It’s a sad commentary on the state of small-screen entertainment when high-profile scandal mongers and former child television stars face each other in the boxing ring to duke it out for the title of biggest wash-up.
The prerecorded bouts will air tonight on Fox with Paula Jones, who accused former President Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances, pitted against the “pride of Portland” Tonya Harding. Former “Brady Bunch” star Barry Williams will go toe-to-toe with “Partridge Family” mediocre-actor-cum-mediocre-talk-show-host Danny Bonaduce. Originally Amy “Long Island Lolita” Fisher was set to fight Harding but she backed out, presumably to salvage some integrity. You could say Fox has sunk to new levels with “Celebrity Boxing,” but then again we can’t expect anything less from a network that has aired such pop culture jewels as “Temptation Island,” and “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire.”
So why does Fox keep producing these kinds of shows? Because C-list-type celebrities simply refuse to forgo their 15 minutes of fame and fade into obscurity like any self-respecting loser would. It’s time people like Harding and Jones leave the American public alone — if we want to watch a staged fight, we’ll watch WWF.