Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Big RV Remix’ on Hulu, A Vehicle Rehab/Conversion Reality Series Featuring Big Boi from Outkast

In Big RV Remix, which drops its first ten-episode season in full on Hulu, longtime friends and business partners Janice Faison and Big Boi turn people’s custom dreams for their trailers and commercial trucks into reality. What about a wilded-out rig for a company that bakes custom cakes on wheels? Or a comfortable live-work space inside a Mercedes Sprinter? What if Shaquille O’Neal calls with the chance to rehab his personal recreational vehicle? In Big RV Remix, the team at Celebrity Trailers is on the case.   

BIG RV REMIX: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: Janice Faison is driving to work in her big Ford pickup when her phone rings. “Ludacris’s people called,” her assistant says, “they’re looking to have a trailer.” Faison says of course, whatever Luda wants – the rapper and actor and fellow Atlanta resident was one of her very first clients at Celebrity Trailers. 

The Gist: Together with her business partner Big Boi, Faison launched Celebrity Trailers in 2009 as an outfitter of customized and comfy rolling stock for entertainment and sports world professionals. But as the business grew, they expanded their reach, and today CT can convert trailers and Sprinters and buses into anything for anyone. “To us,” Faison says, “everyone deserves a rock star ride.” 

Faison is the chief designer here, as well as new business representative. Big Boi brings the “wow factor” and a sharp eye for detail. And David Vasquez is Celebrity Trailers’ head contractor and fabricator. “I’m really excited about this next build we have,” Faison tells the team. It’s for a young woman named Mary, who wants to rehab a trailer owned and used by her family for years into a clean, modular living space for herself, her baby, and her mom while she pursues an aerospace engineering internship in Philadelphia. Faison is impressed with Mary’s story. But her budget’s only $8000, and there’s a tight eight week deadline to contend with, too. 

As Vasquez and his build team work to demo the trailer’s existing interior and replace and shore up its sagging, water-damaged floor – that’s a big chunk of the budget right there – Faison and Big Boi plot out the design elements that will make the trailer’s details sing. An LED light ceiling to emulate stars in the sky, a space-saving crib for Mary’s baby, and a piano that pops out from the surface of a desk. Budget grumbles, a commitment to covering overages, and a few improvisational pivots are always going to be necessary. But at the end of the day, Celebrity Trailers presents Mary and her family with their crisply-rehabbed trailer during a joyous reveal. Big RV, remixed!  

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Well, you can take your pick here. Big RV Remix follows in the proud tradition of Pimp My Ride by imagining big stylistic swings and funky, quirky details involving elaborate lighting and sound systems. But today there are myriad offerings in the rehab realm, from the elaborate with West Coast Customs on Netflix or Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge on NBC to the straightforward with Wheeler Dealers. 

Our Take: Restoration shows are everywhere in the reality space, with everything from cars to bikes to entire houses getting the rip it down and build it back up treatment. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for another one. Big RV Remix keeps things simple, relying on the genre’s usual tone and format – a new client, their dream, the realities as Celebrity Trailers works to realize it, and the challenges of design and implementation that occur while en route to the big reveal. But it has two big personalities at its center to help drive it, with Janice Faison offering business insights and a flair for description in her cutaway interviews, and Big Boi periodically appearing to show off his impressive range of custom ball caps and contribute the little details and intangible fixes that help define the final product. There is also a little fan service here for Outkast heads, with Big Boi revealing the interiors of his recording studios and delivering bits of hip-hop history. 

Of course, with shows like this, the actual build footage is going to be a draw, and Big RV Remix offers glimpses of the shop floor at Celebrity Trailers as customized, epoxy-covered countertops are fabricated, trailer floors are ripped out, and little problems are solved on the fly. None of this is unique to Remix, but it’s essential to the rehab reality universe, and is handled here quite capably. And if it’s that big reveal you’re waiting for – “Move! That! Bus!”, etc. – Big RV Remix always features a final sequence featuring the ooh’s and ahh’s from their clients as they drink in their refurbished internal landscapes. 

Sex and Skin: Nothing here.

Parting Shot: There’s more recreational vehicle rehabilitation to come on Remix, as we see in a few scenes from upcoming episodes, including a guy who wants to convert a Sprinter into a luxury mobile barbershop. But there’s more drama, too. What happens when your company damages the motorhome Shaq entrusted you with? 

Sleeper Star: “I’ve mapped out worse. I mean, I’ve built tables with epoxy. I don’t see why I can’t do a countertop.” There’s always an individual on a rehab show who’s sort of behind the scenes, but who also expresses a quiet confidence in their skills, and for the team at Celebrity Trailers, that person seems to be Todd Walls, one of the lead builders.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Our team gets to work to rebuild this rotten floor,” David Vasquez says. “We started with a lightweight aluminum frame; it’s strong enough to support the plywood sheet. After that, we will cover the floor with a beautiful faux wood vinyl plank. So that way, it can be visually appealing and, at the same time, structurally sound.” And we see a montage of this work occurring with an accompanying graphic that builds in some tension. The client’s overall budget is just 8 grand, and the work Vasquez just described eats up $2500 right off the bat. 

Our Call: STREAM IT. Fans of all kinds of rehab and restoration shows will definitely want to stream this one. There’s plenty to like about Big RV Remix, which blends its distinct bling and flavor into the typical format of following a project from concept to completion over the course of an episode, complete with a little bit of drama and the big final reveal.  

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges