Flipping Out on Bravo

I've got a new favorite TV Show. Flipping Out on Bravo. I'd seen bits and pieces of this show last season and found it annoying. I've watched several episodes this season and find it amusing.

A good reality show is so much better than scripted TV. No one has the imagination to make up the lives some people lead. Or like the recent rescue in Columbia of all those hostages held for so long by the FARC rebels. That reality show played out like a tightly scripted, implausible Hollywood movie, with a very happy ending.

On Flipping Out you've got this guy, Jeff Lewis, with a bad case of OCD, which makes him obsess about the oddest of things. And he can say the most blunt, rude of remarks, caused, by his own admission, by his lacking of an empathy gene. He is in therapy, sees a therapist, a spiritualist and a psychic.

Yes, it is obvious this show is set in Southern California.

Flipping Out is so named because Jeff Lewis flips houses, has done about 50 flips and has a reputation for doing a brilliant job. Part of what is entertaining is seeing the transformations take place.

Jeff Lewis has several pets that he obsesses over. Three mutt dogs, one fat cat and, temporarily, 3 deer. The fat cat is a handful. Jeff Lewis had a psychic examine the cat so as to best determine how to make the move to a new house the least traumatic. One time the cat got acupuncture.

Jeff Lewis does not do any of life's mundane chores himself. He has a guy named Chris who is his house manager. Chris Elwood, the House Manager, has an assistant, also named Chris, as in Chris Keslar.

To my shock, I learned last night that Chris, the House Manager, is married to Lewis' Executive Assistant, Jenni Pulos. They are married, but don't share last names. I learned last night that the married couple rents a bungalow from Jeff Lewis. Jeff and Jenni dropped in to inspect the property. On the way there, Jeff had to slam the brakes, slightly. He reached out across Jenni's chest, which caused her to scream, "Get your hands off my boobs." He explained he was acting as a seatbelt backup. She then admitted her big boobs were hard to not touch, accidentally, in such a scenario, due to their size.

Regarding the mutt dogs, Jeff Lewis found a place that tested your dogs DNA to determine its breed mix. So, all his "people" worked with him to figure out the self-test. The results came back. One little mutt's supposed DNA indicated it was a Chihuahua/Poodle mix. Another one was a Cocker Spaniel/Doberman mix. This seemed ridiculous to Lewis, because the dogs bore no resemblance to those breeds. Lewis decided he'd been scammed. And at $200 per dog, he thought maybe he should get into the DNA Dog Test Scam.

The best drama of the night came about after Jeff's OCD Paranoia caused him to put a spy cam in his house. He was sure his House workers were taking advantage of him. As Jeff and Jenni drove along he had someone call his house. His people are instructed to answer in a precise manner, instead Jenni's husband answered and said "Bon Jour, Chez Lewis," or something like that.

Later, Jeff confronted Chris, who denied, vehemently his egregious breaking of the phone answering rules. Later Jeff saw that he had proof Chris had lied, when Jeff played back the day's spying.

In subsequent days, Jeff caught Chris on Jeff's computer for hours. Employees are banned from Jeff's computer, except for Jenni. Jeff caught Chris spending a lot of time text messaging. But the worst offense was Chris was caught going through Jeff's personal papers.

Next week's episode appears to deal with Jeff dealing with Chris' bad behavior. I'm sure much hilarity will ensue.