April 8, 2004

The Apprentice backstory. Wow, read this description (found via Gawker) from a guy--Keith Hollihan--who lived beneath the apartment that was rented for more money on the apartment renovation episode of The Apprentice! There are some amazing things, including the graphic suicide of the previous occupant, but one thing stands out because it calls into question the legitimacy of the entire competition.
It turned out that [the new tenant] had actually rented the apartment before it was renovated. She had looked at a few places in the neighborhood, picked the apartment upstairs from us, and made arrangements to move in before learning that it had been pulled off the market for the show. She went ballistic. The landlord told her not to worry, she could still have the apartment at the agreed-upon rent but would have to participate in the episode in order to get it. During the filming, she went through the motions and rented the apartment at a price higher than the one she would actually be paying. The negotiation was a sham. ... Troy’s team won because they had secured the higher rent. Since D actually was paying less than the stated amount, this meant the results were rigged.

I wouldn't be surprised if every episode were rigged in some way.

Imagine if we learned that American Idol didn't actually use the telephoned-in votes every time.

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