CBS has formally announced it has ordered Arranged Marriage and Undercover Boss, two new reality series that the network began developing in February.
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Both Arranged Marriage and Undercover Boss are both slated to air as part of the network's 2009-2010 primetime schedule as midseason programming.
Arranged Marriage will follow three adults who are eager to wed but have previously been unsuccessful in finding a soul mate. So instead of choosing their own romantic partner, their friends and family members will select a spouse for them.
The series will then follow the newly-formed couples as they exchange marital vows and their subsequent day-to-day activities, including the "joys, challenges, and emotional tumult that results from their arranged union," according to CBS.
Arranged Marriage is being produced by former Project Runway producers Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth and their Magical Elves production company.
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A combination of Fox's Secret Millionaire and Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, Undercover Boss will follow corporate executives working in disguise at the "lowest level jobs" in their own company to find out what their employees really think of them
The series is based on a British reality series of the same name that premiered earlier this year on the U.K.'s Channel 4, however it remains to be seen how closely CBS' adaptation will follow the original edition.
Undercover Boss' original U.K. edition requires the participating executive to spend 10 days completely immersed in the undesirable position with the hopes of gaining a new understanding of their business.
Once the undercover stint ends, the executive presents their findings to the company's board, reveals their real identity to the unsuspecting workers, and makes changes to fix the problems. Some of those changes involve rewarding employees who deserve recognition, but others receive less happy news.
Undercover Boss is being produced by Studio Lambert, Ltd, with Stephen Lambert serving as executive producer.
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In addition to officially announcing Arranged Marriage and Undercover Boss, CBS also confirmed that Survivor and The Amazing Race will both continue to air in their respective Thursdays at 8PM ET/PT and Sundays at 8PM ET/PT timeslots when they return with new editions this fall.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio