Lately, every magazine has to have its HOT list. "Entertainment Weekly" has its IT list. "Rolling Stone" even copied itself this year by making a COOL issue. Well, we are daring to be different, pointing out the trends, people, and products in today's pop culture landscape that make us feel neither hot nor cold, but rather kind of….eh., well, you know, just kinda….tepid. We don't really love them, but we really don't hate them either. What could possibly incite such strong feelings of ambivalence? Read on!

Tepid Line in a Boy Band Song: "The ice around my neck" from N Sync's "Pop"
Er, who do they think you are? Are they really trying to get "street cred?" Just say "diamonds," not ice. Or better yet, don't say anything at all. If we cared about N Sync we might really get upset about this.

Tepid Celebrity Couple: Alec Baldwin and Kristin Davis
Wow, the guy who got his big gig in Pearl Harbor because Kevin Costner was too expensive and the third banana from Sex and the City. Move over, Tom and Penelope!

Tepid hit TV show: Everybody Loves Raymond
Sure it's popular, but who goes out of their way to watch it or talk about it? Do people gather around the water cooler Tuesday morning and swap punchlines from it? Will people remember it 20 years from now? Hmm. Maybe they will. Well, that wouldn't really be so bad.

Tepid pro wrestling storyline: The WWF verbal feud between Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon
Yeah, it has its funny parts, but face it – it's getting kind of old.

Tepid Fox News Channel Pundit: Mort Kondracke
It's not like he really agitates us one way or the other.

Tepid Angelina Jolie Rumor: She is/will be pregnant with Billy Bob's baby
Yeah, on the one hand, it is kind of interesting. But then again, this one's been around for months and nothing's come of it. So we would just as soon it went away. Let's start something new-like she wants to take her out her own appendix and bronze it for Billy Bob.

Tepid camera angle used during televised baseball coverage: You know that overhead shot that looks down on the batter's box and shows the ball going over (or not going over) home plate?
Well, the novelty has worn off.

Tepid indie film: Greenfingers
It might be cool since it has that Croupier guy in it. But it doesn't sound all that interesting. Well, maybe we'll see it if everything else is sold out. Or catch it on video.

Tepid section in a major entertainment magazine: The Shaw Report in "Entertainment Weekly"
We think the style and fashion stuff is pretty lame. Then again, it only takes up one little box at the bottom of a page or so in the magazine, so what good would it do to get all worked up about it?

Tepid fashion accessory: The generic black glasses worn by Danny the Janitor in The Score
Come on, guys, show some style! They may have wanted to show the janitor was a little out of it fashion-wise, but did they have to give him a look that was so wrong for him – so...tepid? On the other hand, the guy wasn't supposed to be a fashion plate. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal after all. Hmm. Hard to say.

Tepid TV Land scheduling decision: Running Andy Griffith twice a night.
We never really cared for the show, so does it have to be on all the time? Of course, it must be drawing decent ratings for them to do that, so we can't really complain.

Tepid supermodel: Stephanie Seymour
Back in the day, when she was in "Sports Illustrated" and Axl's videos, sure, she was something, but these days, she really doesn't do much for us, to be honest.

Tepid soft drink commercial: The Christina Aguilera Coke spots
They just aren't as cool as Britney's Pepsi spots. I mean, it almost seems like they're actually trying to sell the drink or something.

Tepid comic strip: Beetle Bailey
Doesn't get the "you suck" reaction of Cathy or Ziggy, but can't really be counted on for a belly laugh, either. It just is sort of there, has been there forever, and will be there forever. That's the timeless tepidity (we'd look that up to see if it were a word if we were really worked up about it) of a comic strip whose one concession to time in the past 20 years was adding an Asian solider named "Corporal Yo." Come on, no base closing jokes? No "gays in the military" humor? We just can't get excited without some.

Tepid celebrity addiction: Cocaine
Alcohol is still pretty hip – it's timeless – and heroin...well, heroin as a celebrity addiction is SO early nineties. Cocaine…well, it can go either way. It's not as hot as it was back in the '80s-even Robert Downey Jr. throws in pills now when he gets busted-but it's still not "out" so much you can't get some good headlines for it.

Tepid upcoming blockbuster: Minority Report
OK, so it has Spielberg and Cruise. Well, Spielberg's star is dimmed by A.I. and his association (however sketchy it's becoming) with the increasingly lame Jurassic park franchise. As for Tom Cruise, well, the movie everyone really cares about is the one where he met Penelope Cruz. This one is about, what? The future...cops...it could be interesting. Or not. Either way, life goes on.

Tepid reality show scandal: The rigamarole over the staging of Manhunt
This would be a really funny story and it is sort of interesting to read about the manipulation of a reality show-if more than a dozen people actually watch the show.

Tepid novel: Nick Hornby's How to be Good
Loved High Fidelity and About a Boy. But this one is getting mixed reviews. We may just check it out from the library or something.

Tepid starlet: Erika Christensen
Sure, she was good in Traffic, but as a starlet...it's like she wants to be a serious actress. We aren't getting any cool party circuit stories about her. We're not even sure she's really a "starlet," come to think of it. Forget we brought it up.