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Celebrity Apprentice leaves cliffhanger for finale, Michaels' strong frontrunner

By April MacIntyre May 17, 2010, 7:03 GMT

01/08/2010 - Holly Robinson Peete - "Active For Life" Event and Auction to Benefit the March of Dimes - 8443 Warner Drive - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Tommaso Boddi / PR Photos

Donald Trump was energized by his Miss USA blitz and ready to ax three contestants, and setting the final two off on their final task to determine ultimate Celebrity Apprentice dominance.

He had a little help from his friends.

In an episode that began with Sharon Osbourne whipping her soon to be removed breast implants out and Curtis sauntering off-camera as Michaels admonishes him to "not do a deuce, don't deuce us out buddy" there were plenty of visuals to begin the episode. 

Trump calls them all back to the boardroom and one contestant is going to go quickly.

Apparently the Deuce warning was a foreshadowing of what the boardroom showdown was to reveal: Marie Kanellis, the WWE Diva when pressed, lashed out that Stone had taken a "crap" and left "a stench" in Tenacity's room, and that wasn't sitting well with her. 

Stone sat there stoically and embarrassed as Osbourne and Michaels were doubled over in laughter, but Peete took the high road and shook her head at the whole tacky moment.  The stupidity of the comment sealed Maria's fate, and the tearful redhead left in a stompy indulgent huff.

Donald Trump had former Apprentice winners Bill Rancic and Joan Rivers interview the final four, The Donald ultimately fires Curtis and Sharon, who sobbed with Joan that colon cancer was hard to raise money for and “nobody gives a s— about the colon because it’s up your ass. It’s not sexy.” 

Well. tonight's show revealed a very vulnerable human side to the sometimes sharp as a knife Osbourne, a woman who chucked a ham over her wall at her neighbors and who allegedly mailed turds to her enemies.

Lioness mother Holly and Type one diabetic Bret, who was elevated to a new high in his career based on his good guy survival skills in the boardroom and the ICU drama, were tasked with creating a new flavor and corresponding ad campaign for Snapple to determine the season 3 winner.  

Our two finalists must create a new Snapple, then a new ad campaign AND print layout plus a power point that reveals an original creative charity mission and message while maintaining the irreverant Snapple New York City witty spirit in all that they do. and the winner's Snapple will be sold all over the country. 

The winner also gets $250000 for their charity.

Bret gets Summer Sanders and Darryl Strawberry to help him, and Holly gets Maria and Curtis, very awkward.  Peete is not happy about this and shuts Maria down right out of the gate.  Maria tells the camera this is Holly's deal and she will zip it, and Stone is his usually sunny self, helpful to Holly.

Long and the short, Bret creates a dreadful sounding Diet Snapple, and a bitchin' label while Holly created a tastier sounding drink and a so-so label. The test is the dolly shot that Bret is convinced will sell the humor and message, but a huge hink occurs, NO DOLLY and a DP who is powerless to help him.  The drama unfolds next week as we see who Trump will pick, and I have a strong suspicion that he will go Michaels for the sheer drama the guy has been through the last month. 

My feeling has been that NBC would not have had Trump and Michaels together in an interview call with M&C at the beginning of the season if he wasn't the one Trump wanted to promote. 

Maybe the Donald sees what we all do, that Michaels is so much better than laying down with dogs on "Rock of Love."  That he was meant to stick around for something more meaningful after all.