Two-fifths of NSYNC just picked up a new gig. Lance Bass and Joey Fatone are hosting Cocktail Wars, a new competition reality series that premieres tonight, and according to the reporting out there you can watch it without paying, though the details depend on where the show actually lands.

Per Just Jared, the show pits bartenders against each other in a cocktail-making competition, with celebrity judges stopping by to decide who shakes, stirs and garnishes their way to the top. The judges are part of the format, and Just Jared's writeup covers the how-to-watch angle, so if you're plotting your evening around this, that's where the specifics live.

I can't independently confirm the exact free-access mechanics so I won't pretend to. The general rule I've repeated before with Lanterns and the Real Housewives girls trip still applies wherever this thing ends up: if there's a free trial involved, set a calendar reminder for when it ends, because these services are counting on you forgetting.

Now, am I going to watch? My reality TV credentials run deep. I have seen every season of The Challenge currently available to human eyes, I sat through the entire Tiger King media cycle, and I will defend the honor of a well-constructed competition format until I'm blue in the face. The formula works when the judges have chemistry and the contestants actually know their craft, and watching a skilled bartender work hits the same pleasure center as watching a great line cook. Craft is craft.

The Lance and Joey pairing is the whole pitch, really. Those two have been doing the affable-buddy-routine circuit for years and they're good at it. They know when to goof, when to get out of the way, and when to lean on the nostalgia without making it weird. That's rarer than it sounds. Plenty of hosts treat a gig like this as beneath them, and you can feel it right through the screen.

So that's the setup. Premiere tonight, celebrity judges on the panel, bartenders fighting for whatever the crown turns out to be. If you tune in and it's good, let me know, because my watchlist for the rest of August is already a crime scene and I could use a fun one. And if it's bad, tell me that too. I don't believe in guilty pleasures, but I do believe in not wasting your Tuesday.