MR. CLEAN

I’ve known people who drooled over the guy on the Mr. Clean bottle. That bald head, the earring, the tight white tee, the muscles,...yeah, I can see the appeal. As far as household product spokesmen, Mr. Clean easily trumps Mr. Whipple and the Maytag repair guy. Still, I have no interest in a man whose cologne emits a fresh pine scent. (And, just to nitpick, the thick white eyebrows look like a mutation from nuclear accident. Do they glow?)

My “Mr. Clean” is a television actor who enticed me to watch “Wings” despite the regularity of writing mediocrity. I was a Tim Daly fan. Hard to believe this slim, pretty man was the brother of Cagney. Or Lacey. On "Wings", Daly played the perennial good guy, the flip side of TV brother Steven Weber's slightly dirty, creepy persona. Daly is the pilot I picture when I hear someone croon "Come Fly with Me." If only he asked!

I was truly taken with Tim. "Wings" was a fluff show sandwiched between two genuinely funny sitcoms and, sometimes on Thursday nights, I'd mute the volume, go about doing other things and feel an "Aah" moment every time I glimpsed the dashing Joe Hackett on screen. He was always worth watching.

Thomas Gibson of “Dharma and Greg” would have been Daly’s kissing cousin—also pretty with the high cheekbones, wavy, parted hair and air of wholesomeness, but somehow less sexy. (Maybe it was just too much screen time with Jenna Elfman.) Interestingly, both Daly and Gibson have starred in a major sitcom and in medical dramas (“Private Practice” and “Chicago Hope”, respectively). I think that speaks to both men carrying a hot, intellectual vibe.

Since departing “Private Practice”, my Mr. Clean has been largely unseen. I’m ready once more for my Daly dose.