In my search, I found another blogger who goes into obscurities, and he has me licked on an analytical basis, to the point he finds meaning in an old episode of The Simpsons. Say what you will about what I find interesting, but I'm not the kind of person who watches stuff for deep meaning, I just want to be entertained, so my schtick is whether or not I find something entertaining along with some personal experience and whatever history I could find-
Okay, starting to ramble, 2005, washed up comedian who wound up in the crosshairs of a YouTuber at some point. Andy Milonakis.
History
I caught an episode of this show when it was new. My mom of all people showed me an episode, and bear in mind, this was before I had anything better to do. Part of me wasn't interested, and I wanted to say it was because I was following another show or network at the time, but that escapes me. All I recall is a false memory where I mixed up the production company logo with a variant that appeared on another show.
For a first time viewer, we were introduced to a kid who just so happened to get his own show, but for someone who googles on the daily, we learn that he was 29 at the time. Andy Milonakis had a growth hormone deficiency that made him look and sound younger than he actually was. After a viral video he posted in 2003, he wound up in the eyes of the benign tumor of comedy, well one of many, Jimmy Kimmel. Well, a writer for his show, and after a guest appearance, a TV series was essentially inevitable.
The Andy Milonakis Show aired for a single season on MTV in 2005, with two more coming out on MTV2 between 2006 and 2007 for a grand total of 22 episodes (eight for the first two and six for the last.) The short length and almost yearly gaps seem odd, but realistic when you get down to it (the second came during a network shuffle, plus there's the fact of working out a schedule and making new material, and the third was when Andy moved to Los Angeles from New York, I hate both areas, but if I had to choose... I prefer to be inside, and I'm not obligated to talk to people.)
Given the nature of the show, I imagine this wasn't a financial liability for Kimmel. Aside from a few guest stars, Andy was the only central star in this, with the rest of the cast being made up of roommates in his apartment, notably Ralphie who supposedly appeared on Girlfight five years beforehand (if IMDb's anything to believe, check out After Last Season's page and tell me if it's legit.) The rest of the recurring characters don't even have as much as a fleeting mention on IMDb for the record.
Structure
It's a skit comedy show. What constitutes as comedy for this is a number of childish antics which further the illusion of Andy's physical appearance not reflecting his true age. This would also correspond to the guest stars, and their inclusion amounts to just being there. Among our roster is Seth Green, Fat Joe, Lil Jon, Shaun White, Sarah Silverman, Hillary Duff (in arguably a better role than The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Paul Rubens, Akon, The All American Rejects, Nick Cannon (oh wait, he isn't anybody), John Stamos, Rob Schneider and even Kimmel (best I could say is that he didn't unleash Our Cartoon President onto the world, and that the rest of the guests came due to his connections alone.)
Another aspect of this show is its "man on the street" skits, I guess the joke is that people think he's a kid and don't go hard on him as a result. In the second and third season, there're animated segments which are more of the same. For those who don't get the joke, I imagine a lot of cartoon fans would consider them "the worst cartoon evar...R..."
The hardest thing about reviewing sketch comedy shows, especially ones with a formula, is that you can hardly think of much to say about it. The best you can say is whether or not it makes you laugh, regardless of what led to it. The jokes themselves are predictable, and there's a reliance on gross-out, if you believe Andy is a kid when watching these, you'd believe that a child made this and that's why it is the way it is, but once you find out the truth, the novelty'd fade.
But perhaps there's another edge to this show. While this came out the same year YouTube did, it was also around the time before YouTube shows became more mainstream, hell even in 2007 the most you'd get are brief funny videos and video game reviews. If I were to be so brave, I'd say this laid the catalyst for most comedic YouTubers [citation needed]. If this came out in 2007 on YouTube, it could've very well lasted for a lot longer (once you get a steady income with ad revenue you'd be making as much content as possible.)
And what of Andy nobody asked? Well while he doesn't have his show anymore, he has a very modest presence on YouTube and Twitch, though any notable things he was involved with are limited; he got into a spat with a CVS clerk due to her believing he was younger than he said he was, and he got into some beef with Memeology 101.
Overall
And yeah, I hardly have much to say about this show, once again all you can say about sketch comedy is if it's funny or not, and hey, maybe we all have different reasons to watch it. I watch it when I have nothing better to do, but it's not my humor. I'm not into gross out because it's predictable, and among the worst faults this show has is that its setups spell out what kind of skits we'd be in for. I can't knock the main actors because, yeah, for all I know they were just tenants in Andy's apartment at the time. Even the idea of tricking people in his crosshairs is lost because at best, the people who react to Andy are apathetic at best.
But there is a glimmer of hope for Andy. He is technically funnier than Jimmy Kimmel nowadays.
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