The Osbournes

Everyone is saying (on older reviews) that THE OSBOURNES needs to be streaming, and here it is, the day after Ozzy Osbourne died, and it's on Amazon... has been a few weeks actually... but now it must be getting more views than ever...

It's fun to watch, kind of like a rock star version of The Munsters, and the kids are funny and offbeat while Sharon is the perfect b-word-wife who has a heart of gold...

But there's a sad element watching, in retrospect, because it's been known since 2023 that Ozzy has had Parkinsons, which was diagnosed in 2003, which means he had it during this show...

And from episode one, the Parkinsons really shows... you can see it VERY clearly in his gait, and his trembling hands, which, originally, when this came out, it was as if Ozzy did too many drugs, or perhaps was suffering DT's... so people laughed about how he moved around, not knowing what we know now...

However, HE IS FUNNY, a kind of dry Peter Sellers quality combined with a Columbo-esque ability to hide a true genius that helped invent a brand of music called Heavy Metal (while Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin INFLUENCED metal, Sabbath INVENTED IT OUTRIGHT)...

So watching THE OSBOURNES is fun and addictive like reality shows are supposed to be... And it's obvious why it was such a smash hit way back when...

Yet it's now equally sad knowing what's known, and seeing what's completely and painfully obvious now.

Just watching Ozzy and Sharon on the Tonight Show, I "got" it, where the buzz was coming from. I hadn't seen "the Prince of Darkness" since Ozzfest '98, where women had his name painted on various body parts. Now here he was with his arm around his non-bimbo fuschia-haired wife of 20 years, dressed in black but with a goofy smile. I couldn't understand half of what he was saying, but I found myself hanging on every garbled word. He was so funny, so endearing, in a way I can't explain! I found "The Osbournes" to be the same way--hilarious and fascinating and endearing, inexplicably. I think it's largely the surreal juxtapositions of seeing someone "larger-than-life" live. Just watching him DO anything, from interacting with his kids, limping around his yard looking for his cat, or sitting coloring a picture...keeps me grinning. There are a couple people that hate this show (my aunt, Bill Cosby) and can't understand its success (and that's OK). That is because they don't latch on to its irony. With this show, you either "get" it or you don't.

You'll probably know in the first 5 minutes which camp you belong in.

Believe me, when I first heard about The Osbournes, I was rolling my eyes. Here goes another rich rock star, being trailed around by cameras. But after having seen several episodes, it's well worth it!

They say they are the picture perfect model of the disfunctional family, and that everyone in US can relate to them, and I agree (but not about the US thing, i'm from Asia)! All the cursing and screaming between Jack and Kelly, Kelly or Jack fighting with Sharon or Ozzy. Especially "disagreements" between Ozzy and Sharon are HILARIOUS. It makes me you think that your crazy family is not the only one in this world. Take away the silliness, and you've got a loving family.

Even though the show is *sometimes* a pain because of the frequent bleeping and Ozzy's hard to understand accent, I had fun watching this show. I didn't know how real this funny reality TV could be!

I keep seeing early 00's reality tv on Hulu, but MTV needs to release this to HBO Max! This is a reality show I would rewatch. It's like a time capsule. They were hilarious! Hard to believe this was so long ago and their kids are all in their 40's, or close to it.

Totally engrossing. As someone who is way beyond MTV's prime demographic (being firmly ensconced in the 35+ demo), I should be ashamed of myself for loving this show so much. It's one of the best 1/2 hours on TV. Ozzy is a total burnout who just also happens to have enough brain cells left be a loving husband and father. Sharon has enough brains for the both of them and you can see that she and Ozzy truly love each other and their kids. The kids are teenagers, albeit ones who grew up on a tour bus and take the occasional private jet now and again. All in all a typical family of four...four-letters that it. And that's part of the beauty of it. They deal with real family life in surreal circumstances. These are good people who happen to be "f**king mad" and the result is total entertainment. I wouldn't want to be a member of the family, but I'd certainly like to be one of the neighbors, and I promise I'll keep the music down.