Hunks And Cheese Balls

Meet Darren, a 23-year-old yacht-club manager with tousled blond hair and a cute British accent. You might call him a dream date. But then, you haven't met his main rival: Nico, 19, a bodyguard with slicked-back hair, a macho manner and a size 18 shoe. "Great lips -- fit perfectly with mine," drools one of three women who went on a date with Nico. Says another: "If he had kissed my neck, I would've lost control." For Darren, however, the postdate comments run from "He looked like he just woke up" to a grumbly "He paid the check, I left the tip." And when the women are asked which of the two is more likely to fall asleep after sex, guess whom they pick? Sorry, Darren.

Brace yourself for Studs. This relationship game show -- a sort of hormone- injected version of Love Connection -- is currently syndicated on only 17 stations, but ratings are soaring. (In Washington the show beat all three late-night local newscasts for two weeks in July.) The premise: two hunky bachelors are sent on dates with the same three women. All five then come on the show, and the guys try to guess what the gals said about them. The comments range from titillating ("I loved the way he sucked my pinky") to taunting ("He was a class-A cheese ball"). Either way, the studio audience whoops and screeches in voyeuristic glee.

Prodded by host Mark DeCarlo, the show revels in double entendres but primly stops short of going all the way. "Mine was harder, but his was bigger," says Kathi about Michael. Turns out (wink, wink) she's comparing their biceps. "There's kind of an arbitrary line that we can't cross," says executive producer Howard Schultz. "We don't try to hit the nail on the head." Be thankful for small favors.