In the 9 p.m. hour, CBS’ “Undercover Boss” (and a bit of “The Amazing Race” for much of the country) did an 8.3/13 and a 4.0 demo rating. The first hour of ABC’s two-hour “Brothers & Sisters” had a 5.8/9 for second. NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” finished third, beating the 3.5/6 for FOX’s “Family Guy” and “American Dad,” which were second for the hour in the demo with a 2.9 rating.

Source: HitFix

When we arrived at the show’s standard doling-out-the-rewards final segments, Undercover Boss seemed to address some of the criticisms that have aimed at the series. Instead of just giving Nciole, the employee lucky enough to come into contact with the (co-)boss, a raise, Chris announced an “incentive system” to be implemented for people throughout the company who exceed their goals.

Read the full recap on EW.

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What is it that you feel was left out on the Undercover Boss GSI Commerce episode concerning your side of the story?

One, Mr. Rubin spent all of 10 minutes with me and never asked me about my personal life at all, or my background. Two, the call was almost 10 minutes long, and the woman had done some yelling and crying, as well. Three, Mr. Rubin had no control of the call and kept saying “umm,” which was unprofessional and did not sound confident. Four, at GSI, there is a chat software, and the managers were listening to the call, they could have IMd me and advised that there was something I could do for her. I only had a couple weeks of training on the job. In addition, in the reveal part of the show, he had mentioned to me that my managers had said how great I was, but it was cut out for television.

Were you ever told why you spent so little time with Michael Rubin at the call center? Were they looking to cast someone as “a villain” and your call with the woman was timed just right?

I believe my time with Mr. Rubin was cut short because he was not happy with how I handled the call. The call was not a set-up, it just happened, and there was no scripting.

What happened to you after you had your meeting with the CEO of GSI Commerce regarding the re-training you were supposed to get?

He had told me he was going to implement a retraining program, and in January I demoted myself. By the beginning of the 2nd week of March I was no longer with the company due to some “unwritten” policy (not in the company handbook that I could find) and procedure mess, not related to the show, so I never experienced the so-called retraining in the three months following the show.

You appeared happy at the employee rally with Michael Rubin. Is that because the GSI Commerce CEO told you that you’d did a good job off camera and even on camera, which you say was cut out?

As far as why I looked happy, because I was, due to not being canned. Mr. Rubin had said that the reason I was not canned was because my managers said what a good job I had done.

Episode Synopsis: UNDERCOVER BOSS “GSI Commerce” Episode 6 (Michael G. Rubin – CEO) – Michael Rubin, CEO of the billion dollar e-commerce giant GSI, which provides customer service and product shipments for online orders to numerous top U.S. retailers, goes undercover in his own company where he discovers that rushing through a task can result in injury to others, and that his packing and shipping skills are not up to company standards, on UNDERCOVER BOSS, Sunday, March 21 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

CBS was bolstered by its unscripted programming. “Undercover Boss” was Sunday’s most-watched program and 11th for the week, averaging 13.51 million viewers, while “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,” was 14th averaging 12.12 million viewers and “The Amazing Race” was 21st, with 10.10 million viewers.
Source:
O.C. register

The episode will be broadcast on CBS at 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Source: Pepperjam Network

Read the full story on Gather.

CBS has ordered a second cycle of the hit reality series, UNDERCOVER BOSS, for the 2010/11 broadcast season.

UNDERCOVER BOSS, which follows high-level chief executives as they slip anonymously into the rank and file of their companies, is the number one new series of the 2009-2010 season, averaging 18.74 million viewers, 8.0/17 in adults 25-54 and 7.1/17 in adults 18-49.

The series premiered following the Super Bowl to 38.7 million viewers, the largest audience for a new series following the Super Bowl. It also ranks as the biggest new series premiere since 1987 and the most-watched premiere episode of any reality series.

“We are thrilled with the overwhelming response to the series and how audiences seem to connect to it on several levels,” said Jennifer Bresnan, Senior Vice President, CBS Alternative Programming. “The wish fulfillment of seeing the top boss perform jobs of the rank and file is universal, and the employees’ stories discovered at each company are often relatable and inspirational.”

Each week, UNDERCOVER BOSS follows a different executive as they leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their companies. While working alongside their employees, they see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organizations and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their companies run.

Stephen Lambert and Eli Holzman are executive producers for Studio Lambert, Ltd.

Source: CBS

A lot of people who work in or write about the television industry were, to put it mildly, surprised when CBS scheduled the premiere of “Undercover Boss” after the Super Bowl.
Well, it turns out that the folks at CBS knew what they were doing. “Undercover Boss” is the surprise hit of the season.

On Sunday, the fourth episode was the second-most-watched show of the night, trailing only the final night of the Winter Olympics. And the second half-hour of “Boss” actually beat the Olympics among the all-important 18-49 demographic.

The biggest question at this point is: How will the producers be able to keep this going? Now that “Undercover Boss” is a hit, how will they be able to keep up the pretense?

Now that tens of millions of people have seen the show, you’d think it would be far more difficult for the boss to show up, trailed by a camera crew, and not be instantly identifiable.

“That will be something that we have to address,” said executive producer Stephen Lambert. “We’ve got a number of ideas how we’re going to deal with that, which aren’t necessarily ideas that I think are good for me to articulate now.”

Read the full story on Desert News.