''The Osbournes'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

and his family—his wife

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

, their daughter

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

, and their son

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

. The series premiered on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

on March 5, 2002, and, in its first season, was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV. The final episode aired on March 21, 2005.

Overview

In addition to heavy metal singer

, the show features his wife and manager

, and their children

and

. The Osbournes have another daughter, Aimee, who refused to participate in the show and publicly criticized her parents for their antics on the show. In most family photos shown on the show, she is either absent or blurred. The series also followed the family as they dealt with major events such as Sharon's battle with cancer and the aftermath of an ATV accident that nearly killed Ozzy. The theme song for the show is a cover of Ozzy's song "

Crazy Train "Crazy Train" is the debut solo single by English heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and was released in 1980 from his debut album as a solo artist, ''Blizzard of Ozz'' (1980). A live version of the song recorded in 1981 from the album ''Trib ...

" by Lewis Lamedica, done in a jazz-swing style reminiscent of

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

. Concurrent with the success of the series, Kelly Osbourne launched a brief career as a singer, while Sharon Osbourne hosted ''

The Sharon Osbourne Show ''The Sharon Osbourne Show'' is an American talk show that ran for one season (2003–2004) on various US channels. Cancellation The show was eventually canceled due to poor ratings and scathing attacks by critics as being too focused on Os ...

''. The family also parodied their TV series during cameo appearances at awards shows and in the film ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...

''. Jack and Kelly's friend Robert made regular appearances on the show; Sharon took him in during the second season after his mother died of cancer. While a constant presence in front of the camera, few plots revolved around Robert and he had few lines. After the series ended, it was reported that the Osbournes had sent Robert back to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

to live with his father after spending a week at a psychiatric ward. The Osbournes were assumed to have adopted Robert, but Sharon Osbourne has denied this. Another person who makes recurring appearances on the show is Melinda, Sharon's executive assistant and nanny, who is also married to Ozzy's tour manager.Adams, Cameron
Ozzy Osbourne battles on
''The Herald Sun''. November 1, 2007. She is often seen trying to get Jack out of bed while he berates and belittles her, telling her to "get a real job." Melinda is originally from Australia. Ozzy confirmed in an interview on BBC Radio 2 in May 2009 that he was "stoned during the entire filming of ''The Osbournes''" and will not watch the episodes for this reason. Profanity was censored during MTV broadcasts of the series in the United States. In an interview, Ozzy stated that while he was happy that the Canadian broadcasts were uncensored, he preferred the censored version because the cursing was more noticeable due to the bleeps. The Canadian broadcasts on CTV and UK broadcasts on MTV and Channel 4 are uncensored. Some episodes were also aired uncensored to Australian audiences when shown on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. It is broadcast uncensored on MTV Australia.

Episodes

Staging

Jack and Kelly stated in an interview that some of the situations on the show, including the visit from the dog therapist, were arranged by MTV producers.Osbourne Kids Says Some Shows Were Scripted
ABC News. Retrieved May 24, 2014. Ozzy Osbourne's publicist denied that any reaction were staged.

After filming

On November 30 and December 1, 2007, items belonging to the Osbournes and featured in the show were auctioned off to the public. The two-day event listed memorabilia as well as furnishings of the home. Bidders could bid through the

Auction Network Auction Network is a 24-hour Internet and cable television channel that allows viewers to participate remotely in auctions taking place throughout the world. Viewers become “virtual bidders” in live auctions of items, including automobiles, co ...

. In 2009, the Osbournes reunited for the debut of their new variety show ''

Osbournes Reloaded ''Osbournes Reloaded'' is a 2009 variety show that aired its only episode on Fox. The show was hosted by The Osbournes — Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly — and premiered Tuesday March 31 on Fox following ''American Idol''. FremantleMedia, ...

'' for the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network. Produced by

Fremantle Media Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

North America, the series debuted on March 31, 2009, at 9:25PM ET/PT, following ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. It consisted of sketches, stunts, celebrity cameos, music performances, and pretaped segments. The show was canceled after airing its first episode. On its debut, 26 Fox affiliates pre-empted or delayed the program due to its racy content, which the stations felt was more appropriate for older viewers. Since 2016, Ozzy and Jack have starred in '' Ozzy & Jack's World Detour'', a reality-series that initially aired on

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

before moving to A&E for its second season. On January 23, 2018, Jack revealed on his official

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page that the series had been picked up for a third season. The eight-episode third season premiered on A&E on June 13, 2018, with Jack's sister

Kelly Osbourne Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne (born 27 October 1984) is an English television personality, singer, actress, model, and fashion designer. The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, she appeared on the reality show ''The Osbournes'' (2002–2005) w ...

joining the cast. More recently, ''The Osbournes Want to Believe'' was released on August 2, 2020, on Travel Channel.

2022 revival

In October 2015, Kelly Osbourne stated that she was open to the idea of a revival that was new and different, saying that "we did it on MTV and that had never been done before so if we're going to come back, we'd want to do it in a way that has never been done before either." In 2022, it was announced the show would return to follow the family in the UK.

Home releases

Only seasons one and two (released in two sets as season two and two 1/2 or 2.5) have been released on DVD by

Miramax Home Entertainment Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lead ...

and

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,The Osbourne Family Album'', a various artists compilation based on the show, was released in June 2002.

Awards and nominations

As well as achieving the highest ratings in MTV history, ''The Osbournes'' won a 2002

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program was a category award handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony. In 2014, Outstanding Reality Program was separated into two categories – Outstanding Structured Reality ...

International airings

The series aired on CTV in Canada,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the UK and

MTV UK and Ireland MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & ...

in Ireland and the UK,

VH1 India VH1 India is an Indian subscription music television and pop culture channel. It was launched in 2005 as a result of a joint venture between MTV India and Zee-Turner, based on the American channel of the same name. It broadcasts shows like VH1 ...

in India,

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

in Ireland,

and

MTV Australia MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by parent company Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local of ...

in Australia, TV2 Denmark,

MTV Finland MTV Finland was a music and entertainment channel broadcasting to the Finnish market. The channel replaced MTV Nordic on September 18, 2005, however on February 22, 2019, it was replaced by the return of MTV Nordic. History * MTV Finland laun ...

and

Nelonen Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...

in Finland,

MTV Latin America MTV is a Latin American pay television network that was launched on 1 October 1993 as the Hispanic American version of MTV. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel broadcasts music videos as well ...

in Latin America,

MTV Portugal MTV is a Portuguese pay television channel that was launched on 1 July 2003, replacing MTV Europe in Portugal. A high-definition simulcast feed of the channel launched on 17 June 2015. In its initial stages MTV Portugal shared similar content to ...

in Portugal, TV2 in New Zealand,

MTV Germany MTV Germany is a German language free-to-air television channel operated by Paramount Global. The channel launched on 7 March 1997 as MTV Central, as part of a regionalisation strategy by Paramount Global, then MTV Networks Europe. Availabi ...

in Germany, MTV Ukraine in Ukraine,

MTV Brasil MTV Brasil was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril focused on the youth. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming the local version ...

in Brazil,

MTV Italia MTV is an Italian pay television network, owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA and operated by Sky Italia. History Prior to the launch of a 24-hour Italian speaking MTV, MTV viewers in Italy received the pan-European version of MTV Europe, MTV. Reg ...

in Italy, MTV Nederland in the Netherlands and

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

In popular culture

* ''The Osbournes'' has a slot game adaptation created by

Microgaming Microgaming is a privately held gambling software company based in the Isle of Man. The company first developed online casino software in 1994. Overview In May 2009, Microgaming's progressive slot Mega Moolah paid out $6,374,434, the largest ...

. * The retro looking typeface used for the main title is called Swanky and was designed by Stuart Sandler of Font Diner.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osbournes, The 2002 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series Television series based on singers and musicians English-language television shows MTV reality television series Ozzy Osbourne Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program winners Kelly Osbourne Osbourne family Television shows set in Chicago Television shows set in Los Angeles Celebrity reality television series