Undercover Boss Australia
Encyclopedia
Undercover Boss Australia is a localised version and third incarnation of the Undercover Boss franchise, the first series premiered on Network Ten
on 18 October 2010 with the CEO of Domino's Pizza Australia
, Don Meij. Each episode depicts a high-ranking executive or business owner pretending to be entry-level employee to discover the problems in their company.
On November 15, 2010, Network Ten
renewed the show for a second series. The second series began airing on 12 September 2011.
At the end of their week undercover, the boss returns to their true identity and requests the employees they worked with individually to corporate headquarters. The boss reveals their identity and rewards hard-working employees through campaign, promotion or financial rewards. Other employees are given training or better working conditions.
, Don Meij. The episodes that followed included the CEO of Boost Juice
, Janine Allis, and Peter Murray, National Director of Operations of Veolia Environmental Services
. A second series is set to begin airing on 12 September 2011.
. He also explained the Australian version will be based on the American version, not the British version "We saw the UK version, but thought it needed to be upscaled a little bit,"....."That's what the American version was."
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
on 18 October 2010 with the CEO of Domino's Pizza Australia
Domino's Pizza Enterprises
Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza chain in Australia, and second largest in New Zealand. Domino's runs a number of stores across Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. Approximately 70% of Domino's Australian stores are franchised, whilst the remaining are owned and run by...
, Don Meij. Each episode depicts a high-ranking executive or business owner pretending to be entry-level employee to discover the problems in their company.
On November 15, 2010, Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
renewed the show for a second series. The second series began airing on 12 September 2011.
Format
Each episode features a high-positioned executive or the owner of a corporation going undercover as an entry-level employee in their own company. The executive changes their appearance and assumes an alias and fictional back-story. The fictitious explanation for the accompanying camera crew is that the executive is being filmed as part of a documentary about entry-level workers in a particular industry. They spend approximately one week undercover, working in various areas of the company's operations, with a different job and in most cases a different location each day. The boss is exposed to a series of predicaments with amusing results. They invariably spend time getting to know the people who work in the company, learning about their professional and personal challenges.At the end of their week undercover, the boss returns to their true identity and requests the employees they worked with individually to corporate headquarters. The boss reveals their identity and rewards hard-working employees through campaign, promotion or financial rewards. Other employees are given training or better working conditions.
Episodes
The first series premiered on Network Ten on 18 October 2010 with the CEO of Domino's Pizza AustraliaDomino's Pizza Enterprises
Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza chain in Australia, and second largest in New Zealand. Domino's runs a number of stores across Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. Approximately 70% of Domino's Australian stores are franchised, whilst the remaining are owned and run by...
, Don Meij. The episodes that followed included the CEO of Boost Juice
Boost Juice
Boost Juice Bars is an international chain of retail outlets that specialize in selling fruit juice. Boost Juice Bars was formed in 2000 with the first store located in Adelaide, South Australia...
, Janine Allis, and Peter Murray, National Director of Operations of Veolia Environmental Services
Veolia Environmental Services
Veolia Environmental Services is a division of Veolia Environnement. It employs nearly 78,000 staff, has operations in 35 countries around the world, and generated revenues of nearly €9.02 billion in 2009....
. A second series is set to begin airing on 12 September 2011.
Production
Network Ten planned an Australian version for airing in 2009, however the production never took off and instead, was delayed one year. Ten's Chief Programming Officer, David Mott stated "We’ve defined a few iconic Australian companies. It's a great series. It's a real eye opener. It's a little ripper.", hoping the series will become a ratings success to similar to that of Masterchef AustraliaMasterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
. He also explained the Australian version will be based on the American version, not the British version "We saw the UK version, but thought it needed to be upscaled a little bit,"....."That's what the American version was."