CNBC had a good special on McDonald's a while ago called "Big Mac: Inside the McDonald's Empire."
They talk to a franchisee, and to me it looks like you need to work really hard to be successful. You're basically the CEO of your own business with your own money at risk, so it is nothing like "passive monitoring." Anecdotally, it's pretty clear to me when you walk into a McDonald's how much the owner cares about it - some are pretty impressive, but some are also awful.