The Osbournes changed reality TV forever for better or worse

The Guardian

7 days ago

First and foremost, if Ozzy Osbourne is destined to be remembered for anything, it'll be his music. Few people can genuinely claim to have invented a whole new genre of something. But Osbourne, along with the other members of Black Sabbath, did exactly that.
However, Ozzy Osbourne isn't destined to be remembered for just one thing. Because, for three short years two decades ago, for better or worse (and this is genuinely debatable) Ozzy Osbourne also changed television forever. That's right, it would be rude to remember Ozzy Osbourne without at least acknowledging that he is the man who gave us The Osbournes.
Twenty-three years on from its debut, the premise of The Osbournes almost seems quaint. Ozzy and his family invited an MTV camera crew into his home to document the ups and downs of their day to day lives. It's a format that has long since been worn into the dust, thanks to the endless parade of thirsty nobodies who have attempted to replicate the formula for their own gain. But at the time, if you were there, you'll remember that The Osbournes was like a grenade going off.
Looking back, MTV must not have been able to believe its luck that one of the world's most recognisable rockstars was willing to subject himself to the indignities of a reality show. Indeed, since recent years saw Osbourne distance himself from the series, on the basis that he was 'stoned during the entire filming', perhaps that gives some indication of his state of mind at the time of commissioning.
But thank goodness he did, because The Osbournes might qualify as the closest thing that television has ever given us to a live-action Simpsons. Episodes walked a fine line between ridiculous celebrity excess (showing Ozzy on tour) and a kind of aggressively caffeinated escalation of domestic life. An argument with noisy neighbours culminates in the family lobbing ham over the garden fence. A family friend comes to stay and annoys everyone so much that they try to urinate in his drink. Everyone gets worried when the daughter gets a new boyfriend nicknamed 'cauliflower dick'. The Osbourne family couldn't be less like yours, and yet everyone could see parts of themselves in them.
Of course, it helped that every member of the Osbournes was genuinely hilarious. Sharon was a fierce matriarch without a filter. Daughter Kelly was a sassy brat. Son Jack was a legitimate weirdo. And Ozzy possessed an uncanny knack for knowingly undermining his own legacy. Look at the episode where he checks out a technical rehearsal for a concert, notices a bubble blower onstage and laments: 'Come on Sharon, I'm the prince of fucking darkness.'
This wit saw The Osbournes become a near-instant sensation. When it launched, it became MTV's most-watched show of all time. It won an Emmy. What's more, every single non-Ozzy member of the family (at least the ones who agreed to appear onscreen) was vaulted to fame. Kelly became a popstar, Jack a presenter and Sharon a talkshow host and reality judge. And yet Ozzy remained the centre of gravity throughout. Constantly trying his best to navigate the world, and constantly on the point of drowning, he was in many ways the most relatable member of the family. For someone who once bit the head off a bat, that's a pretty huge achievement.
You don't need to be told the cultural impact of The Osbournes, because we're surrounded by it. Paris Hilton tried to mimic the formula with The Simple Life. Katie Price had a reality show. Gene Simmons had a reality show. Ice-T had a reality show. Steps had a reality show. The Kardashians became global celebrities by ripping off the Osbourne blueprint. Most recently, Jacob Rees-Mogg attempted to stage his own Osbournes-style reality show. And it was rubbish. They were all rubbish, because they all lacked the one thing that made The Osbournes special: the Osbournes.
So when the dust settles, and all the tributes start to fall away, Ozzy Osbourne will leave behind an almost unparalleled legacy of music. But he also left behind a TV show where he got so angry on a beach that he started screaming personal insults at the sea, and that's OK too.