When The Osbournes debuted in 2002, it was a show ahead of its time and the first to follow the format of filming celebrities as they perform daily tasks, both unscripted and otherwise. However fun it was to watch the family's shenanigans, their patriarch Ozzy has different memories of that cloudy and paranoid time in his life.
"I thought it was gonna be a piece of cake, but you have a camera crew living in your house for three years and see how you feel at the end of it. You feel like a fucking laboratory rat," the singer told Metal Hammer in a recent interview. He admits, "It got to the point where I was falling apart emotionally ... It doesn't matter where you go for a piss, you're paranoid there's a camera in there."
The show ran for three seasons until its cancellation in 2005, after which the cast — Sharon, Ozzy, Kelly, and Jack — have repeatedly said their lives were changed forever and took the heavy metal singer from cult icon to mainstay of the mainstream lexicon. Garnering the most views of any MTV show ever during its first season, the program paved the way for later stars like Gene Simmons and Kim Kardashian to cash in on the scripted reality style of television that let fans get a safe look inside the lives of the rich, famous and no-longer-mysterious.
While Ozzy admits he got a "shitload of dough" for the gig, he isn't as clear on whether he'd go through it all again in this day and age. "I'm not ashamed of it and it's a big hit. Would I do it again? It's now Kardashianville. The world's changed, man."
