When I was a kid my mother had an obsession with stuff that other people did not want. We would get up early on the weekends and go to garage sales all over town looking for forgotten treasures fools were parting with. You may laugh, but I know that there are at least some of you that have looked at a couch, desk or lamp left on the side of the road with a gleam in your eye matching that of a kid on Christmas.

Now you can have all the fun of admiring someone else's junk without leaving your living room ... and without all the mess of bringing the neighbor's junk into your living room. Turner South's new show "Junkin'" travels all over the Southeast looking through Flea Markets and Yard Sales for choice finds. The show has quickly become a regular on my TV set due to the quick-witted, fun-natured hosts and the colorful array of stuff that I never dreamed was out there on the open market.

The show takes you on a journey through taste and time discovering everything from a key ring from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to an Official Captain Planet Acid Rain Testing Kit. Manned only with a small budget and their El Camino, "The General Flea," (and a camera crew of course) our intrepid hosts Val and Dave scour the Southland for interesting items making witty repartee about the diamonds in the rough they rescue from other treasure hunters. The team is actually quite amusing as they give their running commentary about the junk they find. I wonder at times if there are illicit substances hidden in "The General Flea" glove compartment.

The items themselves sometimes steal the show. Val was ecstatic to find a hair towel that boasted on the packaging that it was "Flame Retarded." You can't make this stuff up.

But that is only part of the fun. The show is just as much about the people they meet along the way. You will learn more than you ever wanted to know about the people across the bargaining table. Each episode has a host of colorful characters trying to sell their wares.

For those who cannot live without the shopping aspect of the quest for junk, don't fear. Turner South has thought of that too. Many of the items Val and Dave buy are available on the Junkin' EBay online auction. So if you absolutely need to buy that Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox they picked up in Macon, GA, you can go online and bid for it. Most of the time, Val and Dave make money on the stuff they buy -- something they bought for $0.50 sells for $10.50. We are making our hosts work for their salary.

One word of caution: There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Original shows air on Friday, but you can find repeats of the show on just about any day of the week. After a while, the show can get tired if over viewed. But if you put it down for a week or two, you will be fine and entertained as before.