Revisiting The Osbournes over 20 years later, the enchantment of the groundbreaking actuality present is instantly clear. Starring the late Ozzy Osbourne, his spouse Sharon, and kids Kelly and Jack, the MTV collection positioned itself as a household sitcom and not using a script, instantly discovering the humor in a barely middle-aged rock star and his household behaving… similar to abnormal individuals.
They weren’t, in fact, “abnormal” individuals, however for a similar motive that tabloid followers spark to “they’re similar to us!” photograph spreads, The Osbournes discovered actual energy in depicting the trivial moments of this household’s day, Ozzy’s off-the-cuff asides serving as the right punchlines. The primary season specifically stored issues comparatively grounded, with Ozzy’s rock star life mixing into household squabbles and tending to the household’s huge menagerie of pets. (Should you’ve ever wished to see a bulldog defecate on digicam, then Season 1, Episode 2 is ready for you.)
And whereas the storytelling had a documentary really feel, the basic tropes had been there: The rebellious but loving youngsters, the hard-working mother together with her personal quirks, and the foolish, exasperated father determine. The opening titles play like every sitcom, with Lewis Lamedica masking Ozzy’s “Loopy Prepare” prefer it’s an outdated Sinatra commonplace — not dissimilar from the basic sitcom Married With Kids’s use of “Love and Marriage.” And whereas Sharon’s first billed, the credit finish with “and Ozzy Osbourne as ‘The Dad’” — bringing him right into a proud custom going again to the times of Archie Bunker and Carl Winslow. Dads who didn’t at all times know finest, however cared sufficient to attempt.
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A 2022 oral historical past for The Ringer breaks down how the present’s producers labored arduous to offer the collection an natural really feel, embedding themselves within the household dwelling throughout filming, and rejecting the thought of talking-head interviews. As an alternative, particularly in the course of the first season, Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack simply interacted with one another just like the cameras weren’t there, and the outcome was the type of unfiltered, if perhaps sometimes staged, entry we’ve come to crave from the well-known. Nothing makes a person extra relatable than watching him cuss out his canine for consuming a sofa cushion.
Later seasons would focus extra on the best way that the household’s lives had been modified by their newfound fame, creating a real ouroboros of stardom. On the time The Osbournes premiered, popular culture was already beginning to create new personalities out of nowhere — there have at all times been individuals who grew to become well-known with out truly doing a lot to earn that fame, however actuality TV was simply turning into an instrument for that sort of success.
Whereas his members of the family grew to become family names off The Osbournes, Ozzy remained comparatively himself, casually ambling round the home in sweatpants. In a 2012 interview, the rock star stated that he was not sober in the course of the present’s three years of filming, one thing that’s not not apparent on display. His mellow vibe, although, solely contributes to the elemental energy of seeing somebody so well-known for his heavy metallic antics on stage be himself behind the scenes, doing his finest to father or mother his youngsters and marveling on the magic of a Chipotle burrito.
One of many nice moments on The Osbournes was Ozzy watching his burrito get made at Chipotle in sheer reverence.
It was like he was witnessing Michelangelo sculpt David proper in entrance of him. pic.twitter.com/RbqosxaLXp
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) July 22, 2025
The Osbournes wasn’t only a game-changer for Ozzy’s public notion — it basically helped create a complete sub-genre of actuality tv, one which might go on to imagine a worldwide curiosity within the lives of different well-known households, wealthy housewives, and individuals who work on boats. In the meantime, Sharon discovered herself with an ongoing profession as a TV persona and Kelly bought to discover each music and internet hosting (she’ll be on Fox quickly because the host of competitors collection LEGO Masters Jr.).
Jack additionally continued making actuality TV to today, usually reveals involving his mother and father — as only one latest instance, the 2020 Journey Channel collection The Osbournes Need to Imagine featured Jack, Sharon, and Ozzy watching paranormal movies collectively. Each seasons are streaming now on HBO Max. Doing The Osbournes as an adolescent, Jack instructed The Ringer, “unlocked a tremendous life, and I’ve been so blessed to have had a digicam in my home for a few years. I’ve been in a position to have a profession in tv for 20 years now simply sort of rolling from one challenge to the following and touring all around the world and making actually enjoyable TV reveals. So it was all price it in the long run.”
The Osbournes can’t be thought of a very genuine portrait of this household — the style ought to by no means be thought of a mirror — and generally actuality tv has contributed no scarcity of negativity to the world. However in its finest moments, it finds a method to seize the shared experiences all of us people face every so often. I’ll by no means know what it’s like to carry a stadium of metallic followers within the palm of my hand, however I can watch Ozzy sigh over a beloved pet’s mess and assume to myself, “yeah, man, been there.”
We’d be mourning Ozzy’s music as we speak, it doesn’t matter what. The Osbournes ensured that we additionally bear in mind the person.
The Osbournes is streaming now on Prime Video, Tubi, and The Roku Channel.
