![]() ![]() Roto-Rooter Services Company president and chief operating officer Rick Arquilla experienced a week undercover in his own company, using the alias of Hank Denman, a rookie service technician assigned to some of the dirtiest jobs. The bank says: "No, Lloyd wouldn't consider doing it – and anyway, I don't think it would work well on the 'undercover' level because everyone here knows who he is.Get Plumbing articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now. So, will Undercover Boss go to Goldman Sachs? Sadly, it seems boss Lloyd Blankfein won't be going back to the floor. A second US series is already in the works and according to the Wall Street Journal, producers are trying to find a bank willing to take part. There are truly awkward moments in the mix, such as when Coby Brooks, the head of restaurant chain Hooters, encounters a branch manager who has made his waitresses take part in a hands-free bean-eating competition.Ĭhannel 4 has also snapped up the American shows, so British viewers can look forward to a double dollop of Undercover Boss. The show's producers admit that people featured in such reality programmes are often primed that cameras are on the way – but they do not know that the premise of the programme is a boss working undercover. "I'm not dumb enough to buy it and I don't think people in these companies are dumb enough, either." ![]() "Oh, my – this just happens to be the one day a woman comes out with a letter of thanks to her waste disposal people," says one critic of the show, management expert Wally Bock. The boss of Waste Management, who is commendably shocked that a woman driver of one of his garbage trucks is obliged to pee in a cup, watches as a local resident, accompanied by a disabled daughter, emerges from her home with a letter of appreciation for the firm that empties her bins. Whether the label "reality show" really fits, though, is a moot point – there are moments that seem almost surreally serendipitous. "During tough times, we liked the idea of a programme showing ordinary members of the workforce being thanked for what they're doing." "There's a lot of scepticism about the people running corporate America, and to see bosses who are willing to try and understand more about their workforces always gives people hope," says Lambert. The influential media blog Gawker described it as "advertainment", saying: "Televised entertainment has now completed its long, winding journey into becoming 100% corporate propaganda." Such cynicism is rejected by Lambert, who got the idea for the show after hearing British Airways boss Willie Walsh express a desire to be closer to the floor following the chaotic opening of Heathrow airport's Terminal 5 in 2008. The New York Times's TV critic described the show's tone as "embarrassingly feudal". She says: "Wouldn't it be better if the changes that took place were more about closing the wage gap between the CEO and his employees?" She dislikes the dispensation of favours at the end of each episode. Kimberly Freeman Brown, director of American Rights at Work, says the show is rooted in fantasy, rather than reality. But the concept has left a bad taste in the mouth of some activists. Great entertainment for a Sunday night, perhaps. The boss encounters dedicated, inspirational employees struggling with illness, bereavement or disability and, in an emotionally charged denouement, reveals his identity to present rewards – a holiday here, a promotion there and, in the case of a Roto-Rooter call centre operative, a $5,000 mortgage downpayment. Two pilot episodes in the UK were aired last year and Channel 4 is planning a six-part series filmed in British companies to hit screens later in the year.Įach week, an executive steps down the ladder to an entry-level job, has a humbling, transformative experience and finds out that low-paid work is tougher than anticipated. American firms that took part included convenience stores empire 7-Eleven, restaurant chain Hooters and florist 1-800-Flowers. The concept is simple – an executive of a major company assumes a fake identity, swaps pinstripes for overalls and mingles with workers. The CBS series, which ended last week, was the most popular new show, of any genre, of the season, drawing an average audience of 17.6 million at peak times on a Sunday night – comfortably beating Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice in the same timeslot. ![]() The brainchild of the British producer Stephen Lambert, whose CV includes Wife Swap and Faking It, Undercover Boss is the breakout success of the year on US television. ![]()
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