''My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss'' was a television show on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

that was filmed in July 2004 and aired from November–December 2004. Similar to '' My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance,'' it was a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

of shows such as ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

.'' The contestants performed several tasks that they were all told would help them win a job at the Chicago-based conglomerate IOCOR and a $250,000 prize. However, none of the contestants knew that the company – and the position – were fake. The show was usually punctuated by the actions of the "boss" Mr. N. Paul Todd, whose name was an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of that of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. The contestants learn about his multibillion-dollar

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

firm IOCOR, and in any episode, he or a member of his "family" could usually be found doing something either to unsettle the contestants or to test the limit of their blindness to truth. Fox advertised the show, along with another ''

Apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

''-inspired show called '' The Rebel Billionaire,'' during the 2004 Major League Baseball playoffs. But the show received low ratings in the United States and was canceled 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 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

(and on Channel 4's sister station E4), in Australia on Channel 7 and later Fox8, in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

on Channel 5, in Poland on TV4 and

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, wh ...

, in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

on 8TV and in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...

SBS Net 6'eren is a Danish subscription television channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. It replaced SBS Net on 1 January 2009. The channel's target audience is males, branding itself with the slogan "Denmark's got a new TV Channel - and it' ...

. In 2008, the entire series – including the five unaired episodes in the US – aired on

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox network (or produced by Fox). The channel also featu ...

. The show has attained a cult status and a good fan base in spite of its small run.

Rules

The rules of the game were similar to ''

.'' The teams would then compete in a challenge test the contestant's skills in business-related objectives - however, the tasks are absurd in nature, included selling hot soup on a hot day, creating and selling art they made out of scraps and promoting 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 – Unlike ''The Apprentice'', the losing boss is awarded total

Immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

from that week's elimination because Mr. Todd explained that, in real life, the boss is never held responsible. The audience would then see N. Paul Todd referring to "the real boss" for the decision on who was to go between the bottom 2. The player not eliminated became the team boss, and the winning team named a new team boss. 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

's ex-wife

Ivana Trump Ivana Marie Trump (, ; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a Czech-American businesswoman, media personality, socialite, fashion designer, author, and model. Ivana lived in Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and m ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

, 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" was revealed to be a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative the ...

who responded to the name of "Mowgli" and 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 Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and an experienced California attorney. August described Todd as a man who "probably has a number of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

lawsuits pending." Todd's catchphrase for elimination was "Get the hell out of my office." Another of his

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s 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. Mr. N. Paul Todd is an

, host of ''The Apprentice'' at that time.

Cast

Contestants

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 A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsEnron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

. The women named the male team Concad, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordscon and cad. The teams were re-organized in episode 4 based on the contestants' attractiveness. 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. : The contestant won the competition. : The contestant won as team boss on his/her team. : The contestant lost as team boss on his/her team - but was awarded immunity per the rules. : The contestant was on the winning team for this task. : The contestant was on the losing team for this task. : The contestant was brought to the final boardroom. : The contestant was fired. : 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 An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

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 money by

begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public space ...

. *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, however the women find this a very uncomfortable experience. *Losing team: Concad, $312.46 **Penalty: Sleep in a vacant lot under

the L ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

in the worst area of Chicago. **Eliminated: Dan. The explanation was that Dan wore a more expensive suit than Mr. Todd and that Mr. Todd wasn't looking for any more "suits". 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 and daughter. The mansion features Todd's most prized possessions, including two vases belonging to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, a 1929

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

piano,

chandeliers A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent l ...

identical to those in the

West Wing The West Wing of the White House houses the offices of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room. The West Wing's four floors contain offices for ...

, the

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in the ...

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 Italian ice is a frozen or semi-frozen sweetened treat made with fruit (often from concentrates, juices, or purées) or other natural or artificial food flavorings.U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationCFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Acce ...

vendors to follow both teams, though primarily Femron in an attempt to sabotage their sales. Concad pretends David is a model for the

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle store, lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hick ...

catalog and proceeds to use their

sex appeal Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

, 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 A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Perseverance II and three men to join him at Harborside International Golf Center. Mr. Todd gave the women

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...

s on the boat and after going swimming in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that of ...

, but did not show up to his appointment with the men, leaving them waiting for over three hours. 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 Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an in ...

, 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 A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, o ...

, Captain Drycon, who fights against villains that personify the symptoms of exposure to

. Their

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

was "Drycon everywhere you look." The women composed an ensemble of characters that graphically demonstrated the symptoms and their

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 The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

''. *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. *Concad boss: David *Femron boss: Douglas *Winning team: Concad *Losing team: Femron **Eliminated: Whitney. Annette survived elimination.

Episode 7: Drop Dead Gorgeous

*Airdate: (on web) March 2005 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 * Instant Elimination: Mr. Todd invited the contestants, to the boardroom to merge the teams and task the players with their next task. Damien was elected to be the boss, and Mr. Todd revealed that the task was to eliminate a player instantly. While the contestants were given an hour to deliberate and negotiate, the ultimate decision rested with Damien. **Eliminated: David, per Damien's decision. David was chosen for being the most honest out of the final five. *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 A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...

worth $31.67 *Eliminated: Kerry,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

CD/DVD player worth $20.00

Episode 10: The Real Boss is...

*Airdate: (on web) March 2005 *Summary: Two IOCOR Board Members questioned the Final 2 about the competition and Mr. Todd before the corporation could declare a winner. Then, the joking nature of the show was revealed. However, the Finalists were told that the competition was still real and the intended prize money was increased to $350,000. After one final "decision" from "the real boss" (now revealed to be a spin of the wheel by Mowgli), Annette won the competition. Runner-Up Mike was then revealed to have won a consolation prize of $200,000 and both finalists were told one final time to "Get The Hell out of Mr. Todd's Office" *Winner, $350,000: Annette *Runner-up, $200,000: Mike

After the show

Annette became a professional model, and ironically, later appeared as "Trump's Executive Assistant" (boardroom lobby receptionist) on several episodes of ''The Celebrity Apprentice.'' Kerry wrote a book. As of 2007, Elli remained the president of Eye5.Richard Johnson
Please Don't Call Her Madam
, ''New York Post'', September 13, 2007 Jamie Denbo and Kent Sublette both moved on to

late night television Late night television is one of the dayparts in television broadcast programming. It follows prime time and precedes the overnight television show graveyard slot. The slot generally runs from about 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. ET, with variations a ...

programs, with Denbo being featured on '' The Late Late Show'' and Sublette joining the writing staff of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves as ...

'' in 2007. Robert appeared on the 2014 reality show ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

''.

References

Reality TV Calendar
– info about contestants
Reality News Online
– Episode titles, summaries and recaps

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0430845 2000s American reality television series 2000s American parody television series 2004 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Reality television series parodies English-language television shows Television series by Rocket Science Laboratories