Deborah "Debbie" Liebling is an American film producer who served as an executive producer for Comedy Central BattleBots from 2000 until 2002.
At the time of co-creators Greg Munson and Trey Roski searching for a network to pick up BattleBots, Liebling was the Comedy Central network's Senior Vice President of original programming and development. She in particular believed that BattleBots would be a good fit for Comedy Central, advocating for it to be turned into a television series.
- "It was nothing like anything on television, which was always a big draw for me. It was really funny, and really nerdy. The Internet was not a big thing yet, so the nerd culture wasn't so celebrated. It was sports for the nerdy person, I guess. And we thought it would fit our demographic."
- — Debbie Liebling on BattleBots as a concept[2]
She believed it would suit the young adult demographic Comedy Central targeted, but pushed for, in Munson's words, "bigger and better hot babes" to feature as part of the show's attempt to lure in the intended demographic.[2]
- "We thought we needed a hot girl for the show, as shows on male-skewing networks often do. Carmen Electra was pretty hot at the time."
- — Debbie Liebling on the decision to cast Carmen Electra[2]
This was strongly disliked and discouraged by co-creators Munson and Roski. As Comedy Central opted to axe BattleBots in 2002, so ended Debbie Liebling's involvement with the show.
Outside BattleBots[]
Having graduated from Boston University in 1981, Debbie Liebling has held several high-profile roles within major film and television production companies, such as Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox. While at the latter, she oversaw the production of films such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Borat.
Among her catalogue of filmography is South Park, for which she held the role of executive producer and earned three Emmy nominations.