Three decades after Black Sabbath solidified heavy metal as the next major rock ‘n’ roll subgenre, frontman Ozzy Osbourne was paving the way for yet another cultural phenomenon that was later likened to eighteen Thrillers, the seminal Michael Jackson album from 1982. The only difference was that this time, Osbourne didn’t have the help of flashy costumes, theatrics, and the comfortable distance between audience and performer. In fact, he had entirely the opposite.
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While this particular era of his career has been mocked by more critical Ozzy fans and non-fans, this writer humbly suggests that we don’t give Osbourne and his family enough credit for what they did for reality television. The Osbournes, which premiered in the spring of 2002, was the first series of its kind to follow the lives of famous people. Before them, reality television typically followed average people doing non-average things.
Now, is reality television centered around celebrities the pinnacle of performative entertainment? No. Did this star-focused series usher in a new genre of television that remains one of the most popular today? Absolutely yes.
So, when Osbourne asked a producer just how big a phenomenon The Osbournes had become, the producer had to start looking to some of the biggest albums of all time to define their success.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Reality Show Was the ‘Thriller’ of Modern TV
If this writer has said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: Art is objective. What Thriller did to pop music might not matter to someone who doesn’t like Michael Jackson (or pop music). But its cultural significance can’t be denied by most reasonable metrics. Similarly, The Osbournes was a defining milestone in modern television culture—for better or worse, depending on your opinion of the genre.
But for Ozzy and his family, they were just hanging out at home. Working out on an exercise bike. Getting frustrated by technology. Spatting with the neighbors. During a conversation with Mojo, Osbourne recalled talking to a producer about how massive the show had become. “This guy goes, ‘You know Thriller? Well, this is like eighteen Thrillers.” As ridiculous as parts of the show admittedly were, it was a highly influential moment in pop culture. The family has since shared differing opinions on the effect the show had on them.
Speaking to NME in 2020, Ozzy said that the show’s ubiquity became too overwhelming. “I had to bow out,” he said. “I said to Sharon, ‘I don’t like the way it makes me feel, and I can’t stand f***ing cameramen in my house.’ I’m not upset that I did it, but I wouldn’t do it again. People were going, ‘Aren’t you worried about losing your fans?’ I said, ‘I’m not worried about losing my fans. I’m worried about losing my f***ing mind.”
Photo by Mike Guastella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
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