Berman
Darnell
Fox is adding a big fat obnoxious reality skein to Sunday night.
After months of secret production, Fox next month will unleash "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss," an "Apprentice"-like sequel to last winter's hit unscripted laffer "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance."
Fox Entertainment prexy Gail Berman and Fox reality exec VP Mike Darnell confirmed the project Tuesday; promos touting the skein will begin airing tonight and throughout Fox's coverage of the baseball playoffs.
In the skein, a dozen CEO wannabes compete to win the approval of N. Paul Todd, the eccentric, egomaniacal founder and CEO of fictional Chicago company Iocor. Thesp William August plays Todd.
Rocket Science Laboratories, the company behind "Fiance" and "Joe Millionaire," produced "Boss" in secrecy over the summer. Ten episodes of the skein have been shot, with Rocket Science's Chris Cowan and Jean-Michael Michenaud exec producing.
Fox will premiere "Boss" at 9 p.m. Nov. 7 as part of the net's Sunday comedy block. It replaces the previously announced legal reality skein "The Partner," now set to air early next year.
"We had a lot of fun with 'Fiance,' and this seemed like the next logical take on what's going on in reality right now," Berman told
Daily Variety.
While Fox and Rocket Science execs said "Boss" is mostly a spoof of the quirks of corporate America, several elements of the skein play on aspects of NBC's Donald Trump starrer "The Apprentice."
Teams of contestants compete to perform various tasks each week, with the losing team sending two players to a fake boardroom.
But rather than selling lemonade or hyping Crest Vanilla Mint toothpaste, challenges will be more bizarre. In the first episode, for example, players are forced to beg for money on the street; in another, they become paintball targets as Mr. Todd tries to gun them down.
And instead of telling losing players "You're fired," Mr. Todd demands they "get the hell out of my office."
While the setup for the show is a hoax, the winning contestant will get a $250,000 prize but won't actually have to work for the Donald.
Actors also were hired to play fake associates of Mr. Todd.
"There's an extraordinarily bitchy female VP ... and a Smithers-like VP of questionable sexual orientation," said Fox exec VP of reality Mike Darnell, referring to Waylon Smithers, a character on "The Simpsons." "And our boss is hysterical, to the point that he reminded me of certain people I've worked with in the past."
Other characters include an overly pampered wife, a Paris Hilton-like daughter and a son.
Cowan said "Boss" spoofs corporate America more than it does other reality shows.
"We took the business philosophies of corporate America and took them to absurd lengths," he said. And while many of the tasks the contestants have to perform may seem ridiculous, Cowan said all the players bought the ruse.
"We showed them a world so opulent and believable, they wouldn't question it," he said. Producers even gave finalists a business test to determine how much they knew about certain kinds of corporations.
"We found out how much they knew, and then we steered the show away from that," Cowan said. "We always wanted to be able to trump them."
ICM-packaged "Boss" will face off against ABC's nascent hit "Desperate Housewives," but Fox execs believe the net's strong comedy presence on the night with "The Simpsons" and "Arrested Development" make "Boss" a good fit for Sundays.
"We think we could be alternative programming to what's a hit elsewhere," Berman said.
Fox has traditionally used January to launch its high-concept reality skeins, including "Joe Millionaire" in 2003 and the original "Fiance" last year. Berman said the November launch of "Boss" will give the net a show that can be logically hyped during the World Series while also allowing the net to focus on its returning skeins and one new scripted show ("House").
"Boss" is not the first "Apprentice" spoof: MTV's "The Assistant" also tweaked the Donald. Cabler's skein, however, focused on a real celeb and was a spoof of Hollywood celebdom.
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