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The Osbournes - The First Season...
Stars:
Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, and Jack Osbourne
Approximate
Episode Length: 22 Minutes Each
Extras:
Unaired Footage, Blooper Reel, Ozzy’s Ten Commandments, Never-Before-Seen
Interviews, Ozzy Translator, Season Highlights, Episode Commentary With The
Osbourne Family, Set-Top Games, DVD-ROM Game, Guide, and Website Links
Languages:
English Dolby Stereo Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Two-Disc Digipack Gatefold Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 65
Sound:
Dolby Stereo Surround Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2003
Home
Video Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
When
I was a freshman in high school I went with a friend to see Ozzy Osbourne live
with Motley Crew opening up for them during his “Bark At The Moon” tour at
Madison Square Garden. I never thought that nearly twenty years later I’d be
reviewing a DVD set about a “reality” show centered around the Osbourne
family. I am not a big fan of “reality” television. I find it exploitive and
indicative of what would be a great theme to be explored should there ever be a
“Decline Of Western Civilization, Part III: The Reality TV Years,” but I
would be a liar if I were to say that I have not tuned in myself from time to
time. I remember watching the first season of MTV’s “The Real World” and
have found the WWE & MTV program “Tough Enough” to be far more
interesting than most telecasts of “RAW” and “Smackdown” as of late.
Heck I think “Jackass” is hilarious and still think original “Howard
Stern” from the early 1990s was the best. However there is no denying the
absolute compulsory and even voyeuristic addiction one gets from watching
MTV’s “The Osbournes.”
I
think the reason why “The Osbournes” is so addictive is due in no small part
to the charm of Sharon Osbourne and the absolute hilarity of watching Ozzy
Osbourne cope with the mundane against a surreal backdrop. I did not care much
for the kids when I first started watching the show, but by the end any
strangeness or absurdity about them not only seemed normal, but I felt that
while I have no idea what it is to walk in their shoes, I respect the fact that
they do have real pressures that come with being the son and daughter of a world
famous rock icon. However in the end what I think is most endearing to the
viewers of “The Osbournes” is not so much what is different about their
lives from our own, but what general human commonalities they share with any
family dynamic. They say that Mark Twain was the inventor of what has been
coined “Distinctly American Literature” with his book “Huckleberry Finn”
and as I reflect back on the ten episodes that make up the first season of
“The Osbournes” I wonder about the irony and true possibility that a show
about a real life international rock star and his family is truly the first the
uniquely “American” brand of television of the new millennium. The irony
being in that they are not even native born Americans. Perhaps the greater irony
is that it aired on a network that calls itself “Music Television,” but
hardly shows any music videos anymore. Perhaps I am reading too much into it,
but regardless of whether you agree with my philosophy or not there is no
denying that “The Osbournes” was the best original TV show MTV has ever
aired in nearly ten years and that the Emmy the show garnered was well deserved.
Lest we forget the crossover appeal the show has had on audiences of various
races, creeds, and age.
Miramax
Home Entertainment has released “The Osbournes” in both uncensored and
censored versions with nearly identical features across two dual layered discs
within a Digipack gatefold inside a glossy cardboard slipcase. Of all of the DVD
releases to come out based on MTV programs, this Miramax Home Entertainment
release sets the benchmark for what I think all future MTV programs released on
DVD should follow regardless of the distributor. To begin with the menus are
very well rendered with videotaped scenes of the Osbournes literally watching
the DVD on their own set while providing interesting graphics and live action
full motion interactive menus and transitions to standard interactive still
frame menus, which are all easy to navigate. Each episode is presented in the
original (1.33:1) broadcast aspect ratio with English Stereo Surround Sound and
optional English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and
French Language Subtitles. The series looks as if it were shot using analogue
video cameras and the picture quality is at times a bit murky with noticeable
grain left over from the lower video resolution source materials. The English
Stereo Surround Soundtrack is clear and free of analogue hissing. The Osbourne
family also provides commentary for all ten episodes and for the “Ozzy”
impaired, there is even an “Ozzy Translator” option that is a definite help
for understanding just what the guy is saying at times during the series. Curse
words can be bleeped out too as a listening option for all ten episodes. The
episodes can also be watched individually or as one reel.
Other
extra features include new-videotaped retrospective interviews (38:31) with the
Osbournes discussing the impact the success of the show has had on their lives
and whatnot. These interviews can be seen as one reel or in separate portions.
There is also tons of bonus-videotaped footage that did not make the show
highlighted in the order of what episode they would have appeared. A blooper
reel (5:32), a reel of season highlights (17:34), and “Ozzy’s Ten
Commandments” are also included among the DVD-Video features.
A
still gallery and some DVD-Video set-top games as well as DVD-ROM material that
includes the “Food Nuisance Arcade Gamer,” “Guide To The Osbournes,” and
web links wrap up the bonus features included in this two-disc set. An 8-page
insert containing a reproduction of a review from “Entertainment Weekly” as
well as set contents information is included within a sleeve pocket inside the
gatefold packaging.
I
think this is a must buy for fans and a must-see for just about anyone. “The
Osbournes: The First Season: Totally Uncensored On DVD” will debut on Tuesday,
March 4, 2003 from Miramax Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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The Osbournes - The First Season...