Best TV Show of the Week

Undercover Boss on CBS

By Ally Matteodo

Undercover Boss on CBS earns the distinction of Best of the Week.  The April 10th episode aired at 9:00 ET/PT and tracked David Kim, CEO of Baja Fresh, the nation’s leading fast, casual, Mexican dining chain.  Each week, Undercover Boss focuses on a different executive from successful, nationwide companies as they create aliases and research the inner workings of their businesses in order to root out underlying problems, gain employees' perspectives, and observe how their policies impact the overarching work place.  David Kim goes undercover as Ken, a contestant in a reality competition where two people are competing for an open position at the company.  First, Kim visits a Las Vegas, NV Baja Fresh location to observe and work with the General Manager, Jose.  Following his stint in Vegas, Kim next travels to Cypress, CA to work as a cashier with Anthony during the lunchtime rush.  Job three leads Kim to Mesa, AZ to labor as a burrito chef under the direction of store manager Rami.  His final escapade undercover takes him to Boise, ID where he takes instruction under Carrie, an operations manager. 

Kim learns several things during his time undercover.  Many of his employees wear many different hats, and are at times overtaxed with their duties.  The Mesa, AZ  Baja Fresh location suffered some difficulties, but had successfully rebounded, one of the reasons Kim chose to observe this location.  It quickly becomes clear that Rami’s glowing personality and excellent customer service skills are responsible for the store’s turnaround, yet he requires some more help.  During his time in Mesa, Rami mentions the necessity for the cold table to always be below forty degrees—when this fails to happen, Kim makes a private call to Bill, an operators manager who then sends out a refrigeration tech.  Kim takes pride in the Baja Fresh ingredients and wants them well-preserved and delicious.  To recognize the fabulous workers of Baja Fresh, Kim gives Carrie $7,500 for her daughter's education and an all-expense paid traveling opportunity to further advise and direct Baja Fresh nationwide initiatives; Rami is given $5,000 dollars for his schooling and an all-expense paid golfing trip for him and his Dad; Anthony is given $15,000 for a fund to help move his mother, brothers, and sisters closer to him; and Jose is offered a Baja Fresh franchise, worth $50,000, making him the youngest franchisee in the Baja Fresh family. 

The episode also focused extensively on Kim's faith, and showed him praying alone, with his children, and even with one of his employees.  This positive treatment of faith on television was as refreshing as it is rare.

This program not only showcases the dedication and hard-work of employees to the boss, it showcases them to us viewers at home as well.  These workers toil long hours in sometimes mundane occupations, and it’s remarkable how efficient and cheerful they remain.  You empathize with them as well; they have dreams of their own, and money seems to always be stretched to the max.  In the end, their superiors take notice of their efforts and reward them, which is justified recompense for their services.  In the end, you hope that this program inspires bosses all over the country to take a page out of Undercover Bosses book and deeply observe their employees, in hopes they will find a greater appreciation for the men and women who work so hard for them.        

Best TV Show of the Week

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org