Celebrity Deathmatch Praised



.c The Associated Press



By FRAZIER MOORE



NEW YORK (AP) -- ``Celebrity Deathmatch'' is funny. Violently funny. Gruesomely funny.



And that's not all. It's a breath of fresh air in a world suffocating on celebrity. Take a whiff of this: famous people fabulously clobbering each other!



Granted, the mayhem and matchups are all (sigh) make-believe. It isn't really Ice Cube who squares off against Ice-T. Or Hillary Rodham Clinton punishing Monica Lewinsky. Or Britain's Prince Charles vs. the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.



But it's the next best thing. On ``Deathmatch,'' the celebrities are represented by puppet caricatures. Then these clay-and-plastic effigies come out swinging on this ultimate-fighting spoof.



``Celebrity Deathmatch,'' which airs on MTV at 10 p.m. EDT Thursday, is produced in a tranquil high-rise in Manhattan's theater district. In each of a dozen offices-turned-studios, action sequences with the Barbie-size replicas are meticulously animated, frame by frame.



Overseeing this entire pugilistic enterprise is Eric Fogel, who created the series.



``No harm intended,'' said the 29-year-old Fogel who, in T-shirt and cords, seemed sufficiently credible professing his ``innocent love of cartoon violence.''



He was talking about the time-honored toon convention that permits Wile E. Coyote to sustain a grievous injury in his pursuit of the Road Runner, then fully recover by the next scene. That's what inspires Fogel to put Larry King in the ring with Geraldo Rivera, who, stretching back Larry's suspender and letting it go, lops off Larry's left arm at the shoulder.



``No harm intended,'' as Fogel would say. And one-armed Larry King fights on.



Meanwhile, from the announcers' booth in the Deathmatch Arena, tuxedoed Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond dispatch their zesty analysis.



Hear Nick introducing the event that pits Madonna against Michael Jackson: ``Two pop stars ... one ring ... equals Deathmatch carnage the whole family can enjoy!''



But when the Gloved One encounters Madonna's flying fists, he clearly doesn't have a prayer. ``His innocence may shame our corrupt adult world,'' Johnny muses, ``but it's no match for kah-rah-taaay!''



On another card, watermelon-smashing comic Gallagher swiftly finishes off the rock-star Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel -- by smashing both their heads with a sledgehammer.



And when the female stars of ``Friends'' duke it out, Jennifer Aniston beans Courteney Cox with an espresso machine. Then Courteney stuffs her knee down Lisa Kudrow's throat.



``I'll allow it!'' barks the anything-goes referee, Mills Lane.



No one gets out of that match alive.



Along with the appeal of its comic bloodlust, Fogel conceded that his show ``does celebrate the absurdity of the glamorous life these people live, and of all of us viewing it.''



Trouble is, most flesh-and-blood celebrities spend too much time savoring that glamour and the public's fixation on fame -- and not enough time defending their title. No wonder there's a glut of celebrities.



``Celebrity Deathmatch'' presents the much-needed solution. Let real-life celebs, pumped on the steroids of vanity and privilege, put their fame on the line in the Deathmatch ring. There, the weaker celebrity will fall to the fiercest. What an entertaining way for them to thin their ranks!



(No harm intended by this plan.)



``My only hope is, they can appreciate the joke and the humor,'' said Fogel, speaking of the celebrities he parodies. ``And most of them do.''



Their approval isn't needed, he said, and they are never notified in advance. Their voices are supplied by impersonators. Therefore, anyone famous is fair game.



But where can Fogel go after Jim Carrey vs. Mariah Carey (with Drew Carey thrown in)? Or, thanks to the handy ``Deathmatch'' time machine, Moses vs. the Pharaoh, with Mills Lane cast as God the Almighty Ref?



Or Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer and Tyra Banks fashionably maiming one another for the Deathmatch Spring Collection?



``One thing we're starting to explore is physically challenged celebrities,'' said Fogel, careful not to slight any sector of celebritydom. ``Maybe a wheelchair demolition derby: Chris Reeve and Stephen Hawking.



``As long as the violence stays cartoonish and unrealistic ... ,'' he said, ``I think we're safe to try almost anything.''



But whatever they try, you can count on their celebrities to wage a good, clean brawl. Make sure to inhale.



AP-NY-04-21-99 1301EDT