Revealed! Ozzy Osbourne & family tape bleepin' new Fox show
Since July, when it beat out other networks for a new variety show starring Ozzy Osbourne and his family, Fox has kept the project tightly under wraps.
But the producers taped the first of six episodes Sunday before a live audience of 600 or so at CBS Television City in Hollywood. A person who attended compared it favorably to British variety shows and added that it was "nowhere near what Rosie did." That's good, because Rosie O'Donnell bombed memorably with her pre-Thanksgiving variety turkey on NBC.
Reuniting the clan that became a sensation with their 2002-05 MTV show, the new Osbourne show will feature a mix of sketches, stunts and taped bits. "There's a ton of audience interaction," the source said.
The sketches appear to trade heavily on Ozzy's zoned-out persona. A parody of the film "Apollo 13" finds the rocker lost in space. In a spoof of "Pirates of the Caribbean," Osbourne channels Jack Sparrow, putting a parrot in grave danger from a man who famously bit the head off a bat. Last month, the Osbournes also traveled to Ohio to prepare some taped pieces interacting with other families who share their last name.
"They had to bleep a lot of the profanity," the source said.
The Osbourne show, still untitled, does not have a premiere date but is expected to land sometime early in 2009.
--Scott Collins
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
