The first episode of The Apprentice began with an introduction to each of the candidates and to real estate tycoon Trump himself. Then each candidate was shown arriving at Trump's corporate headquarters. All fifteen were herded into the boardroom where The Donald and two of his executives, George Ross and Carolyn Kepcher, sat before them. Mr. Trump told the candidates what he expected of them. He explained that the candidates would be divided into two teams - men and women - that would compete against each other. He then sent them off to their suite at Trump Towers where cavier and champagne awaited them.
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, one of the women, read a letter from Mr. Trump, that detailed their initial assignment. Each team had to choose a name for their corporation and choose a project manager for the first assignment. After rejecting a few names, including Donald's Darlings (thankfully), Ereka Vetrini came up with Protégé Corporation. The other women agreed and chose her to be the project manager. If you want to find out what name the Men's Team chose, take a look at Alison Doyle's update on About's Job Searching Site.
Then a call from Mr. Trump's secretary informed the candidates they were to report to the New York Stock Exchange the following morning. When they did, Mr. Trump addressed them from the podium and told them their first assignment would bring them back to basics. What was it? Selling lemonade on the streets of New York City. After giving each team $250 seed money, he dismissed them.
The women spent what one of the candidates described as an hour arguing as they decided how to go about setting up shop. They finally chose a location, Rockefeller Center, and two of the candidates, Amelia (Amy) Henry and Kristi Frank, went off to buy supplies. The others, lead by Ereka, set off for The Rock, home of NBC. Ereka, a native New Yorker, asked a stranger for directions and was pointed in the wrong direction. Go figure. After chaos, the women finally caught up with one another and began selling their lemonade - at $5 a cup! The other women got mad at Tammy Lee for taking an hour break and for not being a team player. When Omarosa tried to counsel her, rather than quietly taking her advice, Tammy confronted her teammates. Omarosa was less than pleased and vowed not to help her again.
In spite of the initial chaos, the fighting among them, and the ridiculously high priced lemonade, the women managed to sell a lot of the beverage. Trump Executive Vice President and Senior Counsel George Ross, who was observing the women, gave an explanation. He commented that while $5 is a lot for a cup of lemonade, he would buy it if it was sold by a pretty girl. The skimpy outfits many of the women wore probably didn't hurt either, nor did one of the women giving her phone number to a customer. Apparently sex sells. Do you agree or disagree?
At the end of the day, all the candidates gathered in Trump's board room where he counted up each team's earnings from the day. The women quadrupled their seed money, while the men only doubled theirs. The victors are rewarded with a visit to Mr. Trump's home while the men were told to report back to the board room in the morning, suit cases in hand. Find out who got fired.
