We spent most of the afternoon watching BBC America. Why? We are totally addicted to two particular shows. The first is Ground Force. This is basically a gardening show hosted by a great guy (and gardener) Alan Titchmarsh. The premise: people write in to have Alan and his team (of Tommy Walsh and Charlie Dimmock) transform their garden while their spouse/partner is away for two days with a budget of about £1,000. The cast is great and the transformations are wonderful to watch. The second show is Changing Rooms. This is the show that TLC's Trading Spaces is based on. Instead of Paige Davis, the host (or "presenter" as they call them on the BBC) is Carol Smillie, an ex-model from Glasgow. Now, I know that Trading Spaces has a pretty big following, but I think Changing Rooms is the better program (or is it programme?). Why? Because it's only 30 minutes long instead of 60 minutes. It makes for a faster pace and it just seems to hold your attention better. Today, there was a special Changing Rooms Marathon called Laurence Let Loose. Laurence is Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, a flamboyant designer who, at times, comes up with room treatments that actually bring the owners to tears. Well worth the watch for a laugh (Linda Barker and Anna Ryder Richardson are my favorites, and it turns out that they have a new show called House Invaders). I also like their carpenter, "Handy" Andy Kane better than Ty Pennington. (However, I also like Vern Yip.) Well, as part of the marathon, there was a hour-long episode titled "When Changing Rooms Met Ground Force" which was a hoot to watch since it was a melding of both of the shows. Alan hosted and had Tommy & Charlie remodel a bedroom of a couple. But when the wife was being interviewed by the Ground Force team ahead of time, she looked absolutely dejected that Alan and his team weren't going to do their garden. So, to make a cross-over episode, Alan had Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and "Handy" Andy Kane redo the garden, so both spouses wound up getting a surprise at the end of the show. A wonderful episode. I really want Alan, Tommy and Charlie to come to the US and do my yard...