Revealed! Ozzy Osbourne & family tape bleepin’ new Fox show

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

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