A new reality show based in the workplace will make its premiere after the Super Bowl ends Sunday night. In “Undercover Boss,” top executives will anonymously take on entry-level positions at their organization and, in the process, gain “eye-opening perspectives” on how their decisions impact rank and file workers.
The first episode will feature the president and COO of Waste Management, Larry O’Donnell, who will clean porta-potties and work at a recycling plant, according to the network. CBS also announced that the experiences of executives from White Castle, 7-Eleven, Hooters, and Churchill Downs will also be chronicled in the first season.
The premise of the show reminds SBT editors of a segment that appeared in an episode of Michael Moore’s “TV Nation” (NBC, 1994). In the segment, called “CEO Challenge,” Moore issued a challenge to CEOs of large corporations to determine whether they could perform simple tasks related to the products their company sold—thus the chairman of IBM was asked to format a disk, the chairman of Palmolive was asked to wash dishes, and the CEO of Phillip Morris was asked to roll a cigarette, etc.
“I thought every working person, and nonworking person for that matter, would enjoy seeing me put the chairman of Ford Motors under a car and have oil drip on his face,” Moore said about the segment.
The desired results of “Undercover Boss” are stated in a slightly more diplomatically by Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. “The journey of watching a chief executive walk a mile in their employees' shoes is always very revealing, often humorous and in some cases very inspiring,” Tassler said in a press release.
“Undercover Boss” premieres February 7 after the post-game show of Super Bowl XLIV.
Sources: Reuters, Dogeatdog.michaelmoore.com, Faqs.org
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