TV: Serials: Roger Friedman says 'America turns off Trump,' ambiguity, irony?

A favourite Entertainment writer, Roger Friedman, who puts out the daily Fox 411 newsletter about The Biz, notes the early ratings stats for Donald Trump's new season of his weekly reality-TV show featuring young would-be entrepreneurs, The Apprentice. Whether Mr Friedman be correct in his conclusion or not, on one little matter, I don't think he fathoms just how much Americans hold their noses to avoid puking when Ms O'Donnell's visage mars the TV screen. Indeed, her takeover of The View after her professional sponsor, one Barbara Walters, booted the only black woman on the 4-woman panel of the latter show, in order to give said O'Donnell a platform to attack the Trump--all this registers rather oppositely on me, compared to what Mr Friedman thinks [the interspersions in brackets are mine - Anax].

The new season of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice had a dismal start on Sunday night. The show finished third in its time slot, far behind ABC’s Desperate Housewives and CBS’s Cold Case.

Even worse: Apprentice lost millions of viewers from its lead in, the Grease reality show that preceded it. The Apprentice rating was a miniscule 5.4.

TV, by Anaximaximum

What happened to Donald Trump? He used to be so PR savvy. But his tirades and constant attacks against Rosie O'Donnell have done to him what Tom Cruise’s criticism of Brooke Shields did to him in 2005. [What about the O'D's diatribes against the Trump?; and, after all, Didn't she start it?]

Doesn’t Trump realize that the bulk of the non-football viewing TV audience are women and that once they sense an enemy, there’s no going back? [The fallacy of so many Entertainment journalists is being iterated here by Mr Friedman. Is he so immersed in his industry that he forgets that "women" is not an ideologically-monolithic category and that many women watch football and go to football games, etc. And that even those who don't do football either at the scene or on the screen, nevertheless include very many who detest the O'D, including many Lesbian women. Simply put, it takes neither gender- nor sexorientation-specificty to notice how thoroly she comes across as a barbarism.] I doubt Apprentice can regain its ratings of old.

Me too. But then I never did like the Trunmp's show much, and never found the Trump himself interesting. Nevertheless, he sure did stir up some interesting showbiz dirt when he took on the insults of OD and shoved them back in her face, which of course opened her mouth again like a compulsive sphincter. I don't like Barbara Walters either; now more than ever she leaves me cold as she seems to lack a scintilla of authenticity. Both with how she treated Star Jones and Donald Trump. Star I always liked.