Secret Agent . . . Boss?

Everyone has things they would like to say to his or her boss, but never get the chance or the guts to do so. CBS has apparently solved this dilemma with their new reality show, Undercover Boss, in which CEOs get sent into the heart of their own companies to experience what it’s like at the other end of the business food chain.

One of the CEOs to participate in this prince to pauper show is Larry O’Donnell, the president of Waste Management Inc. Posing as a construction worker with a camera crew filming a documentary, Larry goes out with his employees to experience what it’s like going through garbage and doing odd jobs in a landfill. At the end of the show, Larry reveals who he is to the workers and makes changes to help them and other employees out.

Despite the intention of bringing down the barrier between boss and workers, many question the show’s realism for many reasons. The first being that all the supposed “average” people the CEO is dealing with are working-class heroes in some fashion, the type you would expect to see in the movies. There’s also the question of whether they really are that pleasant on the job or if it’s the pressure of the cameras. The show will air after the Super Bowl.