It was as if Christmas came early for a handful of City of Pittsburgh employees.
Fans of the CBS reality program, “Undercover Boss,” know that the best part is the big reveal at the end. That’s when everyday workers get to meet the real CEO or corporate head who’s been masquerading as one of them. Sunday night, the undercover boss happened to be Mayor Bill Peduto, who didn’t fool everyone but still made them smile and/or cry.
"My hope all along was to highlight what makes Pittsburgh and its workers special, and the show did that in ways I never could have dreamed," the mayor said after the show aired. "For those who didn't already know, 'Undercover Boss' showed the world the greatness we see and live in our city every day."
Before the big finish, however, there was a high-def tribute to the beauty of Pittsburgh, with glamour shots of rivers, bridges and parks. It also featured a rare glimpse of the mayor’s residence, and His Honor having morning coffee while dressed in a dark bathrobe.
“Undercover Boss” make-up artists buried the familiar visage of Mr. Peduto behind a wig of long, gray hair, wire-rimmed glasses and flowing beard. It was, as local comedian Davon Magwood tweeted, “Duck Dynasty chic.”
Passing himself off as “Ed Chadwick,” a good ole boy from Kentucky, Mr. Peduto was filmed collecting garbage near Wilkinsburg, helping an agent in the Housing Authority, wielding a chain saw in Frick Park -- where it didn’t take long for his colleague to call him out on the disguise -- and working as a carpenter.
Thanks to contributions from local corporate sponsors, monies were available for, among other causes, scholarships, paying off a mortgage and the down payment on a home. One woman from the Housing Authority was given a promotion and $20,000 raise. The biggest thank you came from Lawrence Smith, a carpenter with the city’s Housing Authority.
Mr. Smith, who patiently tried to walk the mayor through the process of building a door, appeared to be a one-man fix-it crew for the 400-unit Bedford Dwellings in the Hill District.
“This is not Ed’s normal environment,” he told a camera crew, on hand ostensibly to film Mr. Peduto, aka Ed Chadwick, for a fake reality competition.
Mr. Smith told Ed his dream was to give up fixing houses and begin fixing people, as a minister. Having gone through drug rehabilitation more than a dozen times before getting clean for good, he said, he and his wife have tried to give back by fostering children.
“Without people like Lawrence, no city could operate,” Mr. Peduto said on the show. He then announced that the city would establish a workforce development program and that Mr. Smith would be heading the new unit.
That wasn’t all: his “friends” were going to give him $5,000 for his family, and invest $20,000 toward establishing a new church. With that, Mr. Smith leaped to his feet and yelled “Hallelujeah! Thank you, Jesus!”
Embracing, he and Mr. Peduto both cried.
It made for good TV, and an even better showcase for the city. As someone known as “The Duchess” tweeted at the end, “I’m crying my eyes out. Nice job, yinz.”
First Published: December 22, 2014, 5:37 a.m.