My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss is a television show on the Fox Network that was filmed in July 2004 and aired from November-December 2004. Similar to My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, it was a parody of shows such as The Apprentice. The contestants performed several tasks that they were told would help them win a job at the Chicago-based conglomerate IOCOR and a $250,000 prize. However, the contestants did not know that the company - and the position - were fake.
The show was usually punctuated by the actions of the "boss" 'Mr. N. Paul Todd' (an anagram of 'Donald Trump'). The contestants learn about his multi-billion-dollar venture capital firm IOCOR, and in any episode, he or a member of his 'family' could usually be found doing something to unsettle the contestants or to test the limit of their blindness to truth.
Fox advertised the show, along with another Apprentice-inspired show called The Rebel Billionaire, during the 2004 Major League Baseball playoffs. The show received low ratings in the United States and was cancelled after five episodes. Fox released the remaining 5 episodes online in late March 2005. All 10 episodes were broadcast in full in the UK on Channel 4 (and on Channel 4's sister station E4), in Australia on Channel 7 and later Fox8, in Singapore on Channel 5, in Poland on TV4 and Polsat, in Malaysia on 8TV and in Denmark on SBS Net. In 2008, the entire series - including the five unaired episodes in the USA - aired on Fox Reality Channel.
Rules
The rules of the game were similar to The Apprentice. The contestants were split into teams, with a team boss immune from elimination. The teams would then compete in a challenge to determine which would be eliminated. Some of the tasks endured by the contestants included selling hot soup on a hot day, creating and selling art they made out of scraps, and selling other ridiculous products. The members of the losing team met Mr. Todd in the boardroom on the next day, where he derided their performance. The team boss nominated two teammates for elimination"because Mr. Todd explained in real life the boss is never held responsible. The player not eliminated became the team boss, and the winning team named a new team boss.
The audience would then see N. Paul Todd referring to 'the real boss' for the decision on who was to go. The real boss was not seen or heard until the final episode, and was kept a complete secret from the contestants. The official website suggested that the real boss could be Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump or Oprah Winfrey, although David Hickman did refer to the boss as a 'him'. The real boss gave no reason for the decision, so Todd was given free rein to make it up as he went along.
In the final episode, the real boss is revealed to be Mowgli, a monkey who made his decisions by spinning a wheel with the names of the contestants.
N. Paul Todd
N. Paul Todd was played by actor William August, a graduate of Harvard University and an experienced California attorney.
August described Todd as a man who "probably has a number of sexual harassment lawsuits pending."
Todd's catchphrase for elimination was "Get the hell out of my office." Another of his catchphrases was "Welcome to my world."
A variety of assistants helped Mr. Todd with his contests. His alleged Vice President Jamie Samuels is sent to hate the women, while the COO David Hickman is "a little too excited about these fresh-faced young men." Mr. Todd also relies on his wife Lynn and his son Kent to help judge the competition when a member of the executive team is not available.
Cast
Role
Real name
"Position"
N. Paul Todd
William August
The Obnoxious Boss
Jamie Samuels
Jamie Denbo
Executive Vice President, IOCOR
David Hickman
David Jahn
Chief Operations Officer (COO), IOCOR
Lynn Todd
Tamara Clatterbuck
Wife of N. Paul Todd
Kent Todd
Kent Sublette
Son of N. Paul Todd
Danielle Todd
Danielle Schneider
Daughter of N. Paul Todd
Shannon
Shannon Hall
Executive Assistant to N. Paul Todd
Jason
Jason Kollar
Bodyguard to N. Paul Todd
Michael Delaney
Michael Keenan
IOCOR Board Member
John Benjamin
John Gilbert
IOCOR Board Member
Reality Casting by Isabel Reyes
Contestants
Team 1
Team 2
Femron
Concad
Candidate
Age
Hometown
Result
Annette Dziamba - Sales
24
Whippany, New Jersey
Winner of $350,000
Michael Gregorio - Liquor Sales
34
Reading, Massachusetts
Runner-up; winner of $200,000
Kerry McCloskey - Marketing Director
29
Jersey City, New Jersey
Eliminated in episode 10
Damien Scott - Entrepreneur
29
Chicago, Illinois
Eliminated in episode 9
David Harper - Financial Advisor
25
Atlanta, Georgia
Eliminated in episode 8
Douglas Dennard - Investment Banker
24
Greenville, North Carolina
Eliminated in episode 7
Whitney LaBelle - Sales Director
26
Atlanta, Georgia
Eliminated in episode 6
Robert Hospidor - Mortgage Broker
28
Middlesex, New Jersey
Eliminated in episode 5
Tonia Jacobs - Construction
35
San Marcos, Texas
Eliminated in episode 4
Elli Frank - Entertainment Marketing Company Owner
26
Jacksonville, Florida
Eliminated in episode 3
Christy Hollie - Sales
30
Austin, Texas
Eliminated in episode 2
Daniel Richardson - Financial Manager
29
Lewisville, Texas
Eliminated in episode 1
Teams
The contestants were initially split into a male and female team. Each team was responsible for naming their opponent. The men named the female team Femron, a portmanteau of female and Enron. The women named the male team Concad, a portmanteau of con and cad.
The teams were re-organized in episode 4. At the beginning of episode 8, the remaining five players were combined into a united team for an elimination, where Damien was named team boss. Afterwards, the four players left over were split into two teams for the episode's challenge. Following that challenge, the three finalists were on their own.
Candidate
Episode 1 team
Episode 4 team
Episode 8 team
Result
Team Boss (Win/Loss)
Annette Dziamba
Femron
Femron
Femron
Winner
1-2 (win in task 5, loss in tasks 2 & 7)
Michael Gregorio
Concad
Femron
Concad
Runner-up
0-1 (loss in task 1)
Kerry McCloskey
Femron
Concad
Femron
Eliminated in episode 10
0-2 (loss in tasks 3 & 5)
Damien Scott
Concad
Concad
Concad
Eliminated in episode 9
2-0 (win in tasks 3 & 7)
David Harper
Concad
Concad
Eliminated in episode 8
1-1 (win in task 6, loss in task 4)
Douglas Dennard
Concad
Femron
Eliminated in episode 7
0-1 (loss in task 6)
Whitney LaBelle
Femron
Femron
Eliminated in episode 6
1-0 (win in task 4)
Robert Hospidor
Concad
Concad
Eliminated in episode 5
1-0 (win in task 2)
Tonia Jacobs
Femron
Concad
Eliminated in episode 4
1-0 (win in task 1)
Elli Frank
Femron
Eliminated in episode 3
Christy Hollie
Femron
Eliminated in episode 2
Daniel Richardson
Concad
Eliminated in episode 1
Elimination chart
Candidate
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Annette
IN
LOSE
IN
IN
WIN
BR
LOSE
IN
WIN
IN
WIN
Michael
LOSE
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
BR
IN
BR
WIN
FIRED
Kerry
IN
BR
LOSE
BR
LOSE
IN
IN
IN
WIN
FIRED
Damien
IN
IN
WIN
IN
IN
IN
WIN
WIN
FIRED
David
IN
IN
IN
LOSE
BR
WIN
IN
FIRED
Douglas
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
LOSE
FIRED
Whitney
IN
IN
BR
WIN
IN
FIRED
Robert
BR
WIN
IN
IN
FIRED
Tonia
WIN
IN
IN
FIRED
Elli
IN
IN
FIRED
Christy
IN
FIRED
Danial
FIRED
{{colorbox}} The contestant won the competition.
{{colorbox}} The contestant won as team boss on his/her team.
{{colorbox}} The contestant lost as team boss on his/her team.
{{colorbox}} The contestant was brought to the final boardroom.
{{colorbox}} The contestant was fired.
{{colorbox}} The contestant won a task granting him/her immunity.
Episodes
Episode 1: How Low Can You Go?
Air date: November 7, 2004
Days: Days 1-3 of the competition.
Summary: Mr. Todd introduces himself, his company, and the game to the contestants over hors d'oeuvres made from cheap ingredients. He splits the contestants into men's and women's teams and assigns the teams to come up with the opposing team's names.
Task: Given some garbage and no money, raise the most amount of money by begging.
Concad (men's team) boss: Mike
Femron (women's team) boss: Tonia
Winning team: Femron, $334.10
Reasons for win: The women of Femron pretend they are raising money for a cheerleading camp. By comparison, Concad raises money for the "Help Chicago" charity which would pass money on to Chicago-area charities.
Reward: Sleep on mattresses that were stuffed with $10,000 each.
Losing team: Concad, $312.46
Penalty: Sleep in a vacant lot under the L in the worst area of Chicago.
Eliminated: Dan. The explanation was that Dan wore a more expensive suit than Mr. Todd. Robert survived elimination.
Episode 2: The Sword and the Soup
Airdate: November 14, 2004
Days: Days 3-6 of the competition.
Summary: Mr. Todd invites six of the contestants to tour his mansion and meet his wife. The mansion features Todd's most prized possessions, including two vases belonging to Napoleon, a 1929 Steinway piano, chandeliers identical to those in the West Wing, the Excalibur sword, and his first million dollars.
Task: Sell hot soup in Chicago on a hot July day.
Concad boss: Robert
Femron boss: Annette
Winning team: Concad, $521
Reasons for win: Concad initially interferes with Femron's sales. After shaking off the men, Femron claims to be a women-owned catering company. The IOCOR staff deploys italian ice vendors to follow both teams, though primarily Femron. Concad pretends David is a model for the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog and proceeds to use their sex appeal, similar to the Femron strategy from the first episode.
Losing team: Femron, $431
Eliminated: Christy. Before eliminating her, Mr. Todd told her that she was not a team player. Kerry survived elimination.
Episode 3: That's Fascinating
Airdate: November 21, 2004
Days: Days 6-10 of the competition.
Summary: Mr. Todd invites three women to join him on the yacht Perseverance II and three men to join him at Harborside International Golf Center. Mr. Todd gave the women bikinis on the boat and after going swimming in Lake Michigan, did not show up to his appointment with the men. Todd also leads the women to think that as a result of the boat trip they have forged a close relationship with him, whereas all he has ever said in conversation with each of them is "that's fascinating".
Task: Create a mascot for Drycon, a company that sells hydrocyanic acid, with an informational presentation in front of 8-year-old children and their parents. The children voted on the winning team.
Concad boss: Damien
Femron boss: Kerry
Winning team: Concad
Reasons for win: The men feature a superhero, Captain Drycon, who fights against villains that personify the symptoms of exposure to hydrocyanic acid. Their jingle was "Drycon everywhere you look." The women composed an ensemble of characters that graphically demonstrated the symptoms and their jingle was not catchy. Mr. Todd lamented that as the most attractive, Whitney did not belong in a frog suit.
Note: The frog suit used in this episode was also used in the Charity Drive episode of Arrested Development.
Losing team: Femron
Eliminated: Elli. Mr. Todd praised Elli as creative and the only Femron team member with "brass ones." Whitney survived elimination despite Mr. Todd's accusations of manipulating him.
Episode 4: Craptacular!
Airdate: December 5, 2004
Challenge: Sell bogus products to the public and the most sales wins. Products include canned oxygen gas, "natural" tampons, and reusable toilet paper.
Concad boss: David
Femron boss: Whitney
Winning team: Femron
Losing team: Concad
Eliminated: Tonia. Kerry survived elimination.
Episode 5: Thanks, I Appreciate That
Airdate: December 12, 2004
Challenge: Teams raced to perform certain office tasks while under fire from paintballs that Mr. N. Paul Todd shot at them. Members had to shield the team boss from getting hit or be penalized. A tie breaker came down to a 10 ball shootout.
Concad boss: Kerry
Femron boss: Annette
Winning team: Femron
Losing team: Concad
Eliminated: Robert. David survived elimination.
Episode 6: Next Stop, the Guggenheim!
Airdate: (on web) March 2005
Challenge: Make works of art out of garbage and sell them at an art gallery they run themselves. One of the members of each team has to masquerade as the artist who made the works of art.
Challenge: Design an advertising campaign for 1 of 3 products. They include home security land mines, breast milk, and plastic surgery for the deceased.
Concad boss: Damien
Femron boss: Annette
Winning team: Concad
Losing team: Femron
Eliminated: Douglas. Mike and Annette survived elimination. (Team boss had no immunity)
Episode 8: Blowin' in the Wind
Airdate: (on web) March 2005
Initial boss: Damien
Eliminated: David, per Damien's decision.
Challenge: Sell as much distribution of t shirts, baseball hats, and mugs that had written on them "Chicago is for losers", "The windy city blows", and "I hate Chicago" to real shop owners as possible.
Winning team: Annette and Kerry (Femron)
Losing team: Damien and Mike (Concad)
Eliminated: The elimination was shown in the next episode.
Episode 9: My Kingdom for a Chicken
Airdate: (on web) March 2005
Summary: The contestants are given a live chicken, and are challenged to barter their way to an item of higher value. The contestant with the item receiving the lowest appraised value is eliminated.
Eliminated: Damien. Mike survived this elimination, which was from the last episode's challenge.
First place: Mike, 1996 Cristal worth $133.33
Second place: Annette, men's watch worth $31.67
Eliminated: Kerry, Sony CD/DVD player worth $20.00
Episode 10: The Real Boss is...
Airdate: (on web) March 2005
Winner, $350,000: Annette
Runner-up, $200,000: Mike
After the show
Annette is now a professional model, and ironically, later appeared as "Trump's Executive Assistant" (boardroom lobby receptionist) on several episodes of Celebrity Apprentice. Kerry has written a book. As of 2007, Elli remains the president of Eye5. Jamie Denbo and Kent Sublette both have moved on to late night television programs, with Denbo featured on The Late Late Show and Sublette joining the writing staff of Saturday Night Live in 2007.