Cash in the Attic

The Gnome thought that BBC America would be a lifeline of British TV whilst here in Manhattan. A way to keep up to date with the innovative programme development for which British TV is rightly famous.

Instead there seems to be a constant diet of all those programmes that act as schedule filler - cheap to make, presented by non-entities and of no real artistic value. So enamoured are BBC America of these programmes that they don't just show one a day - oh no. They have whole days devoted to Changing Rooms, What Not to Wear, House Invaders and the Gnome's personal bug bear Cash in the Attic.

For those that haven't had the pleasure, Cash in the Attic sends antique experts to peoples' homes and gets them to auction off heirlooms for piddling sums of money. One participant was told his would make the princely sum of £235 - and everyone seemed terribly exicted about it.

The only hope for this programme is the possibility of out-takes. Surely somewhere in the archives there is a scene where Mr Dull brings in Granny's prized lacework quilt, handed reverently down through the generations and the expert says 'No, that's shit - won't fetch a penny'. Now that would be entertainment...