Undercover Boss Gets Best News Ever

For television networks, getting the rights to air the Super Bowl is like winning the lottery, getting into Harvard, and bringing home a new kitten all in the same day. Not only does it guarantee some obscene amount of viewers will watch the game itself, but it also locks in a massive number of eyeballs for whatever program follows the broadcast, thanks to fans who are too lazy or too drunk or too upset that Peyton Manning just ran 99 yards to beat their team (go Colts!) to change the channel.

Hence, the post-Super Bowl slot is one of the most coveted blocks of programming real estate each and every year.

And this year, CBS is filling it with new reality show Undercover Boss.

If we were in a nightclub filled with TV critics and industry analysts, the DJ's turntable would have just screeched to a halt. Undercover Boss follows corporate executives as they go incognito amongst their employed peasants, pretending to be working-class Joes so they can see how the other half lives. That is, if every working-class Joe had a team of cameras following him around. The premiere episode will feature Waste Management President Larry O'Donnell as he helps take out the trash and performs other normal-person activities.

Typically, the plush time slot after the big game is filled with a special episode of an established hit and not some unproven social experiment. Last year, NBC went with a special edition of The Office, and before that Fox aired The Simpsons. In 2001 and 2004, CBS aired special editions of Survivor, and in 2007, the last time CBS aired the game, it went with Criminal Minds.

CBS' decision is shocking to many because it bucks recent trends, but put yourself in the network's position: CBS gets more eyeballs than it knows what to do with, and The Big Bang Theory and NCIS are already pretty much maxed out in terms of audience. Why not give a new show a major boost?

In theory, I think the decision is a good one. It's the execution I have a problem with. CBS lost a primo opportunity because it doesn't have any macho show to pimp after the Super Bowl, and as a result has to go with Undercover Boss? If I was a rival network, I'd see this as a major opportunity to swipe some audience.