Flipping Off!

Ok, full disclosure: I’m of two minds when it comes to blogging season four of Bravo’s hit show Flipping Out.

On the one hand, the story line is right up my alley: house flipper show.

On the other hand, the story line drives me nuts: compulsive neatnick abuses his staff for fun.

There’s just something about Jeff Lewis that makes me want to flip him off!

But, I promise to stop at any time should my frustration with Jeff get too hard to deal with at least semi-objectively… and more importantly, entertainingly.

So, here it goes:

Jeff informs us that business is booming and he’s busier than ever! Kadooze to Jeff, especially in this economy.

One project is a total gut renovation that is a sad but common story. The contractors had gutted the entire house, then left. What the client is left with is an empty shell. Correction, what the client is left with is an empty, structurally unstable shell. Before they jumped ship, the “builders” managed to damage the structural integrity of the place. Yikes!

Another project involves a couple of very “hands on” lesbians who know exactly what they want. This is always an initial disappointment for designers, as it makes you seem more like the typist of the new novel, rather than it’s author. Client/Consultant clashes seem guaranteed, especially with the cameras rolling.

And there’s also a Jeff Lewis Designs first: a commercial space in the form of a popular family restaurant. Public spaces are very different than homes, so it will be interesting to see if the team is up for it.

But, either fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you see it, Bravo concentrates less on the design and more on the crazy interactions of the cast. Here’s a breakdown of the crazy:

1. Jeff is busier than ever, and can afford to even turn away difficult clients. So he (or Bravo) decides to spend an entire season dangling job loss over his poor staff’s head. Huh?
2. Jeff has decided that he can only eat one meal a day. He also has decided that his staff must follow suit. WTF?
3. Not content with starvation, Jeff decides to treat his staff to “liquid dinner”. That’s right, they have to work late, are forbidden to eat, and are boozing it up instead, because we all know that mistakes never happen when you’re drunk.
4. Jeff is a raging control freak perfectionist. So, why does he have several totally out of control pets? When one dog pees on an employee’s head, Jeff laughs. Nice. (as an aside, what is it with reality TV shows and poorly trained dogs? I’m a little suspicious on why dog trainers show up on so many reality shows, but the stars all seems to have the worse behaving dogs I’ve ever seen!)
5. I’m pretty sure that keeping a foreign maid trapped inside the house against her will is illegal. Just ask the Sabhnanis.

So join us again next week as we continue Flipping Off!

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