by Todd Betzold

 

The Celebrity Apprentice started with 18 celebrities, the largest cast ever, and now we are down to the final three...one will get fired within the first 10 minutes and then we move on to the final task...dun dun dun.

 

We start back in the boardroom with Arsenio, Aubrey and Clay fighting to be the finalists for this season. Trump asks each of the finalists why he should choose them over the other two...they each state their case before Trump makes his decision. He thinks that Aubrey is transparent and will have a fantastic career, so she is fired...that leaves us with Clay and Arsenio in the finals...quite shocking, I thought Aubrey would make it.

 

They meet Trump the next day at Lincoln Center, the place where this season all began. The final task: produce, host and sell tickets to a celebrity charity event. They will be responsible for selling tickets to the event to raise money for their charity, make a 30-second awareness video for their charity and produce/direct/star in a variety show to entertain their guest. To give them some help for the final task, eight of the celebrities come back to help them out: Debbie Gibson, Aubrey O'Day, Lisa Lampanelli, Penn Jillette, Adam Carolla, Teresa Giudice, Paul Teutel, Sr. and Dee Snider.

 

Arsenio won every task he was project manager in, so he gets the first pick and he picks Adam. Clay picks Penn. Arsenio picks Lisa. Clay picks Debbie. Arsenio then picks Paul. Clay selects Dee. Arsenio takes Teresa, so Aubrey will join Clay. The winner will get $250,000 on top of what they both earn in ticket sales.

 

Clay meets with his team and explains to them his charity and why he chose that charity. Arsenio meets with his team. He will be putting on a comedy event, especially with his teammates. Adam suggests doing a kid's show, which Arsenio shoots down...he doesn't want to go away from the demographic for the charity.

 

Clay comes back and delegates tasks for each of his teammates...he put Penn and Dee in charge of the 30-second video for the charity, Aubrey is planning and decorating the event itself and Debbie is working on the variety show and music. Penn comes up with a "Let's All Play" slogan and Aubrey goes with a carnival theme for the event.

 

For Arsenio, Adam is trying to come up with an idea for the video...he wants it to be more funny, instead of so serious and tug at the heart strings like most videos do. They then get Magic Johnson to agree to do a spot in the video, so they thought this was a slam dunk for them. Arsenio is going to use comedy throughout the event, because that is what he does best. Clay comes up with an idea for the video, but then Penn shoots it down without giving suggestions on what to do...Clay is worried about his choice to have Penn on his team.

 

Adam and Teresa head out to get some ‘80s costumes for the video. After looking at some "peni" in the owner's office, they finally do some shopping. They pick up some costumes and wigs and head out. Meanwhile, Penn has written a script for the video and says using a video with showing off the disability and it is a great idea...Clay loves it.

 

Arsenio has Paul and Teresa get on the phone and start raising some money. Lisa had some money in the works because she was planning on being in the final (and I was planning on that too), so she has $50,000 to give to Arsenio and Teresa has received $5,000 from one phone call...a great start. Ivanka comes in to visit them...Arsenio tells her that comedy is more universal then comedy, so they have the advantage.

 

Debbie, Clay and Dee are working together to try and make up a song list for the event. Donald, Jr. comes in for his visit...Clay tells him he has the stronger team and music-theme. Penn says that he will get Teller to join him for a 4-minute skit during the show...this could be big. Donald, Jr., likes their ideas, but they are not focusing on raising money, so he is worried about them.

 

Meanwhile, everyone on Arsenio's team is on the phone talking to people and bringing in money. We go back to Clay and he decides to get his team off their duties and get on the phones to raise some money...they are having no luck.

 

Arsenio and his team head down to where the event will take place. On the way, Lisa talks with fellow comedian, Jeffrey Ross, to see if they can get Charlie Sheen to show up for the event...not sure, but maybe he will? They get to the location and start planning the decorating and event details...Arsenio puts Teresa and Lisa in charge of those details, because that is more of their forte. Teresa meets with the caterer and she picks out the menu for the event and Arsenio lets her do her thing and trusts her.

 

Clay and his team head to the building for the event and Aubrey is working out the details of everything. She tells Clay her ideas and he is overwhelmed. She is going 100 miles a minute and has one million ideas. She wants to paint the whole room and Clay shoots that idea down...Debbie has a cousin who paints murals, so she brings her in...Clay wants to see a sketch of what she will do and Debbie said she'll try, but Clay needs to trust her.

 

Clay, Dee and Penn are heading down to the park to shoot the video and he has Debbie and Aubrey doing errands to get the event details in place. The train goes right over the park, so there is no way they can get audio there. Arsenio starts working on his video. They will have the ‘80s theme going into a current look to show AIDS is still here. He puts Adam in charge of directing the video...they all get done up in their ‘80s attire and start shooting some video. Meanwhile, Clay is having issues trying to find a place to shoot their ad.

 

Arsenio and his team are getting through the video very well while Clay and his guys are still walking around NYC trying to find a place to shoot the video...they may have to give up and just shoot in the studio. They finally find a location and the crew and kids show up for the video. Things are going with, but hectic with the kids.

 

Now Adam is on the phone trying to get the video with Magic shot in L.A. and it is a little confusing for him to get the directions to them. Arsenio and Adam head over to edit the video and he sends Lisa, Teresa and Paul back to the hotel to raise some money on those phones. Debbie and Aubrey head over to the rehearsal studio to work on getting the music arranged and set for their variety show.

 

Adam and Arsenio arrive at the editing room to start on the video while they wait for the video of Magic to arrive. While he is editing, Arsenio is continuing to raise money...he got another $20,000. Penn, Dee and Clay are working on editing the video when Aubrey and Debbie arrive for a visit. Clay tries again to do some fundraising...not wanting to come in second again in a reality show final. So, they watch the video and Debbie is questioning the video and having music in the video at the beginning...it is Clay's task, so back off Debbie.

 

Clay then receives a phone call from Lisa...she said that he helped her raise money for her charity throughout the show, so to return the favor she wants a ticket to his show the next day...she is donating money to his charity, despite the fact she is working for Arsenio...a very nice gesture. Then Aubrey got a donation, which she is hoping to be at least $10,000.

 

Arsenio and Adam are still waiting on the Magic video, which Adam is worried...his staff is not professional...they are audio guys who work more on podcasts, so he is worried what video will arrive. Team Clay arrives at the studio to go through the music. Debbie keeps changing the lineup of the music and Clay is getting angry and Debbie is getting angry because Clay put her in charge of the music and now he is taking some of that authority away.

 

Now we go back to Debbie's cousin and the mural...she is running late and Clay wants to see a sketch and they are not sure they can do a sketch...Clay demands a sketch or he doesn't want to do it. Debbie is upset because her cousin dropped work to do this and now might not be used. It gets more dramatic because Clay is not breaking down and Debbie is getting upset over no trust in her judgment.

 

The footage from Magic has finally downloaded, so they start taking a look at it. They look at the video and Magic is facing sideways during the video as he talks...there is no way they can use that footage for the video...what is he going to do?

 

The Celebrity Apprentice Live Finale airs Sunday at 9/8c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

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