Is it just me, or are we spending a lot of precious TV viewing hours watching….work? Many Oscar-nominated movies from the last decade have focused on work themes, but it seems like television is taking it to a whole new level. In fact, the workplace has moved from backdrops and backstories to hold a much more central role—and is often cast in a starring role (hello, The Love Boat!). And unlike movies, TV series have the time to develop intricate plots and spin them out over many months or even years.
Maybe it’s a form of therapy to watch fictional characters deal with problems similar to our own. Or maybe it’s the fulfillment of a revenge fantasy to watch an evil boss slowly but surely get his or her comeuppance. Whatever the reason, we’re watching. And in addition to the mainstream programs on the major networks, there are niche shows that appeal to an increasingly fragmented television audience.
Of course, all TV shows have to be situated somewhere. Cop shows are based in precincts, legal shows take place in law firms and courtrooms, medical shows happen in hospitals, and zombie shows, well, they take place wherever the zombie herd goes. Some classic TV shows also focused on office life, notably The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched. (Come on, who didn’t want Darrin Stephens’ advertising job?) But over the last decade or two, work-related issues have become integral to the plots of many popular shows.
Reality shows have also been covering a diverse range of workers and workplaces. In addition to the ice truckers, pawn stars, deep-sea fishermen, salon owners, and restaurateurs, there are also some shows of a more corporate nature. For example, on Celebrity Apprentice a group of stars competed in weekly challenges such as staging new product introductions for major corporations. The winning project managers received donations for their chosen charities, while someone from the losing team was fired each week by The Donald and his signature cobra gesture. Each season, there were a few savvy contestants who excelled at branding, which made for interesting viewing. However, the show usually descended into chaos when the egos inevitably clashed. Watching these people fuss with computers and copiers was amusing, but let’s remember that it was all for charity. And advertising. But mostly for charity.
On Undercover Boss, the CEO of a well-known corporation would don a disguise and go undercover inside the organization to see how the company is functioning. It was nice to see that the executives were interested in identifying operational failures. However, the saccharine-sweet bonding sessions between the hand-picked employees and their newly humbled CEOs came off feeling contrived. A few lucky souls got their mortgages paid off or some other big-ticket prize, while thousands of equally deserving employees would go without acknowledgment or reward. Each episode ended with an update about the changes the company made as a result of the CEO’s experience, and hopefully, these changes enhanced morale and employee engagement. If not, at least we all had a chance to enjoy watching billionaires do entry-level work on national television.
One season saw the addition of Does Someone Have to Go? which put the power in the hands of employees to rectify toxic workplaces. Say what you will about the leaders of these companies and their decision to abdicate their responsibility, it does raise an interesting challenge to these employees to look at things from an executive perspective and to weigh individual transgressions against the health of the organization. (Too bad “the tribe has spoken” was already taken…)
Scripted shows are continuously taking on a wide variety of work-centric themes, and these portrayals somehow look more real than their reality show counterparts. Comedies and dramas alike are tackling such subjects as leadership, employee morale, employee mobility, compensation, recruitment, corruption, and termination with often surprising attention to detail.
Leadership is a popular theme that has been explored in a number of popular shows. For example, on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the team had to cope with a number of management changes. A beloved supervisor left to pursue a new career, and then a team member was promoted to replace him (and thereby manage her former peers—awkward!). Then, a quirky new boss (played by Ted Danson) arrived with his own way of doing things. He frequently summoned the team to “family meetings” whenever he wanted to discuss the team’s effectiveness. The show also depicted performance evaluations, promotions, demotions, and office romances. The Office also dealt with leadership themes, with Steve Carell as the goofy boss who preferred to be buddies with his direct reports rather than manage them, and James Spader as his replacement—an off-beat boss who threw the team into disarray with his Jedi mind tricks. And who can forget the way Tony Soprano and his crew dealt with leadership and loyalty throughout the run of The Sopranos?
Another show, Breaking In, sadly canceled before its time, chronicled a boutique security firm headed by a mysterious master manipulator (played by Christian Slater). The firm had just been acquired by a big company, and then a new boss (played by Megan Mullally), who was previously masquerading as a secretary, suddenly announced she was in charge. Frustrated by the surprise appearance of a new boss, and in a display of loyalty to their old boss, the team responded by engaging in acts of mutiny and sabotage.
Meanwhile, on NCIS, elite special agents eliminate threats to national security on a daily basis but still make time for their own brand of office shenanigans, including a lot of one-upmanship during their status meetings in the bullpen. “Very Special Agent” Tony DiNozzo, a fan favorite in earlier seasons, spoke in endless movie references, much to the chagrin of his colleagues, while the boss (played by Mark Harmon), frequently gave head slaps.
And lest you think head slaps are a good motivational technique, consider the battery and wrongful termination trial that ended in a mistrial in Hollywood several years ago. The case involved the creator of Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry, and a former star of the show, Nicollette Sheridan. Cherry apparently tapped Sheridan on the head (she used the term “walloped”), and Sheridan alleged that she was terminated because she complained about the incident. Cherry, in response, noted that he had already planned to kill off that character months earlier. Regardless, I strongly suggest you find a better way to get your point across.
Continuing our tour of shows, House, M.D. routinely took us out of the operating room and into staff meetings, showing us how the characters tried to cope with Dr. Crankypants, his cantankerous management style, and his tumultuous affair with his boss. And then there’s that pesky matter of his addiction to painkillers.
Next, there’s the four-time Best Drama Emmy winner, Mad Men. This show, set in a New York advertising agency, examined management and career mobility issues from the vantage point of the 1960s, including the evolving role of women in the workforce. The show featured a hostile takeover, conniving co-workers, office romances, and the ethical tightrope that a few of the characters encountered (and which some happily ignored) while representing clients from the tobacco and alcoholic beverage industries.
HBO’s Enlightened also took on ethical issues. In this show, an executive (played by the fabulous Laura Dern), returned to work after a very public meltdown and began a campaign to make her company become more socially responsible. In addition, The Good Wife featured an ethical subplot that temporarily sidelined one of the partners, and the riveting inter-office drama gave rise to an elegant dance between several power-hungry partners seeking to take his place. Meanwhile, a rival attorney (played by Michael J. Fox) was trying to poach the title character for more than a year, and there was also an All About Eve storyline, as well (i.e., a hungry young associate was looking to upstage her mentor).
Finally, the Star Trek universe is also rich with workplace storylines and much has been made of the leadership styles of James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard. For our part, we’ll just recommend that you avoid taking any business trips while wearing a red shirt.
Who says you can’t learn anything useful from TV?
Image credit: TV with Thinus
A version of my post was originally published on the UpMo blog.
