Osbournes reviled
A handful of Utah "American Idol" viewers may have been surprised Tuesday night when Fox 13's 9 p.m. newscast popped up 35 minutes early.
Without explanation, a crawl across the top of the screen informed KSTU's viewers that the show scheduled to follow "American Idol" - the debut of the variety program "Osbournes Reloaded," which Ryan Seacrest dutifully teased - would be shown instead at 12:05 a.m.
"Osbournes Unloaded" - which stars rocker Ozzy Osbourne, manager/wife Sharon Osbourne and talent-free kids Jack and Kelly - had already offended the folks at WPGX, the Fox affiliate in Panama City, Fla. That station pulled the Osbournes' completely, replacing it with an episode of "The Simpsons."
(According to Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade publication, 16 Fox stations didn't air the show - while another 10, like KSTU, pushed the show to a later time slot.)
Insomniacs who stayed up past midnight to watch "Osbournes Reloaded" got to see a celebrity train-wreck of lowbrow pranks - blindfolding a lothario and having him kiss an old lady, having Kelly work a fast-food drive-through window and shout obscenities at the customers, or confronting a reluctant boyfriend with his long-suffering girlfriend in a wedding dress - and bleeped-out profanity. It may not have been the worst use of videotape ever, but it's in the Top 5. (Don't believe me? Tom Shales of The Washington Post called it "must-flee TV," while Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly opined that "the stink of this show will last a long time.")
Awful as it was, the offensiveness level of "Osbournes Reloaded" wasn't out of line for the network that gives us "Family Guy" every Sunday. But as a follow-up to "American Idol" - whose multi-generational audience includes teens, tweens and their grandparents - the Osbournes' profane hijinks were woefully out of place.
Without explanation, a crawl across the top of the screen informed KSTU's viewers that the show scheduled to follow "American Idol" - the debut of the variety program "Osbournes Reloaded," which Ryan Seacrest dutifully teased - would be shown instead at 12:05 a.m.
"Osbournes Unloaded" - which stars rocker Ozzy Osbourne, manager/wife Sharon Osbourne and talent-free kids Jack and Kelly - had already offended the folks at WPGX, the Fox affiliate in Panama City, Fla. That station pulled the Osbournes' completely, replacing it with an episode of "The Simpsons."
(According to Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade publication, 16 Fox stations didn't air the show - while another 10, like KSTU, pushed the show to a later time slot.)
Insomniacs who stayed up past midnight to watch "Osbournes Reloaded" got to see a celebrity train-wreck of lowbrow pranks - blindfolding a lothario and having him kiss an old lady, having Kelly work a fast-food drive-through window and shout obscenities at the customers, or confronting a reluctant boyfriend with his long-suffering girlfriend in a wedding dress - and bleeped-out profanity. It may not have been the worst use of videotape ever, but it's in the Top 5. (Don't believe me? Tom Shales of The Washington Post called it "must-flee TV," while Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly opined that "the stink of this show will last a long time.")
Awful as it was, the offensiveness level of "Osbournes Reloaded" wasn't out of line for the network that gives us "Family Guy" every Sunday. But as a follow-up to "American Idol" - whose multi-generational audience includes teens, tweens and their grandparents - the Osbournes' profane hijinks were woefully out of place.
Labels: American Idol, television
posted by Sean P. Means @ 9:14 AM |
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