Undercover Boss

Network: CBS
Episodes: Ongoing (hour)
Seasons: Ongoing

TV show dates: February 7, 2010 — present
Series status: Has not been cancelled

Performers include: Mark Keller (announcer)

TV show description:      
This TV show is based on a UK series of the same name. This version focuses on executives at major US corporations going undercover in their own companies to discover what really goes on. They find employees that need to be recognized for their great work, that were falling in between the cracks, as well as difficulties in the structure of the companies that need to be adjusted.

The executives, usually a CEO and/or president of the company, creates alter egos with fake names and change their appearance enough so that they won’t recognized. In these large companies, most workers have never met the big bosses anyway. They then brief those that are immediately under them about where they will be and what they’ll be doing. Often there is an area in particular the executives want to focus on.

While undercover, the executives visit different areas of their company in various entry level positions. Usually franchises and outlets of the companies in different states are visited to decrease the likelihood that they will be recognized. They tell those they meet on the job that they are being followed by a camera crew as part of a documentary of some type.

When they’re finished, the executives return to their top level jobs and brief others about their findings. They then call the people they worked with undercover into their offices to tell them the truth of who they are and commend (or reprimand, if the case may be) the employees on what they saw and experienced.