Photo: MTV
Back in the days when MTV was a young and promising TV channel with some good music and interesting shows like the long forgotten Beavis and Butthead, they also made a stop-motion animated show called Celebrity Deathmatch. In the show, various celebrities fight each other to death all the while using some of their unique characteristics and saying famous lines. Besides the referee portrayed by Mills Lane, the episodes also featured two commentators who set up the scene and guide us through the fights. Of course, the whole point of Celebrity Deathmatch was the gruesome way in which they killed each other. Considering the characters were all made out of plasticine, the creators could be as gory as they wanted without the need for censorship. It’s been almost 20 years since the first episode aired, so to honor their memory, let’s take a look at some of the most memorable moments from the season 1 – the best season.
The Pilots
The first ever episode of Celebrity Deathmatch was released on January 1st, 1998 and featured just one fight between Charles Manson and Marilyn Manson. It set the tone for the rest of the show. The key moment was, of course, Marilyn pulling Charles’ skeleton out through the mouth and winning the match. People were either grossed out or totally hooked on every following episode. The second, real pilot, featured three fights including the final one between Spice Girls (remember them?) and Hanson (you definitely don’t remember them) that ended with Marilyn killing them all. He was quite popular at the time, so this match, in a way, reflected it.
Episode 1
The first proper episode that was released in May same year parodied, at the time, still fresh Lewinsky scandal and featured a fight between Hilary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. After them came Jim Carrey and Mariah Carrey, both in their primes, but Mariah a bit more dangerous with her head-exploding octaves. Finally, the third fight was between Jerry Seinfeld and Tim Allen (who?) that ended with the rest of the Seinfeld cast beating up Jerry senselessly. The episode featured a number of clever and relevant references, which made it such an entertaining watch.
Episode 2
The second episode was also quite memorable and started with the fight between Rosie O’ Donnel and Oprah Winfrey. This was in the days before political correctness, so the show never refrained from making fun of its stars, including comments on their weight. The second fight was between Noel and Liam Gallagher. By taking a look at the date, you can see that the two brothers that made up Oasis feuded even then. Of course, the stars of the episode were Stallone and Schwarzenegger who were at the very top of their games in 1998. No one could even imagine them two actually starring in a film together many years after.
Episode 8
Today’s audience would probably be scratching their heads at these names, but back in the days, John Tesh and David Hasselhoff were quite popular. OK, you might not be that familiar with John Tesh, but David made a name for himself playing Mitch Buchannon in the Baywatch. These two fought in episode 8, right after Puff Daddy and Trent Reznor had a go at one another. The last fight of the episode was the epic Bruce Willis and Demi Moore pair versus Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Looking back at it from this perspective, you can’t not feel nostalgic.
Episode 11
While the last episode of the season was indeed great, the one before was probably better. Appropriately named “37th Annual Sci-Fi Fight Night,” the episode featured Celine Dion transformed into a huge, evil alien overlord. After killing Keith Flint (you probably know from Prodigy), the alien killed one of the presenters and fought the other one in the ring. The final epic fight was between two most famous alien-hunting couples – the Men in Black and The X-Files agents Mulder and Scully. The winners were Duchovny and Scully because Will Smith managed to vaporize himself and Tommy Lee accidentally.
What is your favorite moment from Celebrity Deathmatch season 1? What other seasons come to your mind?
