Undercover Boss - General Discussion

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 1/3/2015 at 7:54 PM, Beach Party said:

Did Jose the boss really not know a VIN number? Hopefully that was a purposeful part of his undercover act.  

This is a theme that happens in many of the episodes, and it was so obvious in the MACCO episode that I can't believe nobody has said it on camera:

How insulting is it to watch this series and see your CEO having NO IDEA how the day to day operation works, yet he's the one who controlls your job.

And does it at 10 times your salary (or 100 times your salary).

I can't believe that people don't watch this show and resign en masse.

[Jaded]

CBS Sets ‘Undercover Boss: Celebrity Edition’ With New Series to Debut in May

[Jaded]

The "Celebrity" shows start on Friday. Not sure if I'm going to bother watching or not.

[Kazzy25]

I didn’t care for the Celebrity Edition last year and would much rather have more regular episodes of Undercover Boss.

[ChicagoCita]

Thanks for the heads up. My DVR doesn't recognize this as the same show as "UB" -- so I would have missed it.

[zoey1996]

I've liked both episodes so far this season.  Both Gabby Douglas and Idina Menzel seemed very engaged during the process.  Their disguises were eons ahead of the regular Undercover Boss disguises!

I have no idea who Bethany Mota is or why I should care, but I remember "Neon Deion" Sanders from his baseball years mainly.  

[ShaNaeNae]

I almost turned off Idina the first half because it was too sugary sweet and boring. But hung in there. I did get a kick out of singing telegram girl. She had her back sob story locked and loaded. And “oh while you’re here, and I don’t know you, here’s my adoption papers and a letter wrapped in plastic my moms lips kisses once”. 

8 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

I've liked both episodes so far this season.  Both Gabby Douglas and Idina Menzel seemed very engaged during the process.  Their disguises were eons ahead of the regular Undercover Boss disguises!

I have no idea who Bethany Mota is or why I should care, but I remember "Neon Deion" Sanders from his baseball years mainly.  

Bethany Mota is a big YouTuber.  She did one season of Dancing with the Stars too. 

[Diana Berry]

I had no idea that was Deion Sanders.  Sorry I could tell right away.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Diana Berry

[Bridget]

I’m still not sure about something; is Deion Sanders well known and recognized a lot in Dallas? 

?

[JocelynCavanaugh]

It’s possible that, as a lifelong Cowboys fan and someone who works with low-income college students not too far from these kiddos, I’m a little biased, but... favorite Celebrity Undercover Boss episode ever!!! PRIME TIME! Ugh I was frigging CRYING at a REALITY SHOW but that sweet Michael fellow got me good. I want to have him over for dinner!! And Deion too I mean why not. Get Michael Irvin and Emmit Smith (my football bae) over here while we’re at it. Maybe Crabtree is in town and we can make it a party, bring that whole choir. Y’all I don’t think Jewel’s fake Jersey accent can top this. 

PS the spliced-in footage of Deep Ellum in the first driving scene was cracking me up. There is nowhere in Dallas that anybody who played in a Super Bowl AND a World Series would live, that would put Deep Ellum on the way to Cedar Hill. But hey, first reality show ever to film in Dallas without shoehorning in footage of Midland oil pumpjacks and the Fort Worth Stockyards so I’ll let that slide. 

[Bridget]

13 hours ago, JocelynCavanaugh said:

It’s possible that, as a lifelong Cowboys fan and someone who works with low-income college students not too far from these kiddos, I’m a little biased, but... favorite Celebrity Undercover Boss episode ever!!! PRIME TIME! Ugh I was frigging CRYING at a REALITY SHOW but that sweet Michael fellow got me good. I want to have him over for dinner!! And Deion too I mean why not. Get Michael Irvin and Emmit Smith (my football bae) over here while we’re at it. Maybe Crabtree is in town and we can make it a party, bring that whole choir. Y’all I don’t think Jewel’s fake Jersey accent can top this. 

PS the spliced-in footage of Deep Ellum in the first driving scene was cracking me up. There is nowhere in Dallas that anybody who played in a Super Bowl AND a World Series would live, that would put Deep Ellum on the way to Cedar Hill. But hey, first reality show ever to film in Dallas without shoehorning in footage of Midland oil pumpjacks and the Fort Worth Stockyards so I’ll let that slide. 

You're not alone. I was bawling the minute he sat down with Desiree...and didn't stop until the end credits rolled. 

[TGinKY]

I was amused at how terribly concerned Deion Sanders (go Cowboys!!) and Gaby Douglas were that they might get recognized. Come ON! Only Jesus and the makeup crew knew it was you.

[Jlina]

Never checked this forum before but glad to see others have thought the prizes cheap! Are they handing out the shows money or their own?  Because I think Jewel - with the gosh awful makeup and horrible accent - was the cheapest "boss" very ever seen.  I doubt $20000 gets you a semester of grad school and $15000 to get started in the music industry?  Maybe record a CD and mail it yourself.  The introduction to the music manager was the most valuable prize and haha! If she thinks a YouTuber never gets out of her bedroom she's tech illiterate.  YouTube is viewed as much as tv these days. 

Felt like a has been on Dancing with the Stars spin off sadly.

[100Proof]

I only ever watched 2 shows from this series, one being Peavey because I'm a guitar player so it interested me. So likewise, I see Jewel being the 'undercover' person on whatever the hell new take on the shows theme is.  I thought Jewel was cool back when she was in the spotlight.  Wow, that 'open mic' scene was so phony even for it being a fake 'reality' show so I just forwarded to the reveal and made a mental note never, ever to watch again. lol

[Jlina]

Some of the actual real bosses are very moving, and appear pretty unscripted.  

[chenoa333]

On 6/9/2018 at 12:38 PM, Jlina said:

Some of the actual real bosses are very moving, and appear pretty unscripted.  

Yes, some bosses (very few anymore) seem genuine. I don't recall his name or the company he owned but he was a very large, tall man with IIRC a Jersey accent. He sobbed for real with each one of his employees who were gifted with money, paid vacations etc. Seemed like a very nice, grateful man.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

13 hours ago, chenoa333 said:

Yes, some bosses (very few anymore) seem genuine. I don't recall his name or the company he owned but he was a very large, tall man with IIRC a Jersey accent. He sobbed for real with each one of his employees who were gifted with money, paid vacations etc. Seemed like a very nice, grateful man.

Was that Modell’s Sporting Goods, maybe?

[chenoa333]

2 hours ago, JocelynCavanaugh said:

Was that Modell’s Sporting Goods, maybe?

Yes! Thanks for remembering. 

[Moose135]

I've been watching some of the old episodes they air on CNBC.  Just caught the Taco Bueno episode.  As usually, he gave a bunch of stuff to the employees that were included on the show - two of whom had in the neighborhood of $20K in outstanding medical bills, which he paid.  That led me to two thoughts.  First, if the cheap SOB provided health insurance for his employees, they wouldn't be struggling to deal with $20K in medical bills.  Second, if I work for that company and have large medical bills I'm struggling to pay, the day after this episode aired, I'd be calling the CEO's office to ask when I should be expecting a check to cover my medical bills.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Moose135

[zoey1996]

I've watched the first two episodes of this season.  First up was Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar, which I've never heard of.  Impressed with the shrimp boat experience, but overall didn't seem like I'd enjoy the restaurant.

Next one was Anytime Fitness.  Going to a gym, any gym, doesn't appeal to me.  However, the segment with the older folks class looked pretty good.  The guy in the middle segment was not someone I'd want to work with, and I think she did right by him.  

On another note, do you think any of the staff is fooled for a minute with the horrible "transformations?"  Some aren't too bad, but most I've seen over the years are dreadful.  I might not know who it is really, but I'd be side-eying, wondering who the heck that is.

[knitorpurl]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:08 PM, zoey1996 said:

On another note, do you think any of the staff is fooled for a minute with the horrible "transformations?"  Some aren't too bad, but most I've seen over the years are dreadful.  I might not know who it is really, but I'd be side-eying, wondering who the heck that is.

I agree most of the disguises are so fake looking that you can tell that it's a wig before they make it through the door.

I thought the Anytime Fitness boss had a good disguise though. That overly bleached hair and little bit bolder dressing style worked well in the gym setting. 

She handled the belligerent franchisee well. As he was ramping up his defensiveness and verbal nastiness she firmly turned it around with "Let's work on getting you out of the system."  I liked the other two positive employees but am glad the dog is out of there. I like animals but not in my gym, and too many hazards for the dog as well. And also glad that kid isn't practicing his therapeutic massage. Get certified before putting your hands on people before something goes really wrong.

Edited January 21, 2020 by knitorpurl
Spelling

[Brian Cronin]

I liked how the Anytime Fitness episode had a true POINT to it, as she was specifically looking into how franchises were adapting to their new rules. There's rarely any true rhyme or reason to the episodes (besides what often seems like "Put me with the employees that you know have a good sob story"), so that made that episode really stand out as a case where going undercover had a real purpose to it. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 5/19/2018 at 3:45 PM, zoey1996 said:

I've liked both episodes so far this season.  Both Gabby Douglas and Idina Menzel seemed very engaged during the process.  Their disguises were eons ahead of the regular Undercover Boss disguises!

On 1/19/2020 at 10:08 PM, zoey1996 said:

On another note, do you think any of the staff is fooled for a minute with the horrible "transformations?"  Some aren't too bad, but most I've seen over the years are dreadful.  I might not know who it is really, but I'd be side-eying, wondering who the heck that is.

I thought the Stephanie McMahon and Ashley Graham ones were also good because they didn't rely heavily on the prosthetic face make-up, like Gabby Douglas' did, which looked more fake.  I also thought Stephanie and Ashley's wigs were very reasonable for their personalities, unlike some that the regular Undercover Boss uses, especially for the men.

On 6/1/2018 at 11:51 PM, Bridget said:

I’m still not sure about something; is Deion Sanders well known and recognized a lot in Dallas?

On 6/4/2018 at 12:06 PM, TGinKY said:

I was amused at how terribly concerned Deion Sanders (go Cowboys!!) and Gaby Douglas were that they might get recognized. Come ON! Only Jesus and the makeup crew knew it was you.

Deion is one of the most recognizable figures in all of football, from his playing days and from his current commentating, and was instantly recognizable to me in his makeup, as he was to many of the homeless men in the episode.  

On 6/2/2018 at 2:28 PM, Bridget said:

You're not alone. I was bawling the minute he sat down with Desiree...and didn't stop until the end credits rolled. 

Me too!

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 1/23/2020 at 1:24 AM, Brian Cronin said:

I liked how the Anytime Fitness episode had a true POINT to it, as she was specifically looking into how franchises were adapting to their new rules.

YES!

 

And that USED to be the basis of the show.  Remember the very first episode, with Waste Management?  The CEO wanted to know how he could improve things from the ground up.  He knew the only way to get first hand information was to go undercover and see for himself exactly what was happening and how things could be improved.  It was a good concept.

Fast forward a couple of years and it's obvious that the CEO's are jumping on the show so they can get 43 minutes of free publicity for their companies.  

[zoey1996]

I watched last night's episode. I was interested because College H.U.N.K.S. was a company I'd actually used, a couple of times. I was very pleased with the service. A bit pricy, but worth it. It was a job I couldn't have done easily myself.

The back story of the company's founding was interesting. They were looking for problems to solve, and came up with a couple of good solutions. The one guy's "disguise" was dreadful, but the other one was decent. Sob stories weren't too syrupy. That one location's bonuses were incredible!

[Gharlane]

The Hooters ep of Undercover Boss:

I only watched this show a couple times because it was too formulaic.

[Gharlane]

The Twin Peaks ep of Undercover Boss (with a special guest appearance by the Hooters owner!): 

I found it amusing how the show implied that the Twin Peaks owner spontaneously enlisted the Hooters owner and improvised a disguise for him.