Disclaimer: The blog you are about to read contains the personal opinions of the writer. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual thoughts or opinions of others is entirely coincidental. This blog should not offend nor reflect the views or opinions of others.
. . .Anyway, it’s just a review. ABOUT CLAY CELEBRITIES!
Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s time for another edition of Animation Bang. In the late 80s and early 90s The Simpsons hit the scene and shocked the system of what a sitcom family should be and ushered in the age of adult animation. As the 90s went on we saw lots of channels start up their own animated sitcoms such as The Critic, South Park and Duckman. Surprisingly, MTV was also trying to get in on this trend. The channel had a surprising success with Bevis and Butthead, so they were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. Unfortunately, a lot of their animated shows usually had one season and then they would be canned or they flew under the radar only to be considered underrated classics years later. One of the shows that managed to stick around and get recognized by a lot of people was, Celebrity Deathmatch. Pro-wrestling was popular back in the 90s and so were celebrities with their personal life drama on full display for us to see. So why not just fuse the two together? Busting on to the scene in 1998, Celebrity Deathmatch would go on to be seen as a prime example of 90s television and today we’re gonna take a look at this show. The good and the bad. Let’s get it on!
The Plot
So the title of the show pretty much sums up the plot. The show sees celebrities enter the ring and battle to the death against each other. Sometimes the celebrities would have beef with each other, other times it was just putting two random people in the ring and having them rip each other to shreds for our amusement. It would employ stop-motion Claymation and a large amount of gore and violence to go along with it. The show was created by Eric Fogel who also directed a few episodes of Daria and a few other obscure shows down the line. Celebrity Deathmatch would make its debut at the start of 1998 with two pilot episodes that went over fairly well with viewers and the series made its official premiere in May 1998- March 2007 with a total of 95 episodes.
Main Characters
While the show would feature a number of memorable celebrities, there were three characters who remained consistent on the show.
Johnny Gomez voiced by Maurice Schalfer
One of the two joint commentators on the show. A man who does his best to be professional and often serves as the straight man to a lot of the shenanigans going on throughout the show.
Nick Diamond voiced by Len Maxwell
The second joint commentator on the show. Unlike Johnny who was the more professional of the two, Nick was the one always screwing up and causing trouble on the show with his antics. Throughout the show we learn that he’s an alcoholic, divorced, a father of one, and often has money problems. Despite all of this, he is a good commentator and someone who Johnny considers a good friend.
Mills Lane voiced by himself
The no nonsense ref of the Deathmatch ring known for his signature catchphrases: Let’s get it on and I’ll allow it. Mills Lane was in fact a professional boxer back in the day as well as a former judge.
Other Characters
Along with Johnny, Nick, and Mills, there were a few other characters who also were a mainstay on the show.
Stacey Cornbred voiced by Becca Lish
The first female interviewer of the show before unfortunately dying by spontaneous human combustion.
Debbie Matenopoulos voiced by herself
The second female interviewer who was self-centered, unprofessional, and usually just asks whatever she wants. She and Nick have disdain for each other and she had a fling with Johnny.
Tally Wong voiced by Masasa Moyo
The third and final female interviewer for the show. Sometimes self-centered and unprofessional like Debbie and often making rude remarks at those she interviews. She and Johnny have disdain for each other just like Nick and Debbie.
Stone Cold Steve Austin voiced by himself
In a working relationship with WWE (or WWF at the time), Stone Cold Steven Austin would often make guest appearances on the show serving as a guest commentator, scientist, doctor, weapons expert, and the inventor of the Deathmatch Time Machine. After the fourth season he left the show with Nick saying he was too expensive to bring back.
Episodes
Celebrity Deathmatch ran for a grand total of six seasons. The first four seasons ran from 1998-2001 before the show was cancelled by MTV. However, when MTV announced the revival of their animation program Celebrity Deathmatch was one of the shows brought back and the show received a second run from 2006-2007 before being cancelled again. The first run was good as the Claymation looked good, the jokes were funny, the fights were gory, violent, and inventive. Some of my favorites being Bob Marley vs Shaggy, Anthony Hopkins vs Jodie Foster, Jackie Chan vs Jon Claude van Dam, Jack Nicholson vs Leonardo de Caprio, Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield, Eddie Vedder vs Scott Stapp, Rage Against the Machine vs The Machine, Michael Jordan vs Dennis Rodmen and Ulysses S. Grant vs Robert E. Lee. Along with these fights they even got Bevis and Butthead to fight one another along with a few WWE superstars such as Mankind, Chyna, The Undertaker, and Vince Mcmahon himself entering the Deathmatch ring as well. In between the fights there would usually be a side B story involving Johnny and Nick. Sadly, the second run was very forgetful. Eric Fogel didn’t return because he was working on another show, the studio that did the Claymation for the first four seasons was replaced by a different studio and even the voice actors didn’t return. Johnny was now voiced by Jim Thornton and Nick was voiced by Chris Edgerly. Mills Lane unfortunately couldn’t return due to suffering a stroke in 2002 and the role was handed over to Chris Edgerly with Mill’s blessings. The writing for the second run wasn’t all that good with a lot of the jokes not being funny, the Claymation not looking all that good (like seriously, Johnny and Nick almost look alike and there’s no emotion in their eyes), and there was a lot of unnecessary gore in the fights (can’t believe I’m saying that). On top of all of this the fights weren’t really all that memorable. They were either too short or didn’t have a good and funny ending. The only fight that managed to get a good laugh out of me was Chris Farley vs Horatio Sanz. Chris Farley gets brought back to life thanks to the Deathmatch Time Machine, but as soon as he enters the ring he dies from a heart attack. Since the match never officially started, Horatio can’t be declared the winner and Chris is brought back to life only for him to die again and again and again until he finally lives long enough to kill Horatio and get the win.
Does this count as Amerime
No.
Does it deserve another season
There were talks of a revival in 2015, but Fogel confirmed via Twitter that the reboot had stopped for unknown reasons in 2016 and that the pilot would not be going forward. In 2018 there were talks about a reimagining of the show with Ice Cube as an executive producer, but there’s been no news about the new show since 2019 and many people believe the show was quietly cancelled due to either creative differences or budget issues. This was probably for the best as I just can’t see this show surviving in today’s culture. With everyone getting so easily offended by almost everything today and the show not afraid to poke fun at celebrities, it wouldn’t last long.
Final Thoughts
While the second run was bad the first run was very good. The show was fun to watch, the matches were creative, and the Claymation was solid along with some good music and jokes. When I was a kid me and my brother would always look forward to watching an episode whether it was a rewatch or a new episode. It was just a fun show to watch and that’s how a lot of people remember this show, a fun watch.
Final Score
The final score for Celebrity Deathmatch is a 6/10. A good series that’s worth going back and watching for a fun watch. You can find some of the matches up on Youtube, so check them out if you’re feeling nostalgic and want to see something fun. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj. Good fight, good night.