The Osbournes to head variety show

The Osbournes hosting a variety show? Yes, it's true... Fox has ordered six episodes of a variety show hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack from producer FremantleMedia, set to air next year. The Osbournes of course, headlined their own reality show on MTV from 2002 to 2005.

Thought: Remember the last segment that aired on The Simpsons' 138th Episode Spectacular where the Simpsons got their own variety show? Is this where FremantleMedia and the Osbournes got this idea?

Sorry, I'm not feeling it. The Osbournes are a wrong choice to headline a variety show in prime time, given nobody looks at them beyond their reality show and the variety format sadly doesn't work in today's television environment for English-language networks. The last time a major network aired a variety project was during the 1987-88 season, when Dolly Parton headlined a Sunday night show on ABC which flopped with both critics and viewers. In younger demos, Dolly was often beaten by Fox's Married... With Children.

A project like this - particularly with the Osbournes as hosts - would be more suited for a weekend late-fringe time slot. Prime-time variety shows are traditionally family-friendly, and the Osbournes are far from it, especially Ozzy with his potty mouth. A variety show works for Univision with Sabado Gigante on Saturdays, but not here with The Osbournes (and I would rather watch Sabado Gigante. Don Francisco rules!) With this new show, let's hope Ozzy doesn't sing - remember his rendention of Take Me Out To The Ballgame at Wrigley five years ago? (I know he was a rocker, but that was then...)

Interestingly enough, one of the Osbournes' daughters (Amy) decided not to participate in the show - similar to Lisa snubbing the idea in the Simpsons episode. Life imitates art?