OZZY OSBOURNE And Family Reflect On MTV Reality Show 'The Osbournes' And Impact It Had On Their Lives

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, along with their children Jack and Kelly, have released the latest episode of their revived podcast in which they talk about recently sitting down together and re-watching classic moments from their MTV reality show "The Osbournes", which followed the lives of the BLACK SABBATH singer and his family. They share how it felt to relive those memories and the impact the show had on their lives and on reality TV as a whole. The family also discusses the evolution of reality TV and how streaming platforms have reshaped viewer engagement.

As previously reported, "The Osbournes" will get an official re-release through the recently launched Osbourne Media House.

Ozzy's son Jack announced the "The Osbournes" re-release during an episode of "The Osbournes" podcast. He said: "Hey, what's up, Osbourne fans? So there are some big things happening over here in our world. We are finally re-releasing 'The Osbournes'. Since the show has left the air, it hasn't been readily available to anyone. And we're also doing some new content around the original footage. We're gonna be doing the basement tapes. It's gonna be a watch party with us watching [ourselves]. It's gonna be full of narcissism… So, join the family and get access to all this and a whole bunch more. Be a part of the Osbournes community at OsbourneMediaHouse.com."

Last year, Ozzy said during an episode of SiriusXM's "Ozzy Speaks" that "The Osbournes" TV show was inspired by another MTV hit, "MTV Cribs", in which various music stars showed off their luxurious homes.

"That was the most one they wanted to see over, and I went and I said, 'Why don't we do an extended 'Cribs'?" But Ozzy admitted that it "gets pretty old very quick when you got cameras stuck in every room."

Osbourne went on to say that the concept for "The Osbournes" "grew out of" "Cribs" and "then it was an extended 'Cribs' for a week at the Osbournes, which turned into a month at the Osbournes, which turned into 'The Osbournes', which started this fucking whole thing."

Osbourne also credited his wife and manager Sharon for being "courageous" when she allowed the MTV crew to continue filming after her cancer diagnosis.

"And the guy from the crew said, 'I suppose you want us all to go,' and I said, 'Let's see with Sharon,' and Sharon says, 'No. Let him stay.'"

Lamenting the fact that current reality shows are "all scripted," Osbourne insisted that wasn't the case with "The Osbournes". "That was not scripted at all," he said.

"The Osbournes", which became the highest rated original program in MTV's history, started in 2002 and ended in 2005. The "fly-on-the-wall" TV series followed the lives of Ozzy and his family, including Sharon's battle with cancer, as well as younger children Kelly and Jack Osbourne's stints in rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse.

"The Osbournes" was credited with being the first show where cameras followed celebrities around and led to a number of copycats like A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", which followed the life of KISS bassist Gene Simmons and his family, and A&E's "Growing Up Twisted", about the family of TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider.

Five years ago, Ozzy said that he was "falling apart emotionally" during the making of "The Osbournes".

"All I can say to you is this: number one, if someone offers you a shitload of dough to be on television, you'd have to be a mug to turn it down," he told Metal Hammer. "I thought it was gonna be a piece of cake, but you have a camera crew living in your house for three years and see how you feel at the end of it. You feel like a fucking laboratory rat.

"It got to the point where I was falling apart emotionally," he continued, "because you can't fucking relax. It doesn't matter where you go for a piss, you're paranoid there's a camera in there. But I'm not ashamed of it and it's a big hit. Would I do it again? It's now Kardashianville. The world's changed, man."

In a 2012 interview, Sharon said that her family's "lives were never the same again" after "The Osbournes". "Everybody's grown up with Ozzy, everybody loves Ozzy, but for us, we were a family," she said. "You know, we weren't in the public eye at all, and it changed our lives so much."

In "The Osbournes", the legendary singer would often be seen running on a treadmill and getting fit. But he told The Daily Record back in 2009 that it was all a charade. Once the cameras stopped rolling, Ozzy, supposedly a recovering alcoholic, would go to a room and get stoned.

Sharon said: "As Ozzy will tell you, the three years that we were filming, Ozzy was stoned the whole time. He wasn't sober for one day."

Ozzy revealed: "When the filming ended, I'd go in my little bunker and smoke a pipe and drink about a case of beer every day.

"I'd give myself some goodness and get up early in the morning and go jogging for six miles."

Ozzy admitted he couldn't watch the show — because it's obvious by his body language in front of camera that he didn't know what time of day it was.

He said: "I used to do a lot of prescription drugs as well."