OZZY OSBOURNE Looks Back On 'The Osbournes' TV Show: 'That Was Not Scripted At All'
September 7, 2023On the latest episode of SiriusXM's Ozzy Speaks, Ozzy Osbourne sat down with co-host Billy Morrison and spoke about his family's "The Osbournes" reality TV show, how it was completely unscripted and revisited Sharon's cancer diagnosis while filming.
According to the former BLACK SABBATH frontman, "The Osbournes" 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 to Billy 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.
Four 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."
According to Rolling Stone, Ozzy and Sharon, along with their children Jack and Kelly, have revived their podcast. The second season of "The Osbournes" will launch September 12.
The follow-up to 2018's first season will consist of 20 episodes and be available in video and audio formats. Topics of discussion will include "everything from romance to true crime."
Episodes are recorded at Ozzy and Sharon's home and will includes Ozzy's own individual episodes in which he will talk with Morrison about everything from food and his time in BLACK SABBATH to aliens.
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