My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss was a television show on the Fox Network that was filmed in July 2004[1] 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 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.

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss
StarringWilliam August
Jamie Denbo
David Jahn
Tamara Clatterbuck
Kent Sublette
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes10
Production
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseNovember 7 –
December 12, 2004 (2004-12-12)
Chronology
Related showsMy Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, The Apprentice

The show was usually punctuated by the actions of the "boss" Mr. N. Paul Todd, whose name was an anagram of that of Donald Trump. The contestants learn about his multibillion-dollar venture capital 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-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 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 US – aired on Fox Reality Channel. 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 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 that, 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" was revealed to be a chimpanzee 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 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.

Mr. N. Paul Todd is an anagram of Donald Trump, host of the Apprentice at that time.

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

Contestants
Team 1 Team 2
Femron Concad
Candidate Age Hometown Result
Annette Dziamba – Business Development Executive 24 Whippany, New Jersey Winner of $350,000
Michael Gregorio – Liquor Distribution Executive 34 Reading, Massachusetts Runner-up; winner of $200,000
Kerry McCloskey – Media Marketing Director 29 Jersey City, New Jersey Eliminated in episode 10
Damien Scott – Strategic Financial Consultant 29 Chicago, Illinois Eliminated in episode 9
David Harper – Certified Financial Accountant 25 Atlanta, Georgia Eliminated in episode 8
Douglas Dennard – Equity Research Analyst 24 Greenville, North Carolina Eliminated in episode 7
Whitney LaBelle – Shipping Executive 26 Atlanta, Georgia Eliminated in episode 6
Robert Hospidor – Mortgage Broker 28 Middlesex, New Jersey Eliminated in episode 5
Tonia Jacobs – Aerial Construction Worker 35 San Marcos, Texas Eliminated in episode 4
Elli Frank – Marketing Firm President 26 Jacksonville, Florida Eliminated in episode 3
Christy Hollie – Entrepreneur 30 Austin, Texas Eliminated in episode 2
Daniel Richardson – Automobile Finance 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 INLOSEININWINBRLOSEINWININWIN
Michael LOSEINININININBRINBRWINFIRED
Kerry INBRLOSEBRLOSEINININWINFIRED
Damien ININWININININWINWINFIRED
David INININLOSEBRWININFIRED
Douglas INININININLOSEFIRED
Whitney ININBRWININFIRED
Robert BRWINININFIRED
Tonia WINININFIRED
Elli ININFIRED
Christy INFIRED
Daniel FIRED
     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.
     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 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, however the women find this a very uncomfortable experience.
  • 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 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, 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 in an attempt to sabotage their sales. 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, 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, 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.

  • 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
  • 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 became a professional model, and ironically, later appeared as "Trump's Executive Assistant" (boardroom lobby receptionist) on several episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice.[2] Kerry wrote a book. As of 2007, Elli remained the president of Eye5.[3] Jamie Denbo and Kent Sublette both moved on to late night television programs, with Denbo being featured on The Late Late Show and Sublette joining the writing staff of Saturday Night Live in 2007. Robert appeared on the 2014 reality show Utopia.

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gollark: I mean, you can encode e with a diacritic thing as either one character for e-with-diacritic-thing, or a normal ASCII e then a combining diacritic thing.
gollark: LIES! WRONG!
gollark: Two CODEPOINTS.
gollark: I assume `len` is doing codepoints, characters are hard.

References
  1. "The Sword and the Soup". My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. Season 1. Episode 2. November 14, 2004. Fox.
  2. IMDB
  3. Richard Johnson, Please Don't Call Her Madam Archived 2008-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, New York Post, September 13, 2007
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