‘The Osbournes’ show introduced a new generation to Ozzy Osbourne and changed TV forever

Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metal legend and Black Sabbath frontman, became a pioneer in the reality television landscape with "The Osbournes."

In 2001, Rod Aissa was one of a handful of MTV executives having lunch with Sharon Osbourne at a restaurant in Santa Monica, California, to discuss a potential collaboration with her family. Osbourne apologized for arriving late, blamed it on her husband’s antics and immediately launched into a dizzying play-by-play of her home’s hijinks that had everyone laughing — hard.

“We are over-the-top and crazy, and there’s a lot of cursing and fighting and dogs everywhere,” Aissa recalled her saying then, “but there’s so much love in our family.”

That family, of course, also includes Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metal legend and Black Sabbath front man who accidentally became a pioneer in reality television, thanks to the early aughts phenomenon “The Osbournes.” With the news that Ozzy died Tuesday at 76, fans flooded social media with footage of the Prince of Darkness’ theatrical performances, as well as clips of him chasing his elusive cat through his backyard and unapologetically marveling at the assembly of a Chipotle burrito.

Before “The Osbournes” premiered in 2002, Ozzy Osbourne was known for pioneering heavy metal and popularizing “many of its over-the-top stereotypes: overindulgence, a disregard for obeying rules, a kind of cartoonish, perpetual adolescence,” said Craig Marks, music journalist and executive editor of HITS magazine. “To other hard-rock musicians especially, he was a force of nature, someone whose appetite for drugs was practically heroic.”

Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly on "The Osbournes" season one in 2002.Michael Yarish / MTV / Getty ImagesBut it was the family around the rocker that piqued the interest of MTV executives, including Aissa, and led to the creation of a series that launched an entire television subgenre, while introducing him to a new generation who were too young to experience Black Sabbath’s heyday. A standout 2000 episode of “MTV Cribs” — in which teens Jack and Kelly Osbourne give MTV a tour of their home — had offered a glimpse into the chaotic but charming dynamics. It also presented Ozzy’s various paradoxes: originally from working-class Birmingham, England, and now moving into a brand-new Beverly Hills mansion; singing about death and the occult onstage and just trying to watch the History Channel at home.