Where’s the Boss?
Has TEN forgotten it promised us Undercover Boss and Australia's Hidden Genius this year?
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Earlier this week TEN issued a Press Release to media spruiking its upcoming shows, to allay concerns that its boom was not over with the end of MasterChef Australia.
It spun lots of enthusiasm for The Spearman Experiment, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Australian Idol, Rove, NCIS: LA, Glee and Celebrity MasterChef.
But it neglected to clarify the future for two Australian shows it announced at the end of 2008: Undercover Boss and Australia’s Hidden Genius.
Both had formed part of TEN’s 2009 slate when pitched to media at the end of last year. As a reminder here’s the descriptions of the shows:
Undercover Boss: Every boss thinks they know what’s going on, but do they? Undercover Boss challenges a boss to go on a voyage of discovery into their own company with the aim of discovering what’s not working in the business. Normally surrounded by spreadsheets and immersed in high level board meetings, bosses across the country will find themselves cleaning toilets, working as a waiter, dealing with irate customers, unblocking drains and doing late shifts in the kitchen. But whilst they’re rooting out problems, they’re also looking to find and reward hidden talent and celebrate the unsung hero among their employees.
Australia’s Hidden Genius: Across Australia there are untapped geniuses flipping burgers, stacking shelves or sitting at home on their PS3s – and we’re going to unearth them in a nationwide, Cinderella-style search. We’ll open the doors for them to potentially transform their lives forever but at the end of this emotional journey will they decide to start a whole new life – or will they choose to return to their old one?
It looks increasingly likely that these shows are suddenly off the radar. There was once some talk that TEN was miffed Nine went and bought Secret Millionaire -a similar concept of somebody significant having their true identity undisclosed. A local version will air later this year.
Also absent from the list was US drama Californication, and House (which has already aired new eps in 2009). Then again, the only Law and Order it flagged this week was Law & Order: UK so maybe not all is lost.
7 Responses
Yes I heard Undercover Boss was yet another victim of the GFC. Ten are repeating Californication twice a week now, maybe leading up to replacing Dexter or Nurse Jackie when they finish?
i guess Ten struck gold with Masterchef and TBYG so figured they didn’t need these 🙂
I’m sure desperate Channel 9 would like to take them on but they’ll just tweak the names slightly to UnderCOVERboss or australia’s HIDDEN geniUS
Neither of them sound like winners to me so I’m not surprised if they’ve been dropped.
I heard undercover boss is not going ahead to to the economic crisis.
Can you say “Summer”?
Have they not aired because they sound terrible?? Just putting it out there
At many stages during development it may decided for any number of reasons we are not privy to that a show may no longer go forward. This is pretty normal at networks at prod studios.
We all know trends and tastes can change very quickly in the TV biz. Much better to be reactionary than move forward with shows that might not work for a number of reasons.
Could have been budget. Could have been talent. Could have been format rights. Could have been tested and not done well. Could have been the pilot was not great. Or Ten simply got cold feet with the idea. Networks schedules and development slates change on a weekly basis. I’m not sure putting out press releases on cancelled shows that were announced but never made it past development stage is really beneficial to anyone.