"Secret Millionaire" Vs. "Undercover Boss"

"Secret Millionaire" on ABC and "Undercover Boss" on CBS are two very similar shows. Both feature well to do people offering emotional handouts to individuals or organizations. The two shows though are also vastly different. Who would win in an all out fight to get my attention each week? It's "Secret Millionaire" vs. "Undercover Boss" and only one reality show can come out unscathed.

In my opinion, "Secret Millionaire" scores a knockout in the 3rd round of this reality television fight. Here are a few simple reasons why I would rather tune in to "Secret Millionaire" on ABC each week as opposed to "Undercover Boss." With that in mind, here is my list of reasons why!

1) One Show Revolves Around Boss, The Other Around Random Stranger
Just on the basis of what each individual show is about, I have drawn my conclusions that "Secret Millionaire" is a more realistic "giving" show. At the end of the day on "Undercover Boss", the boss is still the boss and the employee remains the employee. That general relationship will always create a certain amount of stress and it's hard to separate that fact when watching each program. In other words, the employee has to still face the boss after the episode and moment is long gone. On "Secret Millionaire", those who receive gifts still don't have to live in the boss-employee relationship. I am sure the money an employee gets will make them happy for some time-but at the end of the day they are still working for that boss.

2) "Undercover Boss" formula weaker and more redundant than "Secret Millionaire"
The thing I find about "Undercover Boss" that makes it not nearly as watchable as "Secret Millionaire" is the worn out formula. Without watching the show this week, I could probably tell you that this oblivious to manual labor boss gets a "real clue" as to what his employees go through on a daily basis. The boss then rewards the employee for grinding away by listening to his or her stories and offering up money or some other perk.
Sure, it seems nice that a real world boss would give something without expecting something in return. Unfortunately, that just doesn't seem too realistic. The real boss would always want something in return-most likely hard work or effort. On "Secret Millionaire", the millionaire generally rewards people for just being good people. The money isn't based on if you are still an employee of mine in 6 months. It's money that generally goes to someone who is deserving based on circumstances beyond their control.

3) "Secret Millionaire" provides more tear-jerkers
I am not sure if "Secret Millionaire" is produced in a better way or if the formula just work on me more-but the ending almost always leaves me in tears. I will say that "Undercover Boss" always leaves me a little emotional, too. But I can't help but think that once the cameras are off--the bosses will quit being so darn nice. With "Secret Millionaire", the gift is handed out and the millionaire leaves the show and doesn't expect anything in return.
There's something about "Secret Millionaire" that always tugs at my heart strings.

4) "Undercover Boss" makes boss to phony work that he wouldn't normally do just for sake of television
I know "Secret Millionaire" has wealthy people doing phony volunteer work, too. But there's something really fishy and unappealing about how "Undercover Boss" has the bosses doing work they wouldn't normally ever do. It just seems extremely phony and out of the realm of what most bosses in that position would ever do. I am not saying there aren't bosses or managers out there who don't get their hands dirty. "Undercover Boss" always seems to throw the most oblivious bosses or general managers into such easy tasks only to have them fail. If this does anything for the boss-employee relationship, it just makes the people on the bottom of the food chain seem mystified how someone could have worked their way up to the top of the company.

Those are several reasons why I think "Secret Millionaire" is a way better watch than "Undercover Boss." I still watch both shows often when they air on ABC or CBS. I often feel like the formula for "Undercover Boss" is so similar each week that you can truly almost see every single episode just by watching one. Both are interesting reality television shows that are better than most. But I feel "Secret Millionaire" is better than "Undercover Boss" by a rather large distance because of the reasons above.