- Osbournes Reloaded
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Osbournes Reloaded 
Format Variety show Starring Ozzy Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Jack Osbourne
Kelly OsbourneCountry of origin 
USANo. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 6 (5 unaired) Production Running time 35 minutes
60 minutes (planned)Broadcast Original channel Fox Picture format 480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV)Original airing March 31, 2009 External links Website Osbournes Reloaded is a short-lived 2009 variety show that aired its only episode on Fox. The show was hosted by The Osbournes — Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly — and premiered Tuesday March 31 on Fox following American Idol.[1] Fremantle Media North America, the producers of American Idol, produced the show. The show was also taped in the same studio as American Idol at CBS Television City in Hollywood.
The show consisted of sketches, stunts, celebrity cameos, live action audience participation and live musical acts such as Fall Out Boy, and would have included pretaped parody skits often featuring Ozzy in drag playing such characters as Audrina from The Hills and Juno. Other bits include the Osbournes working "real jobs" (Ozzy and Kelly working drive-thru fast food for example), a recurring Littlest Osbournes segment (British kids swearing like Ozzy and Sharon), and the Osbournes meeting other families from across the country that share their name.[2]
Although planned as an hour-long show, the premiere episode was cut down to 35 minutes and American Idol was extended to an hour and 25 minutes.[3] The show was universally panned by critics, with Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant even going so far as to call it the "worst variety show ever"[4] and Tom Shales of the Washington Post labeling it "Must-Flee TV".[5]
Contents
Backstory
In July 2008 Fox announced that the Osbourne family would be hosting a new variety show tentatively titled Osbournes: Reloaded (working title was 'Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous').[6] The show started taping at Television City in December 2008 before a live audience.
The Osbourne family appeared together to host Fox's Sunday night Animation Domination block on March 29, 2009.
Preemption
At least 26 Fox affiliates opted to preempt the program, 10 of them delaying it until a later time and at least 16 not showing it at all, due to the nature of the program, most of them part of the station groups Local TV LLC and Raycom Media.[7] In the case of many of the Local TV-owned stations, this was the first pre-emption of a Fox program due to content in their histories after the July 2008 sale of seven Fox O&O stations to Local TV. These stations had previously shown promotions and commercials for the show, as the preemption decision came after the network offered the stations a six-minute preview reel of the episode's content.[7] However, the network did manage to convince Sinclair Broadcasting Group, one of the network's largest affiliate groups and known as a conservative-leaning broadcaster, to air the show as scheduled.[7]
One example included WXTX, a Southeastern Media Holdings-owned and Raycom-operated Fox affiliate in Columbus, Georgia, which ran a ticker during the March 29 Animation Domination, which the Osbournes hosted that night:
"WXTX has informed the national Fox Network that we will not be airing Osbournes Reloaded on Tuesday following American Idol. We find that the programming does not meet our community standards, especially given the family audience that American Idol attracts."[citation needed]
The message ran twice in a row at around 13 minutes on the hour, every hour, during the block. Sister station WSFX in Wilmington, North Carolina also preempted the show, showing a similar ticker during American Idol and beginning their 10pm news broadcast early.[citation needed]
Raycom's WPGX in Panama City, Florida also did not air the show. The station's General Manager, David Cavileer, said the inappropriate content and profanity made him uncomfortable having the show follow American Idol, which is very popular with a younger audience. A Simpsons rerun was seen instead.[7][8][9]
WXIX-TV in Cincinnati had also preempted the program, opting instead to start its 10pm newscast early, followed by a Surviving Severe Weather special at 10:30pm.[10]
In Milwaukee, WITI, a former Fox owned-and-operated station owned by Local TV, decided to air the show at 1:05am due to the content of the show in order to show a roundtable program about drug abuse, "Dealing with Drugs".[11][12] The station manager cited that, as many young people watch its lead in American Idol (especially with, as anchor Brad Hicks said as the special started, the presence of local contestant Danny Gokey in the show[13]), the Osbournes show would be more apppropriate for late-night, and that a show on the drug problem (an issue which was heavily covered in the last few weeks due to a rash of young adult deaths from drugs in the area) would be more appropriate to follow Idol.[14] Sister station WDAF-TV in Kansas City also moved the show to 1:05am and aired the station's 60th anniversary special instead. However the promotions during Fox network time listing the "up next" starting time on both stations were not changed to disclaim the new time.
WGHP, the High Point, North Carolina affiliate serving the Piedmont Triad market, opted to delay the program until midnight, filling the original time slot with consumer reports from the news department. Station manager Karen Adams told the Greensboro News & Record that 60% of the email feedback she received was critical of the decision, although many of those viewers had missed the station's announcement of the rescheduling.[15]
Other cities affected include West Palm Beach (WFLX), Birmingham (WBRC), and Knoxville (WTNZ), where the show was pre-empted outright; and Denver (KDVR), St. Louis (KTVI), Raleigh (WRAZ),[16] Columbia (WACH)[17] and Salt Lake City (KSTU), where the show was moved to a later time.[7]
Cancellation
The program was removed in the summer of 2009 with five episodes remaining unaired, mainly because of the affiliate boycott.[18]
References
- ^ "Osbournes Reloaded on Fox". fox.com. http://www.fox.com/osbournes/. Retrieved March 23, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Kelly and Ozzy: Osbournes Reloaded". SuicideGirls.com. March 26, 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Kelly+and+Ozzy%3A+Osbournes+Reloaded+/. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (March 30, 2009). "'Idol' to bleed into Osbournes launch". variety.com. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001906.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
- ^ "'Osbournes Reloaded:' Worst Variety Show Ever?". http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/osbournes-reloaded-worst-varie.html. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
- ^ Shales, Tom (April 1, 2009). "'Osbournes' So Bad, It's Must-Flee TV". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040104707.html?hpid=news-col-blog. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
- ^ "The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous: Summary". tv.com. http://www.tv.com/the-osbournes-loud-and-dangerous/show/75867/summary.html. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Washington Post: "It's Possible That 'Osbournes: Reloaded' Has Gone Too Far – Even for Fox", 4/1/2009.
- ^ AP, via WESH: "Fla. TV Station Snubs 'Inappropriate' Osbournes", 3/30/2009.
- ^ Panama City News-Herald: "Fox affiliate axes Osbournes variety show", 3/30/2009.
- ^ Cincinnati Enquirer: "Channel 19 says no to Osbournes", 3/30/2009.
- ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "No "Osbournes Reloaded" on Milwaukee TV", 3/29/2009.
- ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Channel 6 bumps Osbournes to 1 a.m., schedules drug special instead", 3/30/2009.
- ^ http://www.fox6now.com/news/dealing_with_drugs/
- ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Channel 6's Osbournes' explanation", 3/30/2009.
- ^ Greensboro (NC) News and Record: "Local Fox affiliate delays airing of Osbournes special", 4/1/2009.
- ^ Why You Didn't See "Osbournes Reloaded" – blog article in The News & Observer, April 1, 2009.
- ^ WACH: "WACH statement on 'Osbournes: Reloaded'", 3/31/2009.
- ^ http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/osbournes-over-and-out-fox_4939
External links
Categories:- 2009 American television series debuts
- 2009 American television series endings
- 2000s American television series
- American variety television series
- Television series canceled after one episode
- Fox network shows
- Television series by FremantleMedia
- Ozzy Osbourne
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