CBS All-Access, the streaming service exclusive to ViacomCBS, has expanded its list of available series for subscribers. This includes Celebrity Deathmatch, a stop motion animated series that ran on MTV and pitted celebrities against each other in violent fictional fights. Both the fifth and sixth seasons are now available.
Originally created by Eric Fogel, Celebrity Deathmatch ran from 1998 until 2002, spanning 75 episodes. During this time, some of Hollywood’s biggest names fought to the death, albeit in clay form. The series later returned in 2006 and ran for another two seasons. Fogel was not involved, however, for these two seasons while Jack Fletcher, Dave Thomas and Andrew Horne directed.
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“Let’s go Celebrity DeathMatch on CBS all access,” one fan commented on Twitter after ViacomCBS broke the news. Many others echoed this sentiment and said that the streaming app just headed to the top of the list of favorites. Celebrity Deathmatch was the primary reason for this ranking.
According to CBS, this includes matches such as Jimmy Kimmel vs. Carson Daly, Jessica Simpson vs. Nick Lachey, Jack White vs. Jack Black and Bruce Willis vs. Ashton Kutcher. Even Danica Patrick makes an appearance to fight former tennis star Anna Kournikova.
While the claymation characters fought, a duo of commentators provided ridiculous calls. Johnny Gomez was the professional and kept the broadcast moving. Nick Diamond, on the other hand, constantly made mistakes. Occasionally, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would show up and provide some guest commentary.
Of course, Celebrity Deathmatch was a “legitimate” fighting competition and needed a referee. Real-world boxing referee Mills Lane filled this role. He would start every match by saying, “Let’s get it on” and then would make sure that the fighters followed the rules and kept the matches clean. Although he had a tendency to allow some very questionable tactics.
With the announcement that Celebrity Deathmatch is on CBS All-Access, there are now questions about the reboot. MTV previously announced in 2018 that Ice Cube would partner with Fogel to bring back the series. The two men would serve as executive producers alongside Jeff Kwatinetz, who works on the Cube Vision production company.
No new updates have surfaced in the time since this announcement, which prompted concerns about a potential cancellation. Some fans expressed the opinion that the silence meant terrible news. Now, however, the situation has changed. Having Celebrity Deathmatch streaming on CBS All-Access creates hope that the reboot will actually take place.
Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.
