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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 3, 2002
ALL-AGES SHOW: The Osbournes, a not-so-hidden-camera look at the 24-7 home life of metal god Ozzy Osbourne, his wife and teenage son and daughter, is being called the biggest hit in MTV's 24 years.
With less than half of its 12 episodes aired, The Osbournes is quickly surpassing The Real World in ratings and buzz.
Two weeks ago, it was No. 4 in the cable Nielsens -- the first episode, on March 5, was 25th -- with almost 3-million viewers to No. 3 Real World's 3.3-million.
The episode, in which the family waged war on its Beverly Hills neighbors for playing "middle-aged music" too loud, beat all network competition for one of advertisers' most-coveted age groups, 12 to 34. It also was first among adults 18-34, third among adults 18-49, and fifth among adults 25-54, Media Life magazine says.
When last week's ratings come out, The Osbournes is expected to be above Real World, in the cable ratings stratosphere with the WWF.
THE OZZMAN COMETH: Ozzy says he's "kind of flipping out" over being a TV star.
"I was walking down the street (after two episodes had aired), and people that normally wouldn't stop me are freaking out with this," he tells Launch.com. "I had just come off tour in Canada, so I was kind of blind to the response. I got back on (March 15), and suddenly people are stopping me on the street and screaming at me. In fact, an ambulance goes past me, and the guy goes, "Hey, Ozzy, hello, yeah,' on the intercom there. "Good show, man, you got to keep it up.' "
LIVE & LOUD: Now, every TV network is wasting brain power trying to figure out a way to capitalize onThe Osbournes' success.
It apparently is lost on them that the key is the Osbournes themselves.
The loopy Ozzy, 53, gained his fame with Black Sabbath and his reputation for chewing-tearing off the heads of bats during concerts. His wife, Sharon, has been his manager since the '80s.
(In one episode, Ozzy discovered that Sharon wanted to liven up his next concert by filling the stage with bubbles. "Bubbles?!" he shouted indignantly. "Sharon, I'm the Prince of (TV bleep) Darkness!")
The two of their three children who live at home -- Jack, 16, and Kelly, 17 -- are as free-wheeling and uninhibited as their parents.
(Jack uses an expletive before telling their nanny to "get a real job" when she tries to get him to clean his room.)
They are a British family living in a Beverly Hills mansion.
"Ozzy's life is so fictional," Craig Marks, editor of the rock magazine Blender, tells the New York Times. "But it's real life, so it can't succumb to the icky conventions of sitcoms."