Ozzy & The Osbournes Re-Invade Your TV

America’s favorite family is gearing up to host a variety show on Fox. The 1970s- inspired format will feature the family in a blend of musical performances, comedy sketches and game show-style, audience participation games. Mike Darnell of Fox says that “We’ve been talking about how to renew the variety show concept and make it feel new for years now,” and apparently he feels that the Osbournes are just fun and dysfunctional enough to make it work.

America’s favorite family is gearing up to host a variety show on Fox. The 1970s- inspired format will feature the family in a blend of musical performances, comedy sketches and game show-style, audience participation games. Mike Darnell of Fox says that “We’ve been talking about how to renew the variety show concept and make it feel new for years now,” and apparently he feels that the Osbournes are just fun and dysfunctional enough to make it work. There has also been talk of filming out-of-studio segments such as “The Osbournes Meet the Osbournes,” where the clan will spend some quality time with another family of the same name.

In equally wholesome fashion, the writers plan to play on the sibling rivalry between Kelly, 23, and Jack, 22. Normally such ordinary encounters would not merit the interest of a million television viewers, but as we learned in their MTV series The Osbournes, this family effortlessly freaks us out. As chief creative officer at FremantleMedia, Eugene Young says that the show will “tap into what the Osbournes do best, which is be themselves.”

TV viewers first fell in love with the family when they starred in their self-titled reality series from 2002 to 2005. As would be expected from Black Sabbath front man Ozzy Osbourne, the show featured plenty of cursing, quibbling, tattoos, and shock value, but at its core, also a close-knit family devotion. Show ratings subsequently soared in both the UK and US. The series served as a launch pad not only for “celebreality” as a genre, but for individual family members as well. Since the close of the show 3 years ago, the Osbournes have stayed in the public eye. Jack currently has his own TV show in the UK called Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie, which chronicles his attempts to get in better physical and mental shape through conquering extreme sports around the world. Kelly stays busy as a media figure of sorts, as a British television personality and fashion designer, while Sharon has been a talent judge on bothThe X Factor and America’s Got Talent.

Ozzy has spent his time headlining at Ozzfest and working on his first studio album in six years, titled Black Rain, which was released in 2007. Part of the humor in the reality series stemmed from Ozzy’s evident handicaps due to his heavy drug abuse. In an interview with Billboard about this recent album he says, “I thought I’d never write again without any stimulation…But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, ‘I don’t want life to go (to pieces).’” So the honest Ozzy is gathering up his family around him again to reclaim a spot in the media in a new vein.