Starring:
Sharon Osbourne as Herself
Jack Osbourne as Himself
Kelly Osbourne as Herself
Ozzy Osbourne as Himself/the Dad
Melinda Varga as Herself/the Nanny
Lola the Bulldog
Special Features:
Unaired Footage
“Too Oz For TV” Blooper Reel
Ozzy’s Ten Commandments
Never-Before-Seen Interviews With The Cast On Subjects Like:
-Family Values
-Ozzfest
-Life On The Set Of The Osbournes
-The “Untold Story” from Michael the Security Guard
Ozzy Translator
Season Highlights
Episode Commentary Track With The Osbourne Family
“Name That Dookie” Game – Match The Dookie With The Dog
Edit A Scene
Osbournes Bingo
DVD-ROM Materials
Other Info:
Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Dolby Digital Surround Sound
French Subtitles
Synopsis:
This is the entire first season of “The Osbournes” on DVD. For those that have been living under a rock, this is a reality series from MTV. The creators of the show followed around the family of Ozzy Osbourne for several months filming their every move. Ozzy is a hard rock star known for his devil themed performances and biting the head off of a bat, among other things. A bit frazzled from years of hard living, the Prince of Darkness is seen in his everyday life doing rather un-rock star things such as trying to figure out a remote control, yelling at his teenager kids, and cleaning up dog poop. The rest of the family includes Ozzy’s manager wife Sharon, his rebellious son Jack, and his emotional daughter Kelly. Throw in some bizarre friends, a security guard, a nanny, a cat, a half dozen dogs, and more profanities than you can shake a stick at, and you have The Osbournes.
“The Osbournes” is unrated but it does contain explicit language.
The Series:
I didn’t follow “The Osbournes” regularly, but I did catch an episode every once in a while when I’d be channel surfing. It’s so bizarre that it’s addictive to watch. Seeing the self proclaimed “Prince of Darkness” deal with everyday family challenges in such an eccentric environment is strangely fun to watch.
All 10 episodes are on this DVD along with a boatload of extras. Despite the packaging warning of explicit language, you do have the option to turn on the BLEEPS for censoring. I personally find the bleeping part of the amusement in watching it because almost the whole show is one continuous bleep. However, the extras are not censored.
The DVD has the same quirky sense of humor as the show. The DVD menus show the family gathered around watching the DVD which is a bit of a mind bender. One menu shows Lola the Bulldog licking the text off the screen. Other screens show the family members in different rooms talking about the DVD. Another feature is the “Ozzy Translator”. If you turn this on, it adds subtitles at the bottom any time Ozzy speaks. Those subtitles also feature funny graphics that go along with what he’s mumbling about. It’s all pretty funny and well presented.
I could really only watch a couple of episodes before I got bored with it. At that pointed I dived into the extras. People who have never seen the show may want to watch a little more. The people that will really go nuts for this DVD are the die-hard fans of the show. Everyone should find some degree of amusement in this DVD set if they can put up with the profanity.
The Extras:
This is really a first class package for a TV show DVD. The extras not only add to the fun of the collection, but they offer additional insight into the show. Here are some highlights:
“Too Oz For TV” Blooper Reel – Most of these bloopers involve people falling down or the camera crew getting in the way of things. Jack even gives the sound guy a hard time and eventually takes over his chores. Considering how much footage they show, though, the bloopers are rather short.
Ozzy’s Ten Commandments – Ozzy spouts his wisdom about life and family in his Ten Commandments. The translator at the bottom adds extra amusement as he offers such enlightening tips for you like insult your parents, take their money, and more. It’s presented in the same tongue-in-cheek manner as the rest of the series.
Never-Before-Seen Interviews – In these interviews the Osbournes talk about life after the show, people’s reactions to them on the street, dealing with the media, cameras, and more. It’s pretty interesting and if you’ve enjoyed the show in the past you’ll want to check it out. Michael the Security Guard also relates a story about getting stopped by the police and thrown in jail. Someone thought he was a burglar.
Season Highlights – If you don’t want to watch every episode to find your favorite part, you can go directly to this feature and play your favorite moments from each family member (and the dog Lola). It’s really pretty convenient, but the clips are pretty short.
Episode Commentary Track With The Osbourne Family – The only way to increase the amount of profanity in this show is to watch it with the commentary. The family members split up in pairs and provide commentary for each episode. They add a lot of insight about what happened behind the scenes while they reminisce about what goes on in the episode.
“Name That Dookie” Game – Match The Dookie With The Dog – This is probably the most unique DVD game I’ve ever seen. Set up like a game show, various bits of poop, vomit, or other bodily wastes are shown and you’re supposed to guess which animal left it behind. It’s funny, mercifully short, and worth checking out for a few laughs. I’m embarrassed to say I won the game on my first try.
Osbourne’s Bingo – This is probably the weakest extra. You’re supposed to print out cards and play bingo as you watch the show. Maybe it’s fun at parties, but otherwise you won’t get anything out of this.
The Bottom Line:
Chalk this one up to guilty pleasure. The surreal setting, people, and situations make this one fun to watch if you can get past the language. Fans of the show will love it and people who have never seen it before may want to rent it and watch with friends.
