I guess it sounded like a good idea – creating an online Reality Mocktail of True Crime with a double shot of HGTV. So Quibi (10 minute vids) recently debuted a series called “Murder House Flip”. The subtext being filming homes “haunted” or “imprinted” with bad energies from murders committed in-house and later sold to people looking to move close to the Ocean or in a nice, quiet suburb. Then Remembrance of Things Past kicked in. Enter two good-looking, expert renovators with fix-it, re-designs in mind.. Then cue the eerie music, like the theme from “True Detective.’
Sorry, not sorry to say Flo and most critics weren’t buying it. One critic said the episodes would have been better if the home-owners actually seemed bothered by the left-over auras (i.e. imprints). Another said the show needed better renovators (but maybe not as cute). . And, there’s not a single audience review on Rotten Tomatoes. Unless their critiques were written in invisible ink. Meanwhile, the show got an overall rating of 47%.
But Flo didn’t watch because she tries to avoid Reality TV as much as possible. Her own Reality has become more interesting to her,. Full disclosure – for a time, Flo was obsessed with “The Real Home-Makers” from towns like Boise, Albany and, especially, Roswell. Watching those shows numbed Flo like a sedative – when she needed a sedative most.
But that was before her first Visitor arrived unannounced and long before Quibi was a blink in its mother’s eye. Although Flo now accepts her ethereal Visitors as graciously as any house-guest, she’s completely dismissive of any and all suggestions that apparitions, inside and out, are terrifying. In her opinion, It’s the people making money off “scary” ghosts who are the real terrors. (Not counting Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson).
Flo knows better.So, she would much rather watch an episode of “Topper” on YouTube or another round of “The Sixth Sense”. However, if she changes her mind, Quibi has renewed “Murder House Flip” for a second season.
And to that, we say, Boo!