Competitive Intelligence

The Apprentice 2: Kelly Perdew Next in Line for Career Groveling at Feet of Billionaire Trump

Real estate mogul Donald Trump hired another "apprentice" on Thursday, offering West Point graduate and software executive Kelly Perdew a six-figure salary job in the culmination of the fall season reality show "The Apprentice." Perdew chose to supervise the sprawling Trump Place development on Manhattan's West Side, saying he wanted to be near the mogul's base of operations.

Jennifer Massey, the Harvard Law School graduate and San Francisco attorney often incurred the wrath of her fellow "job applicants" during the NBC series' four-month run, was diplomatic after her loss, saying that "Kelly seems to be the best fit for the Trump organization." But she added that she thought she was the best candidate and deserved to win. Watching the series unfold on television, however, she said that it seemed to "be moving toward a Kelly coronation," and said many of her contributions had been edited out.

While he polled some of his top executives and past contestants on the show, most of whom favored Perdew, Trump said afterward that did not affect his decision, which he said he made only in the final moments. "I really go with my gut," he told reporters. "But I couldn't' have lost with either one. It was a very tough choice."

Frankly, I thought Massey survived more wrath than she deserved to - but, in this second Apprentice outing, the bloom is certainly off the rose a bit from the first season, which I thought was entertaining and original.

Apprentice 2 just seemed a little too forced to be as much fun as the first one.

- Arik