GUILTY PLEASURE #346

VH1 doesn't offer many quality programs - witness Flavor of Love, The Fabulous Life Of... or Awesomely Wacky Celebrity Baby Names - and their new show, The Pick-Up Artist is so bad, I'm embarrassed by them, and for them.

I won't go too far out on a limb here, so as to suggest they've started quality programming... but I will admit to watching one of their shows quite regularly. (When the treadmill used to be in front of the TV, I would watch VH1 in the morning - the one time they actually show music videos.)

Yes, I will admit to watching the cheese-tastic Mission: Man Band. And not just the re-runs I happen to run into, but sitting down and purposely watching the new ones (Monday nights at 10:00 pm). Aside from the usual reality post-celebrity train-wreck watchability, the show boasts some decent eye candy. Enter, one Jeff Timmons, formerly of 98 Degrees.

For those of you out of the loop on the 1990s boyband mess, 98 Degrees was the runner-up... consistently. N'Sync had more record sales (they are represented in Mission: Man Band by the questionably talented strange looking Chris Kirkpatrick). And Backstreet Boys had better moves than 98 Degrees. But between Timmons and the brothers Lachey, 98 Degrees had the pecs, delts abs and hair-gel making their saccharine, washed-up, bleached-over tunes half palatable. (But only half, mind you.)

When Nick Lachey struck out on his own, and younger brother Drew headed off for a stint on Dancing With The Stars, that left Timmons (and the fourth, fugly member of 98 Degrees) out in the cold. And thanks to VH1, we now know why. Timmons, while lickable, likable and lovable, isn't much of a performer.

Don't get me wrong, he sings well... and that little body of his has only gotten better with time. He's just a little timid; a little reserved on stage and in the studio. And who would blame him? After a rocky career in a boy band, this Man Band (named Sureshot; check out their MySpace page here), doesn't seem like such a sure shot. But success or not, I'll be tuned in.