Undercover Boss

The nation got to see Richard McClure, president of UniGroup and CEO of United Van Lines, go undercover on the hit CBS show Undercover Boss. We went on-the-record with him now that he has had time to reflect on his national TV experience, and you may be surprised by his inspiring takeaways.

The TV program "Undercover Boss" shows there's not much difference between top management and employees. But a look at CEO vs. employee salaries tells a different story.

Don Fertman wins the award for being the Undercover Boss with the most colorful background yet. The one-time rock musician hooked up with Subway nearly 30 years ago, when the sandwich chain needed some help writing a jingle and rose to director of development.

Don Fertman, director of development at the Subway sandwich chain, tries his hand at making sandwiches, baking bread and many of the other jobs that keep a Subway franchise humming -- all under the supervision of a stern and much younger trainer who takes her job very seriously.

Steven Foster, CEO of upscale bowling chain Lucky Strike Entertainment, was hands down the most easy-going Undercover Boss yet. The hit CBS reality show is still as phony as the toupee he had to wear, but at least the episode was fun.

On Sunday, Lucky Strike Lanes CEO Steven Foster will get a chance to show America how he rolls. The latest guest on CBS' hit show Undercover Boss, Foster will try his hand at the day-to-day tasks of running the bowling alley chain he created.

When I heard that Undercover Boss was going to feature Todd Ricketts, one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs, I assumed the show would follow its familiar pattern of featuring unbelievably cheerful workers overcoming horrendous challenges while protecting the company from their bosses' attempts to do their jobs. Happily, there was more to the show this time around.

One pervasive theme of CBS's Undercover Boss is that, under the surface, there isn't that much difference between executives and drones. This Sunday, however, promises an interesting confrontation as an American aristocrat meets the workers who keep his family business -- the Chicago Cubs -- afloat.

In Sunday's episode of the popular CBS show Undercover Boss, Chiquita CEO Fernando Aguirre picks lettuce with migrant workers on an American farm. It's hard work, but the show overlooks of Chiquita's scandal-tainted Latin American plantations.

The most recent episode of Undercover Boss featured the chief marketing officer of NASCAR, Steve Phelps. While the show stuck to the tried and true for the series, with the usual run of struggles and triumphs, it's worth wondering what the company got out of the deal.