In 2001, Rod Aissa was one among a handful of MTV executives having lunch with Sharon Osbourne at a restaurant in Santa Monica, California, to debate a possible collaboration along with her household. Osbourne apologized for arriving late, blamed it on her husband’s antics and instantly launched right into a dizzying play-by-play of her dwelling’s hijinks that had everybody laughing — onerous.
“We’re over-the-top and loopy, and there’s quite a lot of cursing and preventing and canines all over the place,” Aissa recalled her saying then, “however there’s a lot love in our household.”
That household, after all, additionally contains Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metallic legend and Black Sabbath entrance man who by chance grew to become a pioneer in actuality tv, due to the early aughts phenomenon “The Osbournes.” With the information that Ozzy died Tuesday at 76, followers flooded social media with footage of the Prince of Darkness’ theatrical performances, in addition to clips of him chasing his elusive cat by way of his yard and unapologetically marveling at the meeting of a Chipotle burrito.
Earlier than “The Osbournes” premiered in 2002, Ozzy Osbourne was identified for pioneering heavy metallic and popularizing “lots of its over-the-top stereotypes: overindulgence, a disregard for obeying guidelines, a type of cartoonish, perpetual adolescence,” mentioned Craig Marks, music journalist and govt editor of HITS journal. “To different hard-rock musicians particularly, he was a pressure of nature, somebody whose urge for food for medicine was virtually heroic.”
Nevertheless it was the household across the rocker that piqued the curiosity of MTV executives, together with Aissa, and led to the creation of a sequence that launched a complete tv subgenre, whereas introducing him to a brand new era who have been too younger to expertise Black Sabbath’s heyday. A standout 2000 episode of “MTV Cribs” — wherein teenagers Jack and Kelly Osbourne give MTV a tour of their dwelling — had supplied a glimpse into the chaotic however charming dynamics. It additionally offered Ozzy’s varied paradoxes: initially from working-class Birmingham, England, and now shifting right into a brand-new Beverly Hills mansion; singing about loss of life and the occult onstage and simply making an attempt to observe the Historical past Channel at dwelling.
“We knew we had lightning in a bottle as a result of this household, with their love and dysfunction, represented so many people on the earth,” Aissa continued. “And it was going to be one thing particular due to Ozzy — his humorousness and his lack of inhibition to say something or behave a sure manner. You would by no means script him or ask him to do something twice, as a result of that wasn’t who he was. You couldn’t even ask Ozzy to stroll by way of a door twice as a result of the digicam wasn’t prepared. He’d simply say, ‘F— off!’”
Numerous hours of footage over three years captured the household’s on a regular basis rhythms — tending to their many pets, assembly with well-known pals and butting heads with neighbors — in addition to their extra main moments, like Sharon’s most cancers analysis, Ozzy’s near-fatal quad bike accident, and the children’ struggles with substances and newfound fame. It was all edited collectively like an American sitcom, full with nostalgic graphics, upbeat needle drops and a crooner cowl of Ozzy’s hit “Loopy Prepare” as its theme tune.
“I needed to watch the primary episode with Ozzy, and it was the longest 22 minutes of my life,” Aissa mentioned with amusing. Afterward, “Ozzy didn’t say a phrase or snicker or something; I assumed he hated it. He stood up and mentioned to me, ‘I really like them a lot. Don’t f— this up.’”
“He didn’t adore it, however he beloved being at dwelling with the household, and [the show] gave all of them a motive to be collectively and actually join,” he added. “At that time in his profession — platinum information all over the place, sold-out worldwide excursions, a recording studio in his home — Ozzy didn’t want this present, and he had no actual curiosity in it. However because the episodes aired, and as individuals began speaking to him about what an actual household they’re, he began actually appreciating what it was they have been doing.”
The present’s March 2002 premiere was an immediate hit. It grew to become each MTV’s highest-rated sequence thus far and the most-watched present on any cable channel; its first season went on to win the Emmy Award for greatest actuality program. And its cultural influence was world, given the community’s indeniable cultural standing.
“MTV was nonetheless the be-all end-all for youth tradition when ‘The Osbournes’ debuted,” mentioned Marks, who additionally co-wrote the e book “I Need My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.” “Social media didn’t actually exist but — Myspace would launch in 2003 — and ‘MTV Cribs,’ arguably the community’s first ‘movie star’ actuality present, began in 2000 and was successful. However nothing in comparison with the cataclysm of ‘The Osbournes.’”
In these days, unscripted reveals have been simply rising, particularly these that includes the wealthy and well-known. However the early 2000s have been additionally the peak of journal tabloids and movie star obsession, mentioned Colette Shade, creator of the e book “Y2K: How the 2000s Turned Every part (Essays on the Future That By no means Was).” The Osbournes and their bumbling patriarch merely arrived on the proper second.
“Individuals loved the truth that it was this behind-the-curtain look, and that he got here off within the present as simply shuffling round befuddled by varied points of contemporary life, in an endearing and foolish manner that’s very totally different from his public persona,” Shade mentioned. “Ozzy was identified in a sure manner by boomers, however because the outdated man from ‘The Osbournes,’ he was in a position to join with a brand new viewers of millennials with out even making an attempt.”
After the present’s run, every member of the family grew to become a standalone TV character: Sharon as an creator, actuality competitors decide and speak present host; Kelly as a commentator on E!’s “Vogue Police”; and Jack as a journey reporter and docuseries producer (together with reveals with Ozzy and Sharon).
Although “The Osbournes” solely ran for 4 seasons over three years, its influence continues. The sequence cemented MTV as a hub for zeitgeisty unscripted programming, with “Punk’d,” “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica” and “Laguna Seashore” premiering within the years that adopted. Networks tried to capitalize on sudden juxtaposition of the odd and the ostentatious, like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s labor-centric “The Easy Life” and the Playboy Mansion-set “The Women Subsequent Door.”
Quite a few copycat tasks — starring Hulk Hogan, Gene Simmons, Terry Bradshaw, Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Snoop Dogg, Sylvester Stallone, Alec Baldwin, the Kardashians and extra — have since tried to copy Ozzy’s singular “movie star at dwelling” charisma.
“It was an especially profitable present that was brand-new and comparatively low cost to provide,” Shade mentioned. “They created this complete new publicity software for celebrities to burnish their picture and revive their careers, and it’s turn into its personal class of actuality present that’s type of performed out. Individuals now see it as extra of a building than possibly they did on the time.”
That’s as a result of, again then, it actually wasn’t. In contrast to as we speak’s unscripted titles — oftentimes with prespecified storylines, setup scenes, talking-head interviews and private branding plans — “The Osbournes” was constructed with little technique and no actual expectations. “To be sincere, we didn’t actually know what we have been doing but, as a result of nobody had accomplished it earlier than,” Aissa admitted with amusing.
“We didn’t got down to make actuality tv; we simply got down to make tv,” he continued. “They weren’t making an attempt to be actuality stars. They have been simply being their genuine selves, interacting with one another as in the event that they didn’t see the cameras. It was as in the event that they didn’t care, and I believe that was a giant a part of the magic.”
