That all happened over the course of a month. Just as the mass downloading and radio calls tapered off, an e-mail from the Kimmel show popped into his in box. At first he thought it was spam, but it was a producer urging him to call right away. He did as he was told. It was 2 a.m.
A Star Is Born
Kimmel, it turns out, was instantly smitten by "Super Bowl." "I've always liked things that are intentionally stupid," he says by phone. "And this was so intentionally stupid. His comedy is something that probably would have been around a long time ago if kids had access to video cameras and editing machines and the Internet."
Kimmel played "Super Bowl" on his late-night talk show and told viewers, "The kid is going to be a star." The next night, he played another Milonakis production and announced, "Let me tell you, Leno, if you get this kid before us I will beat your face in. I swear to God."
Kimmel soon was sending Milonakis around the country to do prankish man-on-the-street interviews. Spending less and less time in the office, Milonakis was eventually fired by his accounting-firm bosses, a parting that he describes as totally amicable. They were tickled he was on TV, but they needed him around full time. With the money from those Kimmel gigs, he moved to Los Angeles, which is where he and Kimmel dreamed up a pilot to pitch to MTV. The go-ahead took months and it took even more time to put together the first season, which ends Sunday.
"It's the hardest job I've ever had," says Milonakis, who is still tinkering in post-production with one remaining episode. "When we're filming, it's like 16-hour days."
The upside is fame that Milonakis still finds surprising, given its no-brow origins. Kids are calling his mom at home, day and night. ("They say things like, 'Are you really Andy's mom?' And they want a photo," his mom says.) Recently he dipped a toe in the TV mainstream, turning up as a guest correspondent for the "Today" show, taping a report in Ohio about a bar sport called corn-holing -- you toss beanbags filled with corn into a hole, and giggle about the double-entendre name. Milonakis interviewed the competitors. ("Would you kiss an old man named George on the head for this sport?")
When the taped segment was over, the show cut live to Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Milonakis, all of whom who were standing outside the "Today" studio in Manhattan. Couric was giggling. She seemed amused and baffled.
"What are you?" she asked Milonakis.
"I'm a robot from the future," he said.
