The ex is gone, but OCD real estate designer Jeff Lewis is not a ‘fun gay’
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor jones@dallasvoice.com
2.5 out of 5 stars
FLIPPING OUT
airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Bravo. Season 4 premiere Aug. 10.
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It’s ironic that the most fun gay reality program on Bravo is the one about a straight woman, but with the season finale of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List now in the books, our sluggish replacement is settling into her time slot.
“I used to be a fun gay,” Jeff Lewis, the OCD real estate speculator on Flipping Out, says in the season 4 debut. “Now I’m not a fun gay anymore.”
Ummm, I’ve watched this show for three years … when exactly was he ever a “fun gay”?
The Botoxed, demanding little martinet who drives his (admittedly) incompetent staff crazy with his nitpicking is an oddly compelling reality TV personality. His drama doesn’t seem manufactured — he really is a black hole of bad vibes.
The new season kicks off with some major changes. Gone from the series is Ryan, Jeff’s ex lover and long-time business partner, who last season apparently Google-pirated search engine results from Jeff, building his own company at his friend’s expense. The post-season reunion wrap-up last year was the most dramatic moment in the show’s history, and Ryan’s absence lingers like a ghost over all relationships gone sour.
But there’s still Zoila (the deadpan Latina maid) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus lookalike Jenni, Jeff’s Zen assistant, plus relative newcomer Jett, the hunky house assistant, and Sarah, his useless helper.
Jeff’s flat affect belies a droll sense of humor, but ultimately, as with most non-competition reality series, it’s a mystery as to why we should care at all about his life: The business is not all that interesting, his life no harder than mine and the season opener feels unfocused, even rote. What I’d give for a decent flip out this time.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 6, 2010.
I wish Julia Louis-Dreyfus were really on this show!!