Outrageous Celebrity Look-Alike Behavior: Caught on Tape is a very tasteless and depraved experiment in human behavior around celebrities, brought to you as always by the Fox television network. This special puts a variety of celebrity impersonators in situations where they shock and/or appall fans with their antics. In the end, of course, the real celebrities are exonerated as the audience is let in on the joke. This celebrity-driven version of Candid Camera aired on June 16, 2003 at 8:00 PM Eastern and Pacific Daylight Time in the U.S.
Each segment introduces one or more celebrity impersonators, impeccably coiffed and groomed to look just like the real thing, the accomplices who are in on the joke, and the wacky situation. Here's the lowdown:
- "Madonna" and "Janet Jackson" get together at a crowded restaurant to discuss a new music collaboration. The two quickly get into an argument, which descends into fisticuffs, and all hell breaks loose until "Madonna" says the three words that underscore the downfall of Western civilization: "You're on FOX!"
- "Mike Tyson" (Cliff Couser, Tyson's half-brother) parades down the Las Vegas Strip drawing hordes of fans and signing (worthless) autographs. His destination is a private autograph session with his "biggest fans." After a brief Q&A with the fans, Tyson becomes flabbergasted when he sees a spider. He cannot regain his composure even after the spider is killed and the group chants a little song. Personally, I thought this was the second-least convincing demonstration; despite the fact that Couser is also a professional fighter, I don't think he can pass himself off as Tyson in a face-to-face session like this.
- "Tiger Woods" appears at an exclusive country club and gets to give three fans a personal lesson. Instead, Tiger blows up at the fans, unleashing arrogant tirades about how much they suck and how much better he is. Tiger also lashes out at his agents for getting him such a crappy gig. The fans pick up on this and start yelling back. Interestingly, the fake Tiger manages to get away with his schtick without hitting a single golf ball. The whole episode is almost believable if you've read the stories of arrogant non-fan-friendly sports figures.
- "Ozzy Osbourne" (with an awful British accent) cavorts around much like he does on The Osbournes, gathering huge crowds of fans and signing many autographs. For his stunt, he tells people that he needs to take a "piss test" for MTV but he obviously can't pass it. He asks passersby to fill a bottle with urine. Amusingly, some fans politely decline because there are some, ahem, "impurities" in their own. More amusingly, some fans actually do it.
- "Anna Nicole Smith" is not known for being very intellectual, but she tries to prove a class of college students wrong. A professor, paid off by Fox, feeds "Anna" some questions on literary terms in class. "Anna" nails them all -- even the really obscure ones -- to the shock and awe of the class. These aren't very tough questions, but "Anna" still impresses the class.
- "Bill Clinton," whose impersonator couldn't fool a blind man, dresses in a suit and is paraded around in a limousine with bodyguards. He visits an independent video store. Mr. "Clinton" quickly breaks from his fake entourage to ask patrons and employees to fetch him some porn. Video store employees paid off by Fox add to the whole effect of surprise. Personally, I think this segment was the toughest to film because it's pretty clear on close inspection that the impersonator is just that.
Personally, I thought that this show provided a refreshing albeit superficial look at how the general public treats celebrities. In my opinion, some of the celebrity impersonators didn't look very much like the real thing, but the fake entourage convinced just about everyone. When the celebrities got out of line, there was usually an alpha male ready to stand up and tell them to back off. Of course, a lot of people were just standing in awe, perhaps mentally writing a letter to The Smoking Gun about this craziness.