How Ozzy Osbourne Invented The Dysfunctional TV Household

Earlier than the Kardashians constructed a billion-dollar empire, earlier than the D’Amelios turned TikTok fame into primetime programming, and earlier than households just like the Chrisleys and Hogans aired their soiled laundry for tens of millions, there was “The Osbournes”.

When MTV debuted “The Osbournes” in March 2002, viewers weren’t certain what to anticipate from the heavy metallic legend and his chaotic family. What they bought was pure, unfiltered gold.

Ozzy Osbourne, as soon as identified solely because the wild frontman of Black Sabbath, was out of the blue the bewildered, mumbling patriarch in fuzzy slippers, making an attempt to wrangle his opinionated spouse Sharon and their rebellious teenagers, Kelly and Jack. It was a cultural reset.

At a time when actuality tv was nonetheless in its infancy, “The Osbournes” shattered the mould.

There have been no competitors eliminations, no prize cash, no shiny filters, simply the messy, hilarious, and deeply human actuality of a rock star household making an attempt to navigate home life. Viewers had been hooked. The present turned MTV’s highest-rated sequence ever on the time, incomes an Emmy and turning the Osbournes into family names for a completely new technology.

And with that, a style was born.

With out Ozzy strolling round the home shouting “Sharon!” whereas dodging family pets, there doubtless can be no “Preserving Up with the Kardashians.” The blueprint was already laid. A bigger-than-life household, private drama taking part in out in real-time, and a digicam crew catching all of it. The Kardashian-Jenner clan could have elevated the components to empire standing, however the Osbournes created the playbook.

Exhibits like “Hogan Is aware of Greatest,” “Chrisley Is aware of Greatest,” and “The D’Amelio Present” adopted the identical mannequin… Take a celeb or viral household, pull again the curtain, and let the drama unfold. It’s a format that also thrives right this moment, simply now with TikTok dances, influencer offers, and social media scandals.

However on the core of all of it was Ozzy, typically confused, all the time entertaining, and utterly actual.

Whereas “The Osbournes” catapulted Ozzy and his household into a brand new type of fame, the heavy metallic legend later revealed that the fact TV hit took a severe toll on his psychological well being, calling it one of many “worst choices” of his life.

In a 2022 interview with Steel Hammer, Ozzy admitted that signing on for the MTV present was financially tempting, however emotionally draining.

“All I can say to you is that this. If somebody provides you a sh-tload of dough to be on tv, you’d need to be a mug to show it down,” he stated. “I believed it was gonna be a bit of cake. However you’ve gotten a digicam crew dwelling in your home for 3 years and see how you are feeling on the finish of it. You are feeling like a f-cking laboratory rat.”

Premiering in 2002, “The Osbournes” adopted Ozzy, Sharon, Jack, and Kelly as they navigated their chaotic house life, canine barking, teen drama, and all, in what turned MTV’s highest-rated present on the time. However behind the expletive-filled hilarity, Ozzy was crumbling.

“It bought to the purpose the place I used to be falling aside emotionally,” he confessed. “You possibly can’t f-cking chill out. It doesn’t matter the place you go for a piss, you’re paranoid there’s a digicam in there.”

Regardless of the stress, Ozzy acknowledged the present’s plain cultural influence, even when he wished no half in doing it once more. “Would I do it once more? It’s now Kardashianville. The world’s modified, man.”

Although he had regrets, The Osbournes gave followers an unfiltered take a look at the person behind the music, and in doing so, it helped redefine what actuality TV could possibly be, paving the best way for each movie star household sequence that adopted.