Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla are done playing legal cat-and-mousetrap.
The duo, along with the warm-up comedian for Kimmel's late-night talk show, are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against them by an actor who suffered a particularly low blow when a radio promotion went awry.
Attorneys for the trio requested the suit's dismissal during a hearing Wednesday, alleging none of them were properly served in the case.
Kimmel, Carolla and Don Barris also filed declarations claiming that their respective summons' were dropped off with receptionists at their places of work, none of whom, the funnymen allege, were properly authorized to accept the paperwork on their behalf.
CBS Radio, which owns KLSX 97.1 FM, the Los Angeles radio station home to Carolla's morning show, is also seeking to be dismissed from the suit for similar reasons of improper service.
While Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judith C. Chirlin agreed that the service was insufficient, she declined to toss out the lawsuit. Instead, she asked attorneys for the defendants to make sure their clients didn't dodge the lawsuit.
"I wouldn't really expect that somebody like Kimmel and Carolla are out there where somebody could find them," Chirlin said. "I suppose you could go hang out at Dancing With the Stars if Mr. Carolla lasts there long."
Chirlin set a status conference in the case for May 22.
The lawsuit-launching injury took place on Carolla's morning radio show back on Sept. 27, 2006, when actor Perry Caravello appeared as a guest to promote the DVD of the Kimmel-produced TV movie Windy City Heat.
Egged on by Carolla's guest cohost and Jackass extraordinaire Johnny Knoxville, also named in the suit, Caravello, who starred in Heat, agreed to place his genitals in a mousetrap.
"Johnny Knoxville said straight out that if you put your penis in the mousetrap I'll give you $10 million," Caravello alleged.
Unfortunately for Caravello, and potentially any would-be offspring, the mousetrap unexpectedly snapped.
"Much to his emotional tranquility and to his physical harm, [Caravello] was severely injured when the trap literally went on his manhood," read the $10.5 million fraud and negligence suit filed by Caravello on May 31 of last year.
Adding further insult to injury, the incident was videotaped without Caravello's consent and subsequently made its way online.
While Kimmel himself was not present for the manhood-smashing encounter, Caravello alleges the producer never ponied up a promised cut of the profits from the DVD's sales. He also claims Barris, the warmup comedian on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, assaulted him without provocation before a guest spot on the talk show last year.
Knoxville did not submit a declaration seeking to be dismissed from the suit. It's unclear if he will challenge the litigation at a later date or if he was properly served in the case.
None of the celebrity defendants was present in court Wednesday.
(Originally published March 12, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. PT.)