The weather's getting cooler, but the newest TV Guide, which features Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane on its cover, is steaming up.

Dane is part of the magazine's "Hot List," in which 25 sensations of the coming season are profiled. Here's what TV Guide has to say about Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a. McSteamy:

HEAT SOURCE: Look no further than this season's second episode, in which Eric Dane (a.k.a. McSteamy, or Dr. Mark Sloan) emerges from Addison's hotel bathroom in a cloud of steam. And not much else.

"I had a towel on," said the real-life husband of actress and Vanished star Rebecca Gayheart. "We also had to use double-stick tape." Ouch!

WHERE YOU'VE SEEN HIM: Although he became a water cooler obsession after hitting on Meredith and getting punched out by Derek last season, Dane is a familiar face on the big and small screen. He appeared in the medical drama Gideon's Crossing, spent two seasons on Charmed, and played Multiple Man in last summer's blockbuster X-Men: The Last Stand.

WHO HIS CHARACTER WILL ANNOY MOST: Conventional wisdom says it's gotta be McDreamy, right? If last Thursday's "What I Am" is any indication, don't be so certain.

"I couldn't answer," Dane jokes, "not without having to kill you."

Spoken like a true, full-time Grey's Anatomy cast member, which he now is. We all know Shonda Rhimes' penchant for secrecy.

ON GETTING SUCKER PUNCHED: "I don't think Mark has a glass jaw by any stretch, but he certainly deserved what Derek gave him," Dane said. "What he did with Addison doesn't make him the best friend, but there is a set of circumstances that perhaps don't make the affair okay, but in some way validate everyone's actions."

So how did Mark suddenly appear in Addison's hotel room?

"I think Addison called and he came. New York to Seattle is not too far to go for a woman like that. Mark is always a phone call away," he said.

Besides being a little too available, Dane is adamant that Mark is not a sociopath.

"But he doesn't have too much of a filter. When he sees what he wants, he goes after it. Mark Sloan is misunderstood. He is more apt to give a burn victim a new face than augment someone's breasts. He just doesn't like to sleep alone. And personally, I can't blame him."

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.