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Slice & Dice

Famous folks do battle on MTV's
"Celebrity Deathmatch."

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
Special to The Jewish News

R

umor has it that the
Hanson brothers cried
when they were fatally
skewered by the Spice
Girls. In fact, their father called MTV
to lobby a complaint.
We're not talking about the real-life
Hanson brothers, of course, but their
clay action-figure alter egos on
"Celebrity Deathmatch." Created by
29-year-old Eric Fogel, and airing at
10 p.m. Thursdays on MTV, it is one
of the cable network's hottest shows.
Who's been going head to head in
the ring? Rosie O'Donnell squared off
against Oprah .Winfrey (their match
ended in a draw), and Barbra
Streisand was pulverized by Aretha
Franklin. Jerry Seinfeld and Tim Allen
have tangled, and singer Mariah Carey
tussled with comic actor Jim Caney.
Lightweight Fiona Apple duked it out
with Blues Traveler heavyweight John
Popper. And in a couples duel, Demi
Moore and Bruce Willis (before their
split) went up against Tom Cruise and
Nicole Kidman.

In the middle is the clay action-fig-
ure of Mills Lane, with voiceovers by
the real-life referee who officiated at
the famous boxing match in which
Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander
Holyfield's ear.
"Celebrity Deathmatch" began last
fall, as part of MTV's "Cartoon Sushi"
spectacle. Its first episode featured a
brawl between horrific rocker Marilyn
Manson and convicted killer Charles
Manson. The outcome? Marilyn won
the sobriquet of "Most Evil Man in
America," and keeps showing up on
other episodes to rid the ring of all
opponents.
Fogel's favorite match, though, is
the [Sylvester] Stallone-[Arnold]
Schwarzenegger face-off. "It's always
been a fantasy of mine to see those
two characters together and in real
life," says the Long Island, N.Y.,
native. "Their salaries don't permit
that to happen; so we made it happen,
which I feel pretty good about."
"Deathmatch" may be a cartoon
parody of real-life celebrities, but be
forewarned: The fights get brutal and
bloody — even if the blood is only
made of clay. Fogel isn't trying to hurt
anyone's feelings, he
says. He just wants to
throw a little humor
into the oh-so-public
lives of celebrities.
Each week, Fogel
and a staff of writers
leaf through current
publications, looking
for hot topics to paro-
dy. So it's no wonder
that, in a recent
episode, Hillary
Rodham Clinton did
battle with Monica
Lewinsky.
And the show
seems to be a hit
among at least some
of its celebrity stars.
Howard Stern called

Left: Rosie O'Donnell
takes on Oprah Winfrey
in the ring, as Mills
Lane referees.

9/18
1998

www.detroitjewishnews.com

Detroit Jewish News