8 months ago
In place of their groundbreaking reality show, rocker Ozzy, wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack star tonight in Osbournes: Reloaded (Fox, 9:25 ET/PT). The six variety specials will include comedy bits performed before a studio audience – including a stripping grandmother – and taped segments including family members taking on various jobs and meeting others families named Osbourne.
The four Osbournes gather in the sitting room of their hilltop mansion to discuss the specials, working together and what they've been up to since their MTV hit ended four years ago.
The room's lightness, accented by a crystal chandelier and lavender-toned furniture, contrasts sharply with the deep brown wood – fitting for the Prince of Darkness – of Ozzy's library. Its chandelier is decorated with metallic bats, doorknobs feature crosses, and daggers and a skull candle sit on a table.
Other than a British awards show, Reloaded marks the first time the four have worked together since The Osbournes.
"It was definitely more good than bad," Jack, 23, says. "When you spend too much time together, as in any family business, everybody gets under everybody's skin."
Jack calls Reloaded a harder-edged version of a variety show, with some crass elements. Ozzy, 60, says it's nothing like the staid picture conjured by the term. "When people hear 'variety,' they think top hat and tie. (The show) is edgier. I'm sure there are lots and lots of bleeps."
Some bleeps come from two children who play little Ozzy and Sharon, dressing and talking like them, complete with bleeped-out words. (They don't actually swear.) One of the Osbournes the family met said he had fathered 200 aliens, Sharon says.
Some Fox affiliates are refusing to run the show because of its content. The network has cut tonight's special from an hour to 35 minutes, saying lead-in American Idol needs the extra time. Jack and Sharon say they think the network is nervous.
Since The Osbournes, the four have been busy. Jack hosts an extreme adventure show and Kelly has a radio show, both in England. Last year, Ozzy did Ozzfest, his annual musical extravaganza, and he's working on a new record. Sharon has done a lot of TV, including hosting a talk show and judging on America's Got Talent and The X Factor, a British series. She also caused a to-do by throwing a drink on a contestant on VH1's Charm School.
On the personal front, Kelly, 24, says she is doing well after a stay at a drug rehabilitation center, but she doesn't want to talk about the matter.
They appreciated the intense experience of the Osbournes. "The experiences we all got out of it as a family, you can't buy that. It was just an amazing time," Sharon says.
Kelly says she has come to terms with regrets she had while doing The Osbournes as a teen. "When your whole life is condensed into 28 minutes, it can look like you said something you didn't mean ... or didn't expect to get in the show. And then it's like: 'Ugh. I've got to deal with the fact that I said that.' "
Ozzy decided not to do Ozzfest this year as he finishes his record. But Reloaded only added to the demands. "I needed a break and then I got a TV show," he says. "I wanted to become a rock star to be able to do as little work as possible, but TV is like (bleep) ... never-ending."
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
