As Mayor Bill Peduto saw it, working with a chain saw wasn’t the most dangerous part of filming “Undercover Boss.” Nonetheless, he didn’t hesitate to sign on for the CBS reality series.
“There will be those who would be against me doing this in the first place, without watching the show, but it would be very difficult for them to justify that [opinion], after watching,” the mayor of Pittsburgh said.
“Undercover Boss” airs Sunday; because of football, it will start no earlier than 8:30 p.m.
The show’s premise is simple but often moving: Take the head of a large company or organization, disguise him — or her — to be sent off to work with the company’s average Joes.
In Mr. Peduto’s case, he was assigned to haul trash in Wilkinsburg, trim trees in Frick Park and help as a carpenter installing doors with the city housing authority.
Often, the incognito CEO gets an earful about what workers really think about who’s running of the company. But just as often there are moving stories of hard-working single parents or the middle-aged woman who had to put her education on hold who are more than just cogs in a wheel. At the end of each episode, a handful of employees learn the truth, with chastisement or rewards handed out.
Because the City of Pittsburgh isn’t quite a Fortune 500 company, the rewards in this case were not sponsored by taxpayers, but a fund set up through corporate donations.
“The issues I was learning were not about about the job but the people themselves,” Mr. Peduto said. “I would be able to help them in a way that would be life-changing. And I assure you, in at least two of the cases, we changed people’s lives.”
The mayor recommends viewers have Kleenex on hand.
This isn’t the first time “Undercover Boss” has approached a politician. In 2011, then-Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory appeared on the show. Mayor Peduto said it was his understanding that this time around, he was among four finalists from other cities.
There were ground rules, he added: “There would not be any use of city resources other than [my] being with the workers.
“And that I would still have to work every day. My job would always come first. Those were the considerations we placed on them.”
He said it was an exhausting week. The make-up crew began early in the morning, adding Jerry Garcia-style gray hair and whiskers, as well as a big pair of eyeglasses. After going to work — city workers were told the camera crew was shooting footage of “Mr. Chadwick” for a reality competition — and finishing other aspects of filming, Mr. Peduto would head to his office and work into the night.
The day he walked into Frick Park and saw two chain saws on the ground, the mayor, who is a fan of the show and knew where this was heading, figured he’d just do his best and try not to get hurt.
“I know the show and I know they play up the times when the boss has backed the car into a telephone pole or messed up the cash register. And I know that’s going to be hard [to watch].”
“Where they show me messing up is actually, politically OK. Because people want to know politicians are human beings.”
But the city will look good, he said, brightening. CBS originally wanted to film here in November, but Mr. Peduto requested an earlier month, when leaves were still on the trees: “I think it’s going to come off that Pittsburgh looks beautiful. I [realized I] wouldn’t be just your regular ‘Undercover Boss,’ but it would help to promote Pittsburgh.”
Nearly a year after taking office, the very public figure said the program will show a more private side of him.
“I open up in this the way I’ve never opened up in politics before.”
In other reality TV news:
• Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” has announced the five audition sites, beginning Jan. 24 in New York City. Other cities are Dallas (Feb. 14), Detroit (Feb. 22), Memphis (March 8) and Los Angeles (March 15). For details, go to www.fox.com/dance.
• A trademark of Fox’s “American Idol’ has been a tableful of drinks for the judges: big red glasses bearing the signature white Coca-Cola script.
But no joke, no more Coke. After 13 seasons, the soft drink company has withdrawn its sponsorship of what was, for more than a decade, the most watched show on television.
Maria Sciullo: msciullo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1478 or @MariaSciulloPG.
First Published: December 20, 2014, 5:00 a.m.
