"If there's one thing in this world that we can be sure of," Richard Rubin '05 proclaimed on primetime TV, "it's that I will never get laid." Nasal-voiced, awkward as hell, but officially adorable, Rubin is Brandeis' most recent star in Hollywood.When I spoke to Rubin in July, he was cruising down the streets of L.A. In the space of our half-an-hour interview, he was stopped by a woman screaming at him, "Oh my God were you in Beauty and the Geek? I loved you in that show!"

Since then he's been on Live with Regis and Kelly, Punk'd, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Teen Choice Awards and VH1's Best Week Ever.

It all started with Ashton Kutcher's summer attempt at reality TV-a game show on the WB that was supposed to change eight nerds into men with social skills and eight clueless girls into intelligent human beings. The biggest surprise hit of all was our Richard-the geekiest of geeks.

In the final episode, Rubin and his partner Mindi were one of two remaining couples competing for their share of $250,000.

Rubin lost the prize money to his rival Chuck. But there was no doubt that he had won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

The night the final episode aired, the internet was awash with support for "Never Kissed a Girl" Richard.

Ninety-three out of 100 postings on the WB Web site's "feedback board" said that they were rooting for Rubin-Anna from Oregon wrote ecstatically on July 6, "I love Richard!!!!!! He is so funny and cute in a geeky way!!" and Adam from New York wrote, "didnt think id be such a big fan! rich is the coolest, good luck buddy, try to kiss her!"

So, should we be pleased that Richard is representing Brandeis' on the small screen? Reactions are mixed.

My friend Amanda Li, a junior at Columbia, told me, "He pissed me off. He was the entire reason I couldn't stand to watch the show. My guess would be he accounts for maybe 30 percent of the population of Brandeis. I mean it makes sense that's where he's from." Ouch. Thanks, Amanda.

Cyrus Gewecke from Harvard, Mass., was a bit more positive: "That kid is amazing; he's pretty much the only reason I could ever see watching that show. I would have guessed he was from Brandeis if I hadn't been told," he said. "He has a lot of energy and very little social sense." He continued, joking, "Basically I'm sure he would be my best friend."

After watching the show more times than I want to admit, I've come to the conclusion that if Brandeis needs a representative on primetime TV, we could do much worse than Richard Rubin.

Richard's charm comes from the fact that he has perfectly mastered the art of self-deprecation. He's like that kid in high school who the jocks tried to tease the first day but gave up after a week because he did better nerd impressions than they did. A couple of condescending DJs on an L.A. radio show laughed at him for not knowing what Mindi meant when she said she wanted to "'spoon"' him (not as dirty as it sounds; apparently it's like cuddling, kosher enough even for Richard). He replied in self-defense, "I had never heard of the term before! But I must say, now that I've spooned, I'm ready to fork."

To make fun of yourself so perfectly-to the extent that a biased and superficial America decides that it wants you to be $250,000 dollars richer-takes a degree of self-acceptance that I imagine most of us wish we had, no matter how irritating Richard's ridiculous arm movements may be.

The question remains: Can a guy who's made his fame by being so unabashedly original survive in an industry that thrives on stereotypes? When I asked him, he seemed unsure: "Acting is...it's...ah, well...these are metaphysical questions..." he faltered.

Richard may have been deemed the Jewish Urkel, but there are certain characteristics he does not share with a Hollywood character. Richard is nobody's invention. He is constantly, and sometimes painfully, himself. And whether there's a place for a person so alien to superficiality in the industry of exteriors is anyone's guess.

At the moment, though, questions of metaphysics are the last of his concerns. Slated onto an upcoming episode of Nickelodeon's Unfabulous, Richard is focused on getting his foot in the door of a cutthroat profession.

"I'm not Tom Cruise, here," he said, "It's not like I have a major movie contract coming up. At the moment I'm just taking what I can get."

What's certain is that Richard, now more than ever, is enamored with show business. As he told me, "it's what I like doing, it's what I like to do, I like getting into a role." Will show business continue to be enamored with him? Let's hope so.