"Flipping Out": Jeff Lewis' Assistant Jenni Deals with Bottled-Up Rage (Labels Right Side Out, Please!)

Chances are youamp8217ve worked with someone like Jeff Lewis Or worse the people who work for you think youamp8217re a lot like him Heamp8217s the boss on Bravoamp8217s Flipping Out 10 pm ET Tuesdays a reality series that pretends to be about a guy who does real estate deals and house renovations in LA but is really about the horrors of having a boss with extreme OCDLewisamp8217 employees often crack under the strain of his bizarre rules He wants the labels of his water bottles turned the same direction on the fridge shelf Not wants requires He verbally abuses a gofer for bringing back a fastfood taco with onions on it and when he orders a latte itamp8217s supposed to be delivered into his hand at precisely 150 degrees meaning it should be poured hotter to allow for cooling off in transitThe Sun King wasnamp8217t this demanding of his underlings Itamp8217s scary And utterly fascinating to watchOne longtime victim er employee on Planet Lewis is Jenni Pulos executive assistant battlescarred runner of errands and passeralong of phone messages In the first two episodes of Season 2 sheamp8217s been in tears oncamera worrying about the worsening of Lewisamp8217 obsessive behavior In her years with Lewis sheamp8217s quit or been fired a number of times and then come back for more Complicatingamp8212or easingamp8212the situation is that her husband Chris also works for Lewis This season Chris was amp8220promotedamp8221 from amp8220trash guyamp8221 to amp8220house manageramp8221Jenni bears a strong resemblance to Julia LouisDreyfus which helped when she pitched Flipping Out to Bravo Thatamp8217s right sheamp8217s one of the producers Flipping Out started out as a pilot called The Wannabes about people like Jenni and Chris who had tried to break into the acting biz for a decade and never quite made it In the footage they showed to programming execs there were shots of Jeff Lewis going off on his Jenni and Chris at their day job amp8220Whoamp8217s that guyamp8221 asked the cable execs watching the pitch Make the show about him and youamp8217ve got a deal Jenni was told She and Chris rejiggered their concept overnight into a Seinfeldcumrealestateflipping idea with Lewis front and center with his label turned out just right Jenniamp8217s now a consulting producer meaning that technically sheamp8217s Lewisamp8217 boss on the TV showTV Maven caught up with Jenni by phone as she drove to an acupuncture appointment in Santa Monica Just like Lewisamp8217 cat Monkey Jenni gets the treatments to deal with stress Hereamp8217s our conversationSince The Hills weamp8217ve become wary of the authenticity of some reality shows How real is Flipping Out really Jenni Youamp8217re gonna see how real this is this year People canamp8217t believe that we are this big dysfunctional family and Jeff is that way Itamp8217s real Thatamp8217s all I can say When the cameraamp8217s not there weamp8217re like if only those people could be here right now The 150degree order is still being placed Iamp8217m not just combining the mints in the tin for TV This is all how it goes down on a daily basisDoes Jeff watch the show and see how crazy he comes acrossJenni Jeff has seen the show and for all of us when you watch your life being replayed on television youamp8217re forced to learn lessons Weamp8217ve all taken away what God or the universe is trying to tell us Itamp8217s been an interesting experienceYou seem to have blended several successful concepts Seinfeld plus Will ampamp Grace plus Extreme Home Makeover amp160Jenni Jeff calls it a docusoap I want people to take away something from it I donamp8217t want it to be trainwreck television We wanted it to also be informational about how to renovate and sell homesEveryoneamp8217s had at least one nutty boss but Jeff seems like heamp8217d be impossible to please How do you stand it on a daily basis when the cameras arenamp8217t runningJenni Jeff can get away with those crews being at his beck and call because heamp8217s constantly employing them People come up to him constantly and say amp8220This is how I am tooamp8221 I think that it the OCD is something you can cope with And for me I enjoy a challenge Jeff is a challenge But he and I have a friendship Itamp8217s difficult Itamp8217s hairy to be friends with someone you work with How has the show changed your job and your lifeJenni Iamp8217ve totally changed as an actor Let me tell you itamp8217s very difficult to just get TV shows made It takes a village When I came into acting I came in for the wrong reasons I wanted attention I wanted to be famous With age and experience you grow and change I just want to do beautiful work now Iamp8217m looking for different things now Iamp8217ve learned about another career To be a great actor you need to take in everything Flipping Out shoots for four months What do you do the rest of the yearJenni We go back to work We go back to the job sites and Iamp8217m at the computer I keep telling Jeff amp8220no touchingamp8221Have you picked up any of Jeffamp8217s idiosyncrasiesJenni I find myself repeating myself You know how he does it But the straightening of the trash cans I canamp8217t wrap my head around thatJeff constantly readjusts the outside trashcans to keep them from hitting the side of the house The white wall makes it worse Iamp8217m talking like a quarter of an inch here If thereamp8217s a cup in the car he says amp8220Weamp8217ve got trash in the car Whatamp8217s going on hereamp8221Is there an upside to OCDJenni Well itamp8217s also what makes him super talented His attention to detail is amazing I would want to buy one of his houses But it is difficult for him He does not handle stress well Whatamp8217s harder working for Jeff or being constantly asked for Julia LouisDreyfusamp8217 autographJenni I have a story about that I was in Newport recently in this restaurant and I went to the ladiesamp8217 room with my 80yearold Greek aunt A girl comes up to me and says amp8220Do you know who you look likeamp8221 And I say amp8220Yes Julia LouisDreyfusamp8221 And she says amp8220No thereamp8217s this show about this crazy real estate guy and thereamp8217s this girl named Jenniamp8221 I say amp8220Thatamp8217s meamp8221 and she says amp8220I work for somebody just like thatamp8221 Did you ever think youamp8217d find stardom by just being yourself on TVJenni I was a waiter for years Iamp8217ve done a lot of stuff This has been good for me Iamp8217ve turned my day job into a TV show Iamp8217m just enjoying the ride amp160amp160

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"Flipping Out": Jeff Lewis' Assistant Jenni Deals with Bottled-Up Rage (Labels Right Side Out, Please!)

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"Flipping Out": Jeff Lewis' Assistant Jenni Deals with Bottled-Up Rage (Labels Right Side Out, Please!)

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