Osbournes Readying Variety Series

By Josef Adalian

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne -- who pioneered the comedy-reality format with their landmark MTV series -- are headed back to television, this time with a weekly variety show. American Idol producer FremantleMedia North America is behind the project, which has already been pitched to multiple broadcast networks, according to two sources familiar with the idea. All four major networks have expressed strong interest in the project, making it likely it will end up with a home shortly.

FMNA landed the rights to do the Osbourne show in large part due to its relationship with Mrs. Osbourne, who is a judge on the company's America's Got Talent. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne, offspring Kelly and Jack will participate in the show in some capacity. The foursome became massive celebrities in 2002, soon after their MTV series bowed.

Details of the project are being kept under wraps until the show is sold, but it’s unlikely the Osbournes project would not simply aim to re-create the bad comedy sketches and elaborate production numbers that characterized Sonny and Cher or the many other variety hours of the 1960s and ’70s. Instead, it's expected the show will borrow heavily from international variety formats that have worked well in recent years, from "Sabado Gigante" to Germany's "Wanna Bet?" Look for elements of comedy, musical performance and competition-style games.

Many reality industry observers have been predicting a resurgence of variety shows, which once dominated network TV but have been largely absent from broadcast TV in the past two decades. Some analysts have compared FMNA/19 Entertainment’s Idol to a variety show, while the results episodes of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars have morphed into something of a variety show, complete with production numbers and musical guests. America’s Got Talent also has elements of a variety show—but it’s driven by a competition angle.

A few years ago, ABC also had success with a couple of specials starring former husband-and-wife Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. Mrs. Osbourne got the most mileage from The Osbournes, which ran for three years. She hosted her own short-lived syndicated talk show and spent four years working with Simon Cowell on ITV’s The X Factor, turning that show into the U.K.’s version of American Idol. Mrs. Osbourne announced earlier this month that she was leaving The X Factor after four years in order to concentrate on other projects, including some in the U.S.

Kelly Osbourne, meanwhile, launched a pop music career, releasing a moderately successful cover of Papa Don’t Preach. She also began acting, landing a role in ABC’s teen drama Life as We Know It. Jack Osbourne, after battling drug addiction, appeared in several U.S. and U.K. reality shows.

FMNA has been steadily building on its Idol success. It produces NBC’s successful America’s Got Talent and just launched a new Family Feud on the network. Other FMNA prime-time series include The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, Rock the Cradle and Farmer Wants a Wife, as well as a new version of Match Game headed to TBS.

FMNA and the Osbournes are represented by the William Morris Agency. Morris signed the family within the last month.

Source: TV Week 26.06.08

as much as i would LOVE (really, I would love...) to see ozzy and sharon on tv on a regular basis, this sounds like an embarrassment for everyone involved. sharon has to learn when to quit!

Exactly my thoughts too, when I found out I was like seriously when will she learn. I hope this doesn't go ahead. I mean look how they were slated for the Brits.

I take it this isn't going to be live, It will be all recoorded and package for tv, very much like AGT is. All they will probably be doing is introducing clips and acts from around the world, with maybe an odd live music act thrown in.

I can't see Freemantle making a 'clips' show. I doubt there'd be major network interest in anything low budget, either. Some of the article seems like hearsay, though. Jack's made it quite obvious that he's not interested in presenting, and Kelly is pretty much based in the UK at the moment because of her radio show.

And Ozzy didn't seem fussed at the Brits let alone every week.

So maybe the article isn't true then. Will just have to wait and see.

It maybe true because i another article it says she isn't not going Strictly Come Dancing because it says she can't commit that amount of time to it as she has a varity show coming up and also that her and ozzy are going on holiday some time. But that she would love to do it in the future. :yes: ;)

Yeah but that was The Sun. So we'll just have too see, hopefully they spot it to be train wreck before it goes ahead.

Yes but i am sure i read other articles after she quit x factor that she had a variety show maybe planned. :yes: ;)

Kelly said the other day,the family wouldn't be doing another reality show together.

I see Sharon doing Dancing With the Stars, more, than I see her doing SCD. Does it clash with AGT?

I'd be surprised if she did either, and she'd be a fool if she did, too. But I think she'd be far more interested in UK tv. There may be more money to be made in America, but only from actual contracts. Her UK fanbase is by far the bigger of the two, and she'd be effectively cutting off 2/3 of her career if she neglected her British fans.

well wherever/whoever offers her more money, she'll go with them I am sure. :yes:
aren't you british getting burnt out on her? i know americans were after a while...i imagine they might like her again though cause AGT is pretty popular now. :yes: but maybe not enough to watch a variety show with her. :lol:

this sounds horrific i agree they need to learn when to stop

There's more to it than that, though. Obviously a big contract offer is something you're not going to dismiss in a hurry. But look at how much she did off the back of XF ~ A million+ selling autobiography in the UK alone, a chat show, co-presenting the Royal Variety Performance, The Brits, a second instalment of her autobiography, etc. She had differing success with those projects of course, but the fact remains that they were high-profile opportunities and she earned a pretty penny from them, too.

I seriously doubt her involvement with AGT is ever going to bring her opportunities like that. Yes it's (supposedly) popular, but it's getting similar or lower viewing figures than BGT/XF in a market five times as big, and can only manage 1/3 the audience AI gets. And I don't see much focus on Sharon from it, either. There's been far more articles about Piers Morgan, in fact. :stars: Basically, it seems to me that in America, Sharon is Ozzy Osbourne's wife. In the UK, Ozzy is Sharon's husband / Kelly's dad. And wasn't it in the Shozzy interview with Howard Stern that she said she wouldn't take a penny of Ozzy's money, and was determined to pay her own way for literally everything?

Sharon undoubtedly damaged her career here last year. She took maybe half a dozen major body blows, and most of them were self-inflicted. But I wouldn't say that she'd burnt her bridges yet, by any means. I think 'quitting' XF was a massive mistake though, because it was more than possible for her to turn it all around this year. The way things are now, wider public perception is going to be that she 'quit' for negative rather than positive reasons. And that's a shame, because although it won't fall apart without her, obviously she was a major force in the show's phenomenal success. And she'll never be involved with a show that's as big as that ever again (unless she suddenly pops up on AI or BGT, of course), because there isn't one.

i wouldn't say that AGT gets a third of what AI gets, ratings wise... :no: AI gets what...30 million? i saw the nielsons ratings in the newspaper a few days ago and it said AGT pulled 14 million. :yes: AI has 1000000 times more publicity than AGT does too. i cant buy a box of cereal without having AI advertised on it. it's not to say that i think AGT would be as talented as AI if it were publicized the same way (Americans love dumb karokee shows where they can be critical of people), AGT is just too off the beaten path.
besides, summer shows historically pull less ratings that shows during the regular season.
all in all, I hope sharon quits everything and just sticks to her music business stuff offstage. i doubt that'll happen since she obviously loves being famous too much.

According to NBC's own figures, the first show got 12.8 million. For the second show it was 11.7 million, according to the Washington Post. Advertised on cereal boxes? :blink: Just an ad, or a competition / 'free gift' of some sort? :unsure:

its normally all of those things. :yes: it's really obnoxious. :yes:

Do they have straightforward ads on the packets, though? :unsure: Obviously the other stuff is the cereal manufacturers hoping to cash in on the show's name as much (if not more) as it's an ad. They do that here too, and I'd imagine pretty much all around the world. It tends to be to promote new films more than anything else.

i see it all as an ad. they tell you the show is on FOX and what time the show is on. 9/8 central. :yes:

LOL, you're really not helping here! :lol: I'm insanely curious now ~ do they have straight ads (no competition, no 'free gift' etc. involved whatsoever) or not?

well, no, its not a straight ad...not like the billboards. :no: BUT! the showtime/network is advertised along with a quiz on the back of the box to see which judge you would be. :yes: but there are other products that are pretty much advertisements...like on potato chips and pop tarts and stuff like that. :yes:

So hang on ~ that is just an ad. :blink: If there's no coupon to fill in for a chance to attend the final, no free stickers inside, etc. then it's an ad. :yes: Not that the other stuff isn't, but at least your getting something or have the opportunity of getting something, even if it is cynical as hell. We don't have that here at all. :no: Occasionally you'll see a certain brand promoting another of their products on packaging ('have you tried X or Y flavour', etc), but not a completely different product or a tv show, etc. :no:

We don't allow product placement on tv shows either, so when AI is on here they pixelate the Coca-Cola logo on the judges' cups. Weirdly though, we do get to see the Ford ads. :blink: Sometimes they leave in the blatant ads for mobile phone networks that Ryan throws in, but I suppose that's okay because they're US networks that don't exist in the UK.

i know this is silly but i don't get it! is it going to be like a britain's got talent type thing? :unsure:

I don't think anyone really knows, we don't even know if the article is true.

It can't be, because AGT is already running in the US.

what can it be then? :unsure:

Did you read the first post? :unsure:

yeah, but i don't get it! :unsure:

I didn't understand what it was about either, but didnt say anything for fear of looking stupid. :lol:

oh, I'm not worried about that! done it loads of times before! plus, I'm sure there are a lot of people just pretending they get it, when actually, they don't! ;)

i am sure if it's really gonna happen, time will tell what it actually is. :yes:

The article at the start of the thread couldn't really be any more straightforward.

here's some more on it...

Osbournes' New Variety Show to Fox: Series Starring Family Bows in ’09

By Josef Adalian

The Osbournes are headed to Fox. The network has won the rights to a new-style variety show that will star Ozzy Osbourne and his brood, to will be produced by FremantleMedia North America (“American Idol”). The project, first reported by TVWeek.com last month, attracted strong interest from all four major networks. Fox will produce at least six episodes of the show, which likely will premiere in late winter or spring 2009 and could be paired with “American Idol.”

ABC, CBS and NBC also offered a six-episode commitment to the project, the first time that has happened since Mark Burnett’s “The Contender” and possibly the 2000 sale of “Big Brother,” according to a person familiar with the offers. The show’s working title is “The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous.” James Sunderland, a veteran of British variety shows, will executive produce.

Mr. Osbourne, wife Sharon and offspring Jack and Kelly will participate in the show, which will resemble modern-day European variety shows that mix elements of competition, stunts and performance. One person familiar with the pitch compared it to a combination of the popular Spanish-language series “Sabado Gigante” and the German game-show format “Wetten, dass?” (Wanna Bet?). Neither FMNA nor Fox would discuss financial specifics of the deal. However, FMNA was asking in the vicinity of $225,000 to $275,000 per episode for the services of the Osbournes, according to executives who heard the pitch for the show.

Mrs. Osbourne remains in first position to NBC for the FMNA-produced competition series “America’s Got Talent.” That means Fox will have to schedule its Osbournes show around Mrs. Osbourne’s “Talent” production schedule. That shouldn’t be a problem, however, since Fox likely will want to air the Osbournes project in the winter, when it can use its “Idol” platform to promote the new show.

FMNA Chief Creative Officer Eugene Young has been spearheading the Osbournes variety show, building on his relationship with Mrs. Osbourne on “Talent.” Mr. Young worked closely with the William Morris Agency’s Mark Itkin and John Ferriter, whose company represents FMNA and just recently began representing the Osbournes.

Source: tvweek.com

"Wetten, dass?" is ridiculously popular, if that's the one encouraging and not terrifyingly bizarre part of this whole scenario :unsure:

Bourne again
By SARA NATHAN

THE chaotic Osbourne family are heading back to telly screens — as hosts of a VARIETY show. It will feature Ozzy and his clan performing comedy skits and introducing music acts. The series will be the first time Sharon, Ozzy, 59, and kids Kelly, 23, and Jack, 22, have worked together since their chaotic hosting of the Brit Awards in February. Last night a TV source said: “This show is going to reunite the family with all the madness that that entails. It’s going to be in the same vein as an old-fashioned variety show.”

A pal of Sharon, 55, said she was “really excited” about the series after quitting as an X Factor judge last month. It is being made by US arm of FreemantleMedia, the production giant that owns TalkbackThames — makers of the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.It is tipped to be sold to the US Fox network. The show is the clan’s first series since MTV’s fly-on-the-wall The Osbournes, which ran from 2002 to 2005.

Source: Sun Online 07/07/08

i am still having a hard time believing that all 4 major networks "expressed strong interest." :wacko: REALLY? i wonder if they have a pilot/test run filmed already...

*prays its not like a never ending Brit Awards*

well it can't be never ending...it's only gonna be 6 episodes. :yes: and that's if enough people watch it and it doesn't get the axe before the 6 episodes finish...

some article i read says it is going to be in 2009 but then another says they are going to test by doing a christmas special. :yes: ;)