'The Osbournes' VH1 Return Scrapped

According to The Hollywood Reporter, VH1 has scrapped its plans to revive the reality show "The Osbournes", which follows the lives of the BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family.

"We are no longer talking to the Osbournes about a series; that's not going to happen," VH1's executive vice president of original programming and production Susan Levison told The Hollywood Reporter. "We wish we could have worked it out, but it just didn't come together for us. The family has been absolutely lovely and we wish them the best. We'd love to figure out a way to work with them at some point in the future."

In early April, Ozzy's son Jack Osbournefiled several lawsuits against companies he partially owns, one of which Jack alleged was attempting to unjustly claim revenue for future episodes of "The Osbournes". It is not clear whether these legal issues contributed to the show's aborted return.

The original "The Osbournes" series was aired on MTV, VH1's sister network under the Viacom conglomerate.

The "fly-on-the-wall" TV series, which became the highest rated original program in MTV's history, started in 2002 and ended in 2005. The show chronicled Sharon Osbourne'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.

Speaking to The Times-Picayune, Ozzy said about "The Osbournes": "It was a TV show, which was a good idea that went fucking out of control.

"The No. 1 mistake I made was having it filmed in the house I lived in, instead of a reproduction in a studio where I could go every day and come home. You have camera crews living in your garage 24/7 for three years; anybody would go fucking crazy at the end of it."

He added: "Nobody could have predicted what was going to happen with it. It started off with 'Cribs'. MTV said a load of people wanted a rerun, asking for it to be shown again and again. Somebody said, 'Why don't you do an extended version of 'Cribs'?' It was like, 'We can do that.' But then it went wildly out of control."

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.

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."