The Apprentice 5 is the fifth season of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump as the executive producer and host. Applications were available onlineTV Network for Primetime, Daytime and Late Night Television Shows - NBC Official Site (as in previous seasons) and filming occurred in the fall of 2005. Sean Yazbeck was named the winner and hired by Donald Trump as the new Apprentice during the season finale. Lee Bienstock, the runner-up to Yazbeck, proved to be very competitive and was hired outside of television a few months later.
This season of the show was the first to not rank in the Top 50 according to Nielsen ratings and the first to garner less than 10 million viewers on average; it ranked #51 with an average of 9.73 million viewers. This was the last season to have George H. Ross and Carolyn Kepcher as main boardroom judges, although Ross's role was largely taken over by Bill Rancic in this season. The show moved to Los Angeles, California the following season and Donald Trump's children became the most prominent judges after him.
The Apprentice 5 on Monday February 27, 2006, right after the new hit game show Deal or No Deal.NBC Shakes Up Post-Olympic Schedule , Zap2it.com, January 22, 2006 NBC, facing a ratings slump, opted to put future seasons of the show on Monday nights (as opposed to its past Thursday 9 pm ET slot). The network hoped to build the show's audience by making this move, as the program had witnessed a fairly substantial erosion in ratings since The Apprentice 1. However, the show faced tough competition with the Fox's fifth season of 24. The finale for The Apprentice 5 took place in Los Angeles on June 5, 2006. Season five's finale was the lowest rated ever, down 23% from season four and down 28% from season three's final episode (in the important 18–49 demographic).Trumped: Finale - fizzle for 'Apprentice' - Down 23 percent from last season, to a 4.4 rating, Media Life, June 6, 2006
The Apprentice 5 marked the debut of Donald Trump's children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as boardroom judges when either George and/or Carolyn were unavailable.NBC ANNOUNCES 18 NEW CANDIDATES FOR APPRENTICE SEASON 5 , NBC, published February 13, 2006 Jack McConnell, the First Minister of Scotland, makes an appearance in one of the episodes.Holyrood Chronicles: "Archie McPherson on a bad day"
For the first time in Apprentice history, all episodes of this season (including the Clipshow with never-seen-before footage) could be obtained at iTunes for indefinite viewing after the episode has aired.
Also, for the first time since the original season of the show, the successful project managers would not be exempt from firing the next week, therefore everyone had to do a satisfactory job in order to be safe. The season featured 3 double firings.
Candidates This is the first season where not all of the candidates were exclusively American; this season contained cast members that were originally from Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom. Team 1Team 2Gold RushSynergy
CandidateBackgroundOriginal teamAgeHometownResultSean YazbeckRecruitment consultantSynergy 33 London, EnglandHired by Trump(6–5–2006) Lee BienstockBusiness analystGold Rush 22Brooklyn, New YorkFired in the season finale(6–5–2006)Allie JablonMedical sales managerSynergy 30Columbia, South Carolina10Fired in week 13(5–22–2006)Roxanne WilsonAppellate attorneySynergy 26Austin, Texas10Fired in week 13(5–22–2006)Tammy TrentaWealth managerSynergy 33Edison, New Jersey10Fired in week 12(5–15–2006)Michael LaunganiManagement consultantSynergy 29Chicago, Illinois10Fired in week 11(5–8–2006)Tarek SaabHi-tech managerGold Rush 27New Bedford, Massachusetts10Fired in week 10(5–1–2006)Charmaine HuntReal estate consultantGold Rush 27Nashville, Tennessee10Fired in week 10(5–1–2006)Andrea LakeSticker company ownerSynergy 31San Diego, California10Fired in week 9(4–24–2006)Leslie BourgeoisRealtorGold Rush 28Houma, Louisiana10Fired in week 8(4–10–2006)Lenny VeltmanTrading company ownerGold Rush 37Tashkent, Uzbekistan10Fired in week 7(4–10–2006)Bryce GahaganHome builderGold Rush 28Kansas City, Missouri10Fired in week 6(4–3–2006)Dan BrodyClothing company ownerGold Rush 31Miami, Florida10Fired in week 5(3–27–2006)Brent BuckmanAttorneySynergy 30Fort Lauderdale, Florida10Fired in week 4(3–20–2006)Theresa BoutrossPsychotherapistGold Rush 36 Barrington, Illinois10Fired in week 3(3–13–2006)Jose "Pepi" DiazAttorneySynergy 25Miami, Florida10Fired in week 2(3–6–2006)Stacy SchneiderCriminal defense attorneySynergy 38New York, New York10Fired in week 2(3–6–2006)Summer ZervosRestaurant ownerGold Rush 30Huntington Beach, California10Fired in week 1(2–27–2006)
Team selections As with the previous season of the show, Trump hand-picked the candidates. Furthermore, Trump personally selected Tarek and Allie to be the very first project managers and to draft their own teams before the first task is issued. This is the first time in the history of The Apprentice that the teams were not formed by a certain set of characteristics, such as gender (Seasons 1, 2, 4) or educational status (Season 3).
Because this process was conducted after only preliminary introductions, some reasoning for certain selections had been somewhat arbitrary—such as Tarek picking Dan because he was a father, or Allie picking Tammy because she had the qualities of "a real tiger".
Using alternate selections, one at a time, both of them picked their respective teams in the following order:
SynergyGold RushPMAllieTarek1TammyDan2AndreaBryce3MichaelCharmaine4SeanLeslie5RoxanneTheresa6StacyLee7PepiSummer8BrentLenny
Weekly results CandidateOriginal teamWeek 8 teamWeek 11 teamFinal week teamApplication resultRecord as project managerSean YazbeckSynergySynergyGold RushSynergyHired by Trump2–0 (win in weeks 6 & 12)Lee BienstockGold RushGold RushGold RushGold RushFired in the Season Finale3–1 (win in weeks 2, 9, & 13, loss in week 11)Roxanne WilsonSynergySynergySynergyGold RushFired in week 132–0 (win in weeks 5 & 11)Allie JablonSynergySynergySynergyFired in week 131–2 (win in week 1, loss in weeks 9 & 13)Tammy TrentaSynergySynergySynergySynergyFired in week 121–2 (win in week 10, loss in weeks 4 & 12)Michael LaunganiSynergyGold RushGold RushFired in week 111–0 (win in week 7)Tarek SaabGold RushGold RushSynergyFired in week 100–1 (loss in week 1)Charmaine HuntGold RushGold RushFired in week 101–1 (win in week 4, loss in week 10)Andrea LakeSynergySynergySynergyFired in week 92–0 (win in weeks 3 & 8)Leslie BourgeoisGold RushGold RushFired in week 80–1 (loss in week 8)Lenny VeltmanGold RushGold RushFired in week 70–1 (loss in week 7)Bryce GahaganGold RushFired in week 60–1 (loss in week 6)Dan BrodyGold RushFired in week 50–1 (loss in week 5)Brent BuckmanSynergyFired in week 4Theresa BoutrossGold RushFired in week 30–1 (loss in week 3)Jose "Pepi" DiazSynergyGold RushFired in week 20–1 (loss in week 2)Stacy SchneiderSynergyFired in week 2Summer ZervosGold RushFired in week 1
Elimination ChartNo.Candidate12345678910111213141SeanIN IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN IN IN BR WIN IN HIRED 2Lee BR WIN IN IN BR BR IN BR WIN IN LOSE IN WINFIRED3Roxanne IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN IN IN IN WIN BRFIRED4Allie WIN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN LOSE IN IN BRFIRED5Tammy IN IN IN LOSE IN IN IN IN IN WIN INFIRED6Michael IN BR IN IN IN IN WIN IN IN INFIRED7Tarek LOSE IN BR IN BR IN IN IN INFIRED8Charmaine IN IN IN WIN IN IN IN IN INFIRED9AndreaIN IN WIN IN IN IN IN WINFIRED10Leslie IN IN IN IN IN IN INFIRED11Lenny BR IN BR IN IN BRFIRED12Bryce IN IN IN IN INFIRED13Dan IN IN IN INFIRED14Brent IN BR INFIRED15Theresa IN INFIRED16Pepi INFIRED17Stacy INFIRED18SummerFIRED The candidate was on the losing team. 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 brought to the final boardroom. The candidate was fired. The candidate lost as project manager and was fired. The candidate did not participate in the task.
Episodes
Week 1: Summer of Sam's Club Airdate: February 27, 2006 Prologue: Trump arrived at Republic Airport in New York where George and Carolyn were waiting to introduce him to the new candidates aboard his jet. Back on the tarmac, Trump had each candidate say a few words about him or herself. Upon completion of the candidates' own speech in an Apprentice first, Trump personally chose two candidates (Allie and Tarek) to be project managers for the first task and asked both of them to form the teams. Sponsor: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Hosting Company: Sam's Club Task: Teams had to promote a Sam's Club store and sell the most memberships. Teams could also use a Goodyear Blimp for promotional purposes. Judges: Donald Trump; Carolyn Kepcher; George H. Ross Trump Monologue: Change The Team - People that are successful always know when to pull somebody that makes the team fail. Gold Rush project manager: Tarek Synergy project manager: Allie Winning team: Synergy Reasons for win: Synergy used their blimp to advertise freebies given at Sam's Club over Gold Rush's simple marketing techniques. They sold 43 new memberships. Reward: Lunch at the Penn Club of New York with Donald Trump Losing team: Gold Rush Reasons for loss: Summer's attitude was questionable, practically giving up during the task and making only one phone call while she was supposed to make as many as possible, claiming that she could not call the local businesses and restaurants during their dinner rush. She also demonstrated a lack of confidence in her team's ability to win before the boardroom, even though they only lost by 3 memberships. Duffle bags were also misrepresented as gift bags, which had nothing inside them and were given away for free (instead of an exchange for a new membership), as declared by Tarek to Carolyn during the task. They only sold 40 new memberships, only 3 less than Synergy. Sent to boardroom: Tarek, Summer, Lenny, Lee. Firing verdict: Tarek came under fire for bringing in Lee and Lenny into the boardroom, for it seemed that Tarek only brought in Lee for personal reasons (after Lee voiced his concerns about Tarek) and Lenny had done what he was told to do, therefore they didn't deserve to be in the boardroom. Tarek claimed that Lenny did not contribute to the task, but Lenny had been in the blimp and utilized his information of the area which George confirmed to Tarek. Summer came under strong criticism by Carolyn in the boardroom after being unable to explain what she contributed to the team, or justify her giving up on her assigned task of calling restaurants after only one attempt; she attempted to deny responsibility for the loss, but George disagreed, pointing out that with the narrow margin of the defeat, Summer might have been able to bring in enough customers to win had she continued making calls. Lenny then came to Summer's defence, saying that she had tried to contribute, but Tarek had ignored and sidelined her, seemingly convincing Trump to give her another chance. Trump noted how Lee and Lenny were laughing at Tarek's bad decisions, especially the fact that he continued to defend the empty gift bags as being a good idea. He also couldn't get Tarek to give any reasonable cause for Lee and Lenny to even be in the final boardroom, vindicating them. Summer suddenly interrupted Trump, which brought the attention back to her. Although Trump openly stated he was "ready to practically fire" Tarek, Summer continued her attempt to defend him, which caused Trump to lose his patience and, given Summer's lack of judgement and little contributions in the task, he decided to fire Summer instead without any hesitation.