The first series of The Osbournes is a hilarious fly-on-the-wall documentary concerning the day-to-day domestic misadventures of Ozzy Osbourne (former frontman of Black Sabbath), his relatively sensible wife Sharon and their kids Jack and Kelly. Having made his millions and been to rock & roll hell and back, Ozzy seems content nowadays to put his feet up in the sofa of the kitchen of his palatial Beverly Hills abode. However, a host of problems--including poorly toilet-trained domestic pets, noisy neighbours, his continuing obligations as an ageing metal superstar, his inability to operate the state-of-the-art telly and his ever-quarrelsome kids flapping fractiously about the place--forbid him a moment of peace. This real-life sitcom fodder has led many to describe the Osbourne family as "dysfunctional"--however, despite the generous helpings of expletives with which the series is garnished, like The Simpsons, they're actually a loving and stable family unit underneath it all. The series isn't perfect--the stylised MTV treatment is occasionally obtrusive and more Ozzy and less of the career-hungry teen brats would be welcome. Still, it's a gloriously refreshing change from the usual bland evasiveness of celebrity profiles.
On the DVD: The Osbournes boasts a welter of wittily packaged special features. These include a commentary track ("Aww, look at Kelly, being nice! Can't we have that Kelly back?"), an "Ozzy translator" (English subtitles) for the benefit of those bamboozled by his Brummy accent and "Ozzy's Ten Commandments" delivered impromptu by the great man, tidied up into biblical-speak in the subtitles ("Thou shall cling tight to the moneybelt of thy father"). Although Sharon declares that she's "worried about the oranges" on the DVD, she needn't be. Given that this is a transfer from video, it looks clean and pristine, necessarily so in that it enhances the colourful, almost cartoon air of the series. Sound wise, there are no problems either, despite the competing setbacks of thick accents, background music, "voices off" and barking. Everything is picked up, from offhand grunted remarks to ear-splitting tantrums. --David Stubbs
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