musings a go go

Remember the big tiff between Donald Trump and Martha Stewart a little while ago over "The Apprentice" where Martha said she was under the impression that she was going to take over from Donald and continue the show as a sequel with her show the only one on the air? Trump said that Martha made this up as she had made up her ImClone stock sale. I was on Martha's side, because I thought Trump was mean spirited in his attack on her show and about her daughter--I thought he got too personal in his attack. I just finished reading Martha's book that I got for Christmas, "The Martha Rules" which was published in 2005 and here is a very interesting excerpt from the book that proves that she was right all along....

"You might think that would have bristed at the idea of hosting "The Apprentice". My edition was to be a sequel of sorts to the original and popular show that starred Donald Trump. I have never played second fiddle. MSLO specializes in creating and originating ideas. I thought that my friend Donald had done a very nice job on his version of "The Apprentice". Did the world want or even need another version of this reality show? Did I really want to follow someone else's act? And what about creative control? We had never given that to anyone before. Could we trust Mark's standards? Would his standards equal mine? Would his way of doing things show off my company at its very best?
But remember what I said about change: When you're through changing, you're through. I liked and respected Mark Burnett immediately. In trying to convince me to do "The Apprentice", he made me his customer, and he connected with me. When I was in Alderson, he visited me several times. In our conversations, he inspired me to think about all kinds of new things we could try on my new live show, and I agreed to let him serve as my executive producer. He had convinced me that he was, indeed, an expert in this form of television, that his work ethic was excellent, and that his instincts were sharp. He also seemed to understand the big picture of my company's story while so many others were focusing on the short-term details. "People told me it was a risk to work with Martha," Mark has said. "I could see that her brand was way more full of integrity and future value than anyone was giving the company credit for. I looked at the situation and said, 'This will pass.'"
Working with Mark involved some interesting image decisions for me, as well. For one thing, we talked about showing more of my personality than I have revealed in the past on my television shows, in part because Mark spent many hours studying tapes of me and said he thought I seemed much more at ease when I was a guest on other peoples' shows, like with David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien. Here are a few more tidbits that henoticed about me: I like a good laugh. I love a good practical joke. I like to goof around a bit. Would it hurt to show that side of me? Mark and I took a well-calculated risk that a new, more spontaneious format with a live audience was a wonderful way for me to come back from my difficult experiences.
When it came to the making of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart", I could really see the wisdom of doing this program. As I focused on the show, I realized it provided us with a different sort of platform to display the excellence of the company, its philosophy, its beliefs, and its commitment to Good Things. Clearly, we have created an original, fabulous, very American company within the American dream. I am so pleased that I took the risk, that Mark was wise enough to take this risk, and that we embarked on this television adventure together. Mark has a favorite North African proverb that he repeats to would-be entrepreneurs who would like to follow in his footsteps. He tells them, "Choose your companions before you choose your road."