision. I was looking at Rebecca. I was staring right at her very beautiful face. And she was happy as can be when I asked Randal that question because I think Rebecca thought he was going to say yes. And, by the way, so did i.

He chose a very tough path. And a lot of people think it was a very, very hard business decision and that's not said in a negative way but in a positive way.

KING: Very well said. Donald, we'll see you on the 4th.

TRUMP: OK, Larry.

KING: Randal, good luck in your future endeavors, sticking by your guns. Thanks for being with us.

PINKETT: Thank you. Thank you.

KING: And Rebecca, it's the best thing that ever happened to you. Trust me. Your name is up in lights.

JARVIS: Thank you.

KING: Best thing. Rebecca Jarvis, Donald Trump, Randal Pinkett.

Good show (Larry King), but it only confirmed my feelings from Thursday night that Randal is a self-involved, arrogant, brown-nosing prick. He keeps talking about all of his many, many accomplishments in his life and how his answer to "Mr. Trump" was a good business decision -- yeah, it would have been a good business decision if "business decision" meant "Me, me, me decision". Still a prick....

That transcript also confirms that Larry King is still the worst interviewer ever.

So true. The part where he accuses Trump of being a racist and then quickly falls back on "I'm old and I don't understand the internet!" is classic Larry King.

I once saw King interview Stan Lee. Half of the interview went like this
LK: Tell me about Batman
SL: That's not one of mine, Larry.
LK: You didn't create Batman?
SL: No. I created Spider-Man. We could talk about him!

King has said that he doesn't do any preparation for interviews so that he can ask the kinds of questions the average person in the audience would ask. Personally, I think it's because he's lazy.

I bet if Rebecca didn't kick Randall in the stones in a few boardrooms, he would have said yes.

Larry King sounded like a total jackass....

That almost reads like an SNL parody of Larry King.

Randall was the choice and The Apprentice.

If Rebecca was also hired, this show should have closed. This show is for ONE and ONLY one apprentice, not two.

I know that it would have been nice to see both hired as they went some tough rough times, this show is to pick one winner and Randall came out on top, period.

In preparation of the Apprentice: Martha finale tonight, here's an interesting article:
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/m...e-one-3871.php

Martha Stewart disses her 'Apprentice' finalists, laments having to hire one

By Steve Rogers, 12/08/2005

The Apprentice: Martha Stewart might have turned out to be an on-air ratings dud for NBC, but it certainly has managed to generate more than its fair share of off-camera squabbles and media headlines.

After firing back at Donald Trump after he dissed her The Apprentice spinoff and blamed her for his own Apprentice ratings problems, the "dissee" has now become the "disser," with Martha Stewart publicly slamming the quality of her remaining Apprentice candidates and attempting to make it clear that she had nothing to do with selecting them.

"It's unusual for me to take a job like The Apprentice, and it was just a job," the domestic diva told BusinessWeek during a recent appearance at one of the magazine's "Captains of Industry" events. "I got paid a fee. I have no participation in the show... I did it because I knew it would be a jump-start, and it would get attention."

When BusinessWeek Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler followed up Stewart's comments by noting the show's finale was approaching -- NBC will air the two-hour live broadcast on December 21 -- Stewart went even further in her attempts to disassociate herself from the series.

"Yeah, we're getting close to which of those inappropriate contestants we are actually going to have to hire," Stewart replied. "I can't believe people behave like that. They're exhibitionists and opportunists, those kids."

Having slammed them, Stewart then also proceeded to make it clear that while Trump might "handpick" his candidates, since her appearance on the show was "just a job," she had no roll in her contestants' selection. "I did not choose them either, by the way. I just want you to know I had nothing to do really with the choice of the contestants. That's part of reality television."

After last night's eleventh The Apprentice: Martha Stewart broadcast, three candidates -- Jim Bozzini, Bethenny Frankel, and Dawna Stone -- remain in the running to be selected as Stewart's apprentice. However based on Stewart's comments, it certainly doesn't appear that the winner should expect to receive much of an apprenticeship. Perhaps they should just call the winner's prize a $250,000 severance package?

Hee hee! Oh, Martha!

The NBC website shows the finale tonight to be ONE hour starting at 9:00 ET -- they must have re-thought a TWO hour show after last Thursday with The Donald!

I don't know why Donald still continues with more than one-hour finales. At least Season 3 of his show had a one-hour live finale (after the misfire that was the three-hour live finale of Season 2). Too bad the same didn't happen with this current season.

Nobody gets pissed when American Idol runner-ups get record deals.

The Apprentice: Martha "dream job" was pretty much a joke, which was expected based on Martha's comments. I thought it was funny how they introduce this new Body & Soul magazine, then tell her "You'll be working with the editor and publishers of the magazine...", essentially telling her she'll be just another member of the staff more or less.

Oh, but surely she doesn't mean it. I mean, she writes handwritten notes to the people she fir-- oops, I mean the people who just don't belong. That's gotta mean something!

You forgot "In BOSTON!". "The Apprentice" isn't going to be anywhere NEAR Martha Stewart herself

Of course the $250,000 paycheck may make up for the lack of Martha in her life!

A few thoughts:

I think choosing more than one hire (Rebecca and Randall) would have been a mistake from the show standpoint and would have "watered" it down a bit for the future. As you do clearly want to see a sole "winner" and not a tie after weeks of watching. And if you really liked her that much hire her a 1/2 hour after the cameras stop rolling, it'll still get press in the papers that you were impressed enough to offer an additional job.

However, I think Trump and Randall forced a lot of contradictions in the King interview. First, Trump mentions it would have been a more popular decision. Yes, maybe, and King points out that for viewer's sakes it would have paid off. However, I think it would have HURT the show for the future, which is for entertainment purposes however hard Donald tries to deny it.

They talk up Rebecca so much (while I thought she was decent, I don't think she really stood out to be a superstar....and being on tv for a chance at that payday, I don't think ANYONE would have left after breaking/spraining an ankle, no matter what Donald says).
While talking up Rebecca during the King interview they mention how great she is, but giving her the position might not have been the right "business decision". Hello? If you actually believe she is that great, you would have played up the "team environment" and gotten her to commit to the offer on tv, instead of now being able to "play the offers".

And for being "good tv", yes it got all of us talking, but I think it would have been better if it wasn't clear through Randall's actions throughout the show that he knew HE (as in Randall) was going to be making that decision at the end of the night.

I agree with Randal about there should be a one apprentice winner. Trump should of just hired Rebecca as a consultant. Larry King is a horrible interviewer. Martha was right, the candates on her show were horrible.

One thing I've always wondered about this show... would someone still get the $250,000 if they quit the job halfway through? I know most wouldn't think of doing such a thing, but with so many already-successful people trying out, and many doing it for the obvious exposure... And then the possibility of some less-than-exciting job assignments (like in the Martha edition). I know it's probably worked out so that if you are fired from the job you still get the money. But what if someone quit?

Proabably not -

They're under contract for a year, and that 250,000 is their annual salary, before taxes.

anyone else get the feeling that if Dawna just applied for that job, she would of just gotten it. Its like a marginal upgrade from her current job, which is now her competition in the magazine world. She isn't even the editor, she is like a mid-level executive on a b-level magazine.

Randal made the right business decision, and it was good for the long-term prospects of the show. Agreeing to give Rebecca the co-winner position would have been popular in the short term, meaningless and even detrimental in the long term. I don't see any contradiction in what they said. Trump put it well when he used the Miss USA analogy. In the business world, runner-up is a code word for first place loser. Trump clearly respects and even admires what Randal did.