I feel compelled to share with you the television programming I have been enjoying lately:

Fast N’ Loud (Discovery): Everyone assumes that because I like NASCAR that I must be a “car person” and I’m not, at least not in the traditional sense. I like driving (it’s where I do my best thinking) and I like having a nice car with great features (butt warmers!!) but I’m not worried about the differences between this year’s models versus last years or whether or not a certain manufacturer is better than another one. I don’t care that much. I remember in high school the guys who would bring car magazines to class and talk AT LENGTH about what kind of wheels they’d get for their dream car. I only feel that way when I’m looking through a Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel catalog.

With that said, “Fast N’ Loud” is the ONLY show about cars that I watch and I love it. It’s a reality-like show (except real) about a guy, Richard Rawlings, who owns a garage that restores and customizes old & classic cars and then sells them as fast as he bought them. So he flips cars the way people do houses with the help of his friend Aaron Kaufman, who’s the head mechanic/design guy and has a seriously long beard that I would really like to shave off of him just so I can see what he’d look like without it.

Richard is hilarious and charismatic and the rest of the guys in the garage are extremely likable. I don’t know, there’s something about the show that feels really realistic and relateable. Richard isn’t making a TON of money, and each episode shows how much he makes or loses when he brings a car to auction or sells it to some random person. I like watching him negotiate with people when he’s buying or selling. Negotiating for money kind of freaks me out, but when I watch him do it I feel like I could do it. And I do enjoy learning about the history of various cars and what they’re worth today.

This show is so fun, I recommend that you watch at least ONE episode if you haven’t already. I also hope that NASCAR will bring them out to a race, preferably one that I’m at, because I’d love to meet those guys. One of my new “dreams” is to have them customize a car for me. 🙂

The Following (FOX): This show stars Kevin Bacon and it freaks me the eff out! I feel like I should watch, like, 10 Disney movies just to get rid of the creepiness that sticks to me. It’s about a crazy serial killer that’s in prison but he’s got this legion of “followers” who are carrying out horrible crimes on his behalf. It’s just horrible but I can’t NOT watch this friggin’ show.

Downton Abbey (PBS): The third season is over, which is INCREDIBLY sad, but I still had to write about how much I adore this show. I’m pissed about how the season ended but I’ll get over it. The show is set in the 20’s in England and focuses on a highfalutin family and their “downstairs” staff. If you saw the movie (a classic that I LOVE) “Gosford Park”, and liked it, you can roll right into Downton with no problems, the show and the movie were written by the same guy, Julian Fellowes. In season 4 I really hope that Edith finds a man that has NO ISSUES whatsoever, no crazy wife or bad arms, and gets married. I know a lot of people don’t like Edith, but in light of the recent events of my love life I feel like I can relate to her most of all. I just want to find an awesome guy, fall in love, get married and have babies. Bim, bam, boom. 🙂

Malibu Country (ABC): I can’t decide who I love more on this show, Reba McEntire or Lilly Tomlin?? I love them both so frigging much I guess it doesn’t really matter. They are so funny. It’s a sitcom about a country singer who leaves her husband after she finds out he cheated on her and takes her two kids and her mother (the awesome Lilly Tomlin) to live in Malibu. I don’t think I’ve read anything anywhere about anyone talking about this show, so I feel like it deserves a lot of props and attention. It’s funny and it’s my favorite thing to watch on Friday nights.