Haahahahaa! Karen this is SO funny. I'm bursting into laughter reading these posts again, and remembering writing and reading them at the time. Well done! And my favourite part about Martha Stewart dropping in with her dish towel parachute!!! WAY too funny!

Hello, My name is Jeaniemarie. I am 32 years old. My fiance and I purchased our home in January 2005. Our home is located in Brick, NJ. It was built in 1991 and pretty-much everything is original. The people who owned our home before us didn't take care of it very well. We have a lot of work to fix it up. The biggest thing with us fixing it is the time and money. I work up in Old Bridge, NJ and my fiance works for a testing company located in Metuchen. Most of his work is in New York City. It just seems we are always getting home late and we never have the time or the money. We still have boxes we didn't unpack. Our bedroom looks horrible and we never even had a chance to set up our bedroom set. Our bathroom needs new tile and a new vanity. The siding on our house is falling off and is cracked in places. Our garage door is broke and only opens from the inside. Our back deck is loose and not even attached to the house, when you step out on it, it feels like it is going to collapse. We would greatly appreciate any help fixing up our home. Thank you very much, Jeaniemarie

The only reason why I watch HGTV any more is if I'm channel surfing and need a breather for a couple of minutes. I don't need to watch anything for long because I know exactly what people will say ("needs updating," "stainless," "granite," "open concept") and because the end product is so predictible - and so predictibly soulless. Like someone said, it's the Target look. Plus, like some have mentioned, it's the lack of respect for perfectly good rooms. Oh, excuse me, perfectly good "spaces." I have seen a few shows in which original details, usually done in good materials and that have a certain amount of interest (not to mention, fit the style and period of the house) are ripped out in order to "update." I've seen it on both Love It or List It and on Property Brothers. What's both amusing and sad is that viewers are being spoonfed a bill of unpalatable goods. First, they're led to believe that every house they buy or live in needs "updating." That of course, costs money, money that they might not (probably do not) have to spend. I know - we all realize the whole point of these shows is to get people into stores for expensive things like countertops, cabinets, stainless steel whatevers; to get them to redo entire rooms, especially kitchens and bathrooms. My opinion: Closely related is that the shows lead people to believe there's no other way to decorate their houses. Like decordummy says, what about antiques? The irony is that if you flip through Architectural Digest, World of Interiors, Antiques & Fine Art, and other magazines like those, you'll see both antiques and ornamentation/anti-Target look. That's not to say there's nothing contemporary, but houses in those magazines show individuality, creativity, they reflect a personality and point of view - even when the look has been 100% created by the designer. The other amusing but not-really-funny aspect of the HGTV philosophy is the whole "open concept" thing. I sure hope first-time home buyers, particularly people who buy new houses, understand what's going on with that. What a scam, if you ask me. What a gift to home builders, and with the buyers paying the bill! Same square footage, but what's missing with those "open concept" houses? Doors, walls, moldings, hardware, trim, and all the other things that define actual rooms. Instead, people are paying the same amount per square foot for "spaces." I've wandered a little OT, but not entirely, I hope. Oh, and will someone please mail those property brothers a decent shaver?

I don't think most of mine start next month, but: Homeland The Affair The Americans Rectify Billions: this one is not my favorite as I can't stand most of the actors, but I am loyal to Damian Lewis who I loved in Homeland and in The Forsyte Saga, so I will watch it. Bloodline The Fall (BBC) Gee, just typing that list out made me eager. I just rewatched all of Homeland to prepare for the next season and heard today it won't start until January :(