B-listers keep viewers tuned in

By JEN HANCE

While none of us could ever have expected to see Tom Green, Joan Rivers, T-Boz and Dennis Rodman in the same show, “The Donald” has managed to compile one of the strangest mixes of B-list celebrities for his latest “Celebrity Apprentice.”

The season premiere started up with a male vs. female competition where teams of the opposite sex were challenged to make and sell cupcakes for charity on the streets of New York City.

The possibility of getting to see Dennis Rodman don an apron to bake a batch of cupcakes was almost too good to be true, but much to the disappointment of viewers everywhere, he escaped to a radio show with fellow teammate Andrew “Dice” Clay to “promote” their cupcakes.

The two celebs seemed too busy basking in the faded spotlights of their careers to be of much help to their teammates as Rodman remained in the van texting people on his phone – like a true diva – while “Dice” blabbed incessantly about his ability to sell out arenas and how he was the most successful comedian on tour. Though it is highly unlikely a celebrity as successful as he was claiming to be would be looking for work on a celeb-reality show.

The girls of team Athena, on the other hand, proved naming themselves after the goddess of war was almost too fitting, as they were constantly at war … with each other.

Professional poker player Annie Duke seemed to be causing all the rifts in the all-female team with her bossy attitude and control issues. The girls still managed to pull it out in the end when friends from Playboy, Duke and the poker circuit came down to make some generous donations.

When it came down to it, although, the boys had a successful marketing plan by plastering their famous mugs all over a truck, along with calling in famous friends such as Tony Hawk to donate money, they failed the bakery’s taste test after forgetting to add sugar to the cupcake batter; proving once and for all that even though Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton looks adorable in a chef’s hat, he should probably stick to doing flips on the ice rink instead.

While the collaboration of celebrities is like a bad flashback from the ’90s, the drama of these 15 celebrities together in one place fighting for those last few minutes in the spotlight is enough to keep viewers tuned in for next week.