Undercover Boss

[Mark Holtz]

Hmmmm.... did anyone else watch this show besides me? The premise of this show is that a head honcho of a major company goes undercover and works the regular jobs of the company for a week. They gain insight on how a company is really run. I thought it was a interesting idea.

[Stuart Sweet]

I swear this has been the subject of a reality show before.

[jodyguercio]

I swear this has been the subject of a reality show before.

What was the show on FOX? The millionaire one, kind of the same thing as that right?

[BenJF3]

I call BS on most of these shows. I think this is a play for corporate America to try and make themselves look good in the public eye after they all pretty much sold out the country. It came off as way too scripted for me.

[Sharkie_Fan]

Hmmmm.... did anyone else watch this show besides me? The premise of this show is that a head honcho of a major company goes undercover and works the regular jobs of the company for a week. They gain insight on how a company is really run. I thought it was a interesting idea.

We watched it. Definitely an interesting idea. There's no doubt that in a company as large as WM (and others), the decision makers at the top of the food chain have no idea exactly what effect their decisions have on the grunts within the company. So many of their decisions are made solely based on the 'bottom line', it's not a surprise that some of them end up being a PITA to their employees.

I call BS on most of these shows. I think this is a play for corporate America to try and make themselves look good in the public eye after they all pretty much sold out the country. It came off as way too scripted for me.

As interesting as I found the idea of the show, I have to agree, it was certainly staged to some extent. Does every employee at Waste Management have a story that will make your heart melt, or did "Larry" just get incredibly lucky to work with the 7 most inspirational employees in the company?:lol:

If you can sort of suspend your expectation of "reality" when watching "reality TV", then the show was actually not bad... You just have to realize that, while the concept may be "real", and they "really" did the jobs they showed, the producers also have a responsibility to entertain... so they have to manipulate reality to make it interesting.... If the guy picking up trash on the hillside was a complete jerk, would it really have been that interesting to watch?

So... decent show, definitely not completely "real"... but we actually did enjoy watching.

[fluffybear]

It came off as way too scripted for me.

could not agree more..

If the show were 'real, I see the life expectancy for this show being limited. Now that the show has aired, workers would be a lot more suspicious of the newbie with the camera crew (then I'm sure they already were).

My prediction: show will not be on the fall schedule.

[Richard King]

If the show were 'realThe problem is that if the show were real it would be equal in length to the number of hours of video tape that they shot. They have to edit the "real" show to make it fit the time slot allotted and make it interesting to the viewer.

[peak_reception]

I can think of one piece of editing in the show which argues for both sides on this debate.

When Larry sat down with the guy in charge of the Port-a-Potties he [Larry] had a smile on his face. Then, as he was told that his job for the day would be extracting and cleaning up poop, his smile dissolved into a straight face.

It was funny and I laughed. But I also played it back on the DVR and there was a subtle splice between his being told about the poop and his smile going away. I don't believe the two events coincided in just the way it was shown.

So the editing did add a funny element, but it was a crafted laugh.

Also, does anyone believe that Larry was not told in advance that his job for the day would include cleaning out poop?

I don't mind suspending belief if there's some good entertainment involved.

Undercover Boss had it's moments, some that I even believe were genuine like when Larry had tears in his eyes after the lady with mental disabilities came out to greet her garbage lady and telling Larry what a great job she does. The connection of that with his daughter who suffered brain damage was entirely believable, touching even.

I forget which company big-wig is highlighted next week but I'll record it and see how it goes.

[dpeters11]

I certainly think some of it was scripted. He may not have chosen the people he'd be working with, but no doubt the producers were involved. And the landfill lady just happens to decide to invite him to dinner, a dinner that changes her life?

But on the flip side, if it gave him some insight into how the company works on other levels, good can come out of it. More executives should probably do that on occasion.

Next week should be interesting at Hooters based on the clips of the manager.

[Getteau]

I caught the end of the show because the super bowl ran long and it was in my 10PM news program. Maybe it's just me, but I have always known what the head guy looked like at almost every company I worked for (the only exceptions I can think of were during college when I was an intern at Loral and IBM). So the whole concept of "not recognizing" the CEO seems a bit stretched to me; especially when the CEO goes into an office with more than one employee (didn’t he go into a recycling facility with the one lady). Are you telling me that no one in that office knew what the CEO looked like? If that's the case, you have a piss-poor CEO.

To me, the whole concept to me makes the CEO of that company look bad. If you're the CEO and have been around the company for several years, your employees better be able to recognize you. If they can't, you need to get out and hold more "town hall" style meetings with your employees.

I didn’t watch the beginning of the show, but how did they explain the camera crew?

[Sharkie_Fan]

...
Also, does anyone believe that Larry was not told in advance that his job for the day would include cleaning out poop?

...

I forget which company big-wig is highlighted next week but I'll record it and see how it goes.

I'm sure Larry was told in advance what he was doing. I'd guess he was in on the decisions as to what people to use, etc. I don't think the idea to promote the one lady was spontaneous as it seemed... I'd bet they had an idea before hand what they wanted to do with her, and doing it on TV makes for a feel good story.

I believe next week is the president of Hooters.

I caught the end of the show because the super bowl ran long and it was in my 10PM news program. Maybe it's just me, but I have always known what the head guy looked like at almost every company I worked for (the only exceptions I can think of were during college when I was an intern at Loral and IBM). So the whole concept of "not recognizing" the CEO seems a bit stretched to me; especially when the CEO goes into an office with more than one employee (didn’t he go into a recycling facility with the one lady). Are you telling me that no one in that office knew what the CEO looked like? If that's the case, you have a piss-poor CEO.

To me, the whole concept to me makes the CEO of that company look bad. If you're the CEO and have been around the company for several years, your employees better be able to recognize you. If they can't, you need to get out and hold more "town hall" style meetings with your employees.

I didn’t watch the beginning of the show, but how did they explain the camera crew?

Last part first.... they said that the camera crew was doing a documentary on people trying out for entry level positions.

As to the first part. My first thought was that you'd think these people would have an idea who Larry was. However, a few things.

Larry is NOT the CEO of Waste Management. He's the COO. I think that David Steiner (CEO) is probably more recognizable within the company, and that's probably why they went with Larry O'Donnell instead.

Second, with all the employees that Waste Management has, it's likely that many of them have never seen nor met the executives within the company. The more I thought about it, the more feasible it was to me that the employees wouldn't know who Larry O'Donnell was.

And, even if they did know, how many of them would suspect that he'd be in their office doing grunt work - even if there were TV cameras around.


One last thing... for those who watched the show. Did you notice that each evening when Larry was coming "home", he's in this small, plain hotel room that still uses keys to get in and out. I found that a little odd.... Unless it was some sort of corporate "condo" or studio that he was using during the filming. I didn't know you could still find hotels that used keys (and not keycards). I can't recall the last time I saw one. Granted I don't get out much, but I've been on a handful of trips in the last few years and everywhere I've been has keycards now.

[RobertE]

I'm sure Larry was told in advance what he was doing. I'd guess he was in on the decisions as to what people to use, etc. I don't think the idea to promote the one lady was spontaneous as it seemed... I'd bet they had an idea before hand what they wanted to do with her, and doing it on TV makes for a feel good story.

I believe next week is the president of Hooters.



Last part first.... they said that the camera crew was doing a documentary on people trying out for entry level positions.

As to the first part. My first thought was that you'd think these people would have an idea who Larry was. However, a few things.

Larry is NOT the CEO of Waste Management. He's the COO. I think that David Steiner (CEO) is probably more recognizable within the company, and that's probably why they went with Larry O'Donnell instead.

Second, with all the employees that Waste Management has, it's likely that many of them have never seen nor met the executives within the company. The more I thought about it, the more feasible it was to me that the employees wouldn't know who Larry O'Donnell was.

And, even if they did know, how many of them would suspect that he'd be in their office doing grunt work - even if there were TV cameras around.


One last thing... for those who watched the show. Did you notice that each evening when Larry was coming "home", he's in this small, plain hotel room that still uses keys to get in and out. I found that a little odd.... Unless it was some sort of corporate "condo" or studio that he was using during the filming. I didn't know you could still find hotels that used keys (and not keycards). I can't recall the last time I saw one. Granted I don't get out much, but I've been on a handful of trips in the last few years and everywhere I've been has keycards now.

With a company that large, I can believe that there will be a good number of employees that don't know or care who anyone is at the C level.

I think they said pretty early in the episode that he was going to stay in a Budget Inn or something along those lines. So it wouldn't surprise me if they still had keys.

It did feel "directed" to a degree, but I also expected it to be. The upcoming Hooters one looks interesting. I'm guessing someone is going to get fired.

[Getteau]

...
As to the first part. My first thought was that you'd think these people would have an idea who Larry was. However, a few things.

Larry is NOT the CEO of Waste Management. He's the COO. I think that David Steiner (CEO) is probably more recognizable within the company, and that's probably why they went with Larry O'Donnell instead.



Ahhh, I thought the show was about the CEO or President doing the jobs. Once you get below that level, I can buy that no one would recognize a COO. Especially in large companies where there are a million VP's, Senior VP's and a handful of CxO's.

[Sharkie_Fan]

Ahhh, I thought the show was about the CEO or President doing the jobs. Once you get below that level, I can buy that no one would recognize a COO. Especially in large companies where there are a million VP's, Senior VP's and a handful of CxO's.

I actually had the same thought you did initially. I think I'd make it a point to at least have an idea who the CEO was of my company... That's the only reason I looked Larry O'Donnell up, and realized he was not the CEO.

I'm sure they said it in the program, but I didn't catch it initially

[n3ntj]

Hmmmm.... did anyone else watch this show besides me? The premise of this show is that a head honcho of a major company goes undercover and works the regular jobs of the company for a week. They gain insight on how a company is really run. I thought it was a interesting idea.

Who comes up with these dumb shows?

Next, they'll have one about former plumbers were are now fashion designers in SF that have their new clothing lines critiqued by circus midgets and callers across the world vote.

[dpeters11]

Ahhh, I thought the show was about the CEO or President doing the jobs. Once you get below that level, I can buy that no one would recognize a COO. Especially in large companies where there are a million VP's, Senior VP's and a handful of CxO's.

He is both the President and COO, just not CEO. It does kind of make sense to use a COO, being in charge of operations.

[dpeters11]

Who comes up with these dumb shows?

Next, they'll have one about former plumbers were are now fashion designers in SF that have their new clothing lines critiqued by circus midgets and callers across the world vote.

There are plenty of shows dumber than this one. Will be interesting to see the ratings. This week might be high being Hooters, but wondering about after that. Just wish it were in HD :)

[elaclair]

Who comes up with these dumb shows?

Next, they'll have one about former plumbers were are now fashion designers in SF that have their new clothing lines critiqued by circus midgets and callers across the world vote.

NBC has that one on their slate for Thursday nights...to go up against CSI;Las Vegas...:D

[JM Anthony]

I liked the first show and will probably continue to watch for a while. I do think these are infomercials for the companies and they probably foot the bill for the production costs.

John

[jeffshoaf]

I don't care if the executives of the company where I work (for just one more week!) try to do the work of the lower level employees, but I sure do wish they had to call and deal with the off-shored Help Desk! :rolleyes: