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THE OSBOURNES |
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In 1992, MTV's Real World was one of the first TV programmes to supposedly mix documentary with soap opera. 10 years on it is perhaps fitting that The Osbournes - the latest and most fêted "reality TV" programme in some time should come from the same stable. You don't have to be a rabid heavy-metal fan to be aware of Ozzy Osbourne's musical career and legendary bad behaviour. Tales of on-tour excess such as urinating on the Alamo and a supposed predilection for decapitating small furry creatures have reached most corners of the globe. Consequently, a large audience for a programme that follows his day-to-day family life was almost guaranteed from the show's inception. Presumably most viewers expected bloated rock style shenanigans, appalling parenting and dysfunctional children (this is MTV after all), yet whilst we may have expected to find ourselves laughing at the Osbournes, the truth is somewhat different. The Osbournes bears many of the hallmarks of MTV documentary making (colourful graphics, intrusive incidental music and action in bite size chunks), but the family Osbourne are far removed from the usual MTV documentary subject matter. Whereas The Real World and their ilk cast together Generation X slackers, nihilists and dreamers, the Osbournes are realists who bring a refreshing element of practicality and genuine wit to whatever they are doing. And whilst the series may not have attained the degree of media exposure afforded Big Brother (whose Sunday night edition it is scheduled against), it has featured in a wider range of publications, and has arguably had a greater impact upon British popular culture, influencing fashion (with the introduction of the "Kelly"hairstyle) and music in a manner that the BB inhabitants cannot possibly match. Besides, if you thought Big Brother's media ubiquity was excessive in comparison to the programme's ratings, the number of column inches devoted to The Osbournes in publications such as Heat, The Face and The Sunday Times Colour Supplement is absurd when you consider that the programme gets less than half a million viewers each week. Not that The Osbournes has been a ratings failure for MTV. Indeed the channel's Sunday night audience share has increased tenfold since the series began. Beyond the hyperbole, there must be a genuine attraction bringing viewers back week after week. The programme's essential appeal resides surprisingly in the viewer's ability to identify with at least one member of the family. Contrary to his stage persona, Ozzy is portrayed here as a surprisingly average, middle-aged man in search of nothing more than a little peace and quiet, only to find himself thwarted at every turn. "You're my children, I love you more than life itself," he proclaims in an early episode "but you're all fucking crazy." Ozzy's children, Jack and Kelly, are sullen in a typically teenage manner, and even though their father is a celebrated rock icon, they still manage to find him in turns embarrassing, overly judgemental and tedious. Meanwhile, Sharon (Ozzy's wife) assumes, as is so often the case in modern families, the traditional patriarchal role, managing the family's day-to-day affairs, whilst keeping Ozzy's showbiz career afloat. In fact The Osbournes bears more than a passing similarity to Driving School. Like the BBC series, it portrays a loving relationship through conflict. Through the countless scenes of histrionics and arguments, we never once doubt the bond between Driving School's Maureen and Dave, and in the same vein, the Osbourne's affection for each other is always visible even when they are at each other's throats. Despite MTV's attempts to reduce the programme to little more than a sketch show, the essence of the people involved still somehow manages to find its way to the screen. Again this marks something of a departure for the station. Their "reality" shows usually involve bringing together a group of disparate strangers and recording their relationships as they develop in front of the camera. Whilst relationships formed within such peculiar circumstances never seem truly plausible, the Osbourne's banter developed long before the cameras ever got there and so remains credible and appealing even when criminally shoehorned into 90 second segments, book-ended with faux '50s graphics (presumably designed to provide an ironic contrast to the family's "alternative"lifestyle). Despite the veneer of crucifixes, devils heads and obscenities it is difficult to find a "cosier"slice of Sunday night television. Certainly, not even Last of the Summer Wine has dared portray a more loving, traditional nuclear family. The Osbournes succeeds in spite of, and not because of MTV's attempts to package it as the latest iteration of "alterna-reality-TV" (a kind of Sylvania Waters for the Jackass generation, perhaps). Whilst the stations's execs probably revel in the programme's laugh-out-loud factor, one suspects that The Osbourne's ability to leave the viewer with a nice warm glowing feeling at the end of each episode will regularly escape their attention. |
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