flippingout

I'm overly excited about the news that The Rachel Zoe Project has been picked up for a second season on Bravo. I got hooked on the first season this fall, and have grown to love that pixie stylist and her dysfunctional assistants.

If you haven't watched the show, it follows the crazy life of Rachel Zoe, an L.A.-based stylist to celebs like Debra Messing and Molly Sims. She makes the stars look good on the red carpet, on magazine covers, and at fashion shows, and mixes with all sorts of interesting people, like designers Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors.

But all the fun really happens inside Rachel's studio, where she tries to keep everybody happy, including hubby Rodger, and squabbling assistants Taylor Jacobson and Brad Goreski. Those two are as opposite as they come, but that's what makes it fun for the rest of us.

'Secret Life of the American Teenager'
(8PM, ABC Family)
It happens tonight: While pregnant teen Amy has been dealing with her impending unplanned parenthood for weeks now, she finally lets Mama Juergens, aka '80s teen queen Molly Ringwald, in on the news.

Ringwald has prior on-screen experience with the unplanned pregnancy thang: she starred as a teen mom in the 1988 flick 'For Keeps.' But whether or not she'll be understanding about band geek daughter Amy's sitch remains to be seen. After all, Anne's got problems of her own, namely her wandering hubby, and she's not likely to be pleased about the fact that Amy has taken five episodes -- er, several weeks -- to let her know she's gonna be a grandma.

Fans of ABC Family's surprise summer hit should be pleased, however, about the network's decision to order 13 more episodes of the show. The mama drama, uh, drama, will continue to air new episodes through September, with the newly-ordered batch of installments set to kick off in January.

Soap operas are a funny form of television fiction. They have rules all its own, they can tell all kinds of stories and do them in the most unusual ways. Here's a few things I've noticed lately, things that seem to only be possible, on a soap.

Only on a soap...can a medical clinic be conceived, built and stocked in less than a month.
It's true. It happened in Port Charles. On General Hospital, soon after Emily died -- and Nikolas stopped seeing visions of her thanks to a brain tumor -- he decided to dedicate a health clinic in her memory. Since Nikolas is a royalty, some kind of prince, cost was no object. He never met with an architect or designer, never spoke to contractors, never searched for a location and dealt with permits. He did have a fight with the mayor for a couple of shows about opening the clinic after it was already completed. If only all construction projects could be done so easily. Jeff Lewis on Bravo's Flipping Out doesn't even work that fast!
%Gallery-27192%

Has Bravo gone to the well once too much? It sure seems that way. Hot on the success of The Real Housewives of New York City, which was inspired by The Real Housewives of Orange County, Bravo is now rolling out The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Now, listen, I've watched the first two series; I admit that they are addictive. And they're convenient because Bravo re-airs them again and again, but come on! This is like Coffee-Mate coming up with all these flavored creamers. Do we really need so many creamers?

Bravo is bringing back Million Dollar Listing for a second season this summer. The docu-series gives viewers an inside look at the most exclusive realtors in the Los Angeles area, a luxurious but dangerous place to work. Despite the soft market, these agents will stop at nothing to close million dollar deals in neighborhoods like Malibu, Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

Josh Flagg, Madison Hildebrand and Chad Rogers, L.A.'s up-and-coming realtors, are the stars of this season. Flagg is known to send clients up in helicopters to view properties and has wrapped a home in a big red bow for a pair of new owners. Hildebrand, touted as the "King of Malibu," has sold over 80 million in real estate in the past two years. Rogers had his real estate license at the age of 18. Some of his celebrity clients include Paris Hilton, Nick Lachey, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Minnie Driver, and Coach Larry Brown.

(S02E01) I watched the first season of Flipping Out on Bravo last summer based on a teaser I saw during Top Chef 3. The show is about a real estate "flipper" who buys properties, fixes them up and then resells them for a profit. You might say, "Yawn, that's just like a bunch of other shows on TLC, Discovery, et al." Well, yes, that's true.

But Flipping Out isn't really about the flipping, it's about the flipper -- Jeff Lewis. This guy Lewis is not normal. I mean it, he's not. He says he's not. He's obsessive compulsive and it comes out in everything he does. It makes him a better flipper, because of his attention to detail, but it also makes him really hard to take if you're his employee, partner or contractor. But, boy, is it fun to watch Jeff Lewis's life! That's what Flipping Out is really all about and it's back.
%Gallery-25373%

He's the most colorful, neurotic, and unpredictable real estate speculator / house flipper on television and he's back on Bravo this June. Once again, fans of Flipping Out will get to watch Jeff Lewis buy properties, renovate them and sell them for six-figure profits, all while torturing his assistants and other employees.

But this season will be different. Firstly, the soft market should create even more drama and tension in Jeff's world. Secondly, Jeff is trying to turn over a new leaf and not treat his employees like, well, you know. I'm skeptical. I seem to remember Jeff nearly "flipping out" about not getting the right combination of lemonade, fruit punch, iced tea and sprite for his beverage. He also fires someone at least once an episode. In fact, this season Jeff installs a nanny cam to spy on his workers.

You know they have to been ticked off at Bravo about losing Project Runway to Lifetime. Still, Bravo execs stood up at a breakfast in New York to announce their new schedule, all happy and smiling. The good news is that they still have some good stuff coming up, starting with more Kathy Griffin, another season of goofy Jeff Lewis, the house flipper, and -- oh, yeah -- one more edition of Project Runway. Should we call in the auld lang syne edition?

Here's the rundown of what's coming back for Bravo:

-- Project Runway: The last Bravo season (unless something changes) will begin in July 2008, with the usual cast of judges.

%Gallery-20642%