Quibi, the latest entrant in the Streaming Wars, launches on Monday. And because Quibi stands for “quick bites,” here’s a quick-bite review of one Quibi’s quick bites.
Flipped follows a couple named Cricket and Jann Melfi, played by Kaitlin Olson and Will Forte, who quit their day jobs to seek fame as small-screen home-renovation superstars. Think Chip and Joanna Gaines, only—and I hate saying this because I enjoy both Olson and Forte—not as charming, and much more forced. After learning about a contest to become Home Renovation Television’s “Next Dynamic Duo,” the Melfis head to the city outskirts with hammers in hand to renovate a random, one-level house. The twist is that while they’re breaking down the home’s walls, they find endless cash where the insulation should be, and of course it turns out that the cartel is involved! Comedy ensues!
While I didn’t get to the whole “dealing with the cartel” part in the two episodes I saw, we see in the trailer that the Melfis use the money to fund their TV dreams, but are caught by a cartel big wig (Broad City’s Arturo Castro), who tells them he now has to kill them—that is, until he sees what they did with his drab stash house. I’m telling you, the things a little feng shui and a few purchases from Pier 1 can do for people!
Maybe Flipped is one of those TV shows that gets better with time, and since the first two episodes of the series amounted to about 15 minutes, I’m willing to go with that idea. Plus, it’s got a good cast, with Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria rounding things out.