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CNN Live Today
Return to Ozz
Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: "Ozzie and Harriet," it is not, that we know. But the Osbournes have earned a place as America's favorite foul-mouthed heavy metal family. And to speculate whether the first season can live up to the vamp and camp of the first, we're joined from New York by "Time" magazine media critic James Poniewozik.
Hi, James. Good morning.
Is it going to be as raw and real? The first time out nobody knew what to expect. But now there's all this hype and expectation.
JAMES PONIEWOZIK, MEDIA CRITIC, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I would say what we've seen of the second season, which is two episodes so far they've previewed, it's raw and real in the way that the first season was, but it's raw and real, but not in the same way.
The first season was about getting a glimpse behind the scenes at this eccentric, weird rock star family and their ordinary daily lives. Since then, they've become international sensations and they've been to the White House correspondent's dinner, and the daughter cutting an album and so on.
And so the second season is really about that fame. It's about the Osbournes, stars of "The Osbournes" TV series. It's still a look at behind the scenes, but at a different kind of phenomenon.
LIN: And a phenomenon dealing with a couple of really serious issues. I mean, you've got Sharon's cancer that they're going to be dealing with. Are we actually going to see her going through chemotherapy and coping with that?
PONIEWOZIK: In the second episode of the season, it's dedicated to her discovering that she had colon cancer and the family's finding out about it. She takes the camera along to chemotherapy sessions, does interviews from her sick bed.
But you do get the feeling that it's tightly controlled. I mean, the Osbournes always has been -- Sharon Osbourne is the business manager of the family. She basically negotiated the series and keeps really tight control. You do have a sense that you're seeing, you know, what the family wants to you see. You don't see anybody sort of breaking down in tears at the news. It's a very sort of composed, almost Quasi-Barbara Walters-y look at the family at that point.
On the other hand, they do touch on some real emotions, and you do get a sense that you're feeling some of what the family is going through. The question is, MTV has actually emphasized to critics when they sent out the preview episodes that it's just going to be this episode that deals with the cancer, this doesn't signify a change in tone for the season. And I think if they completely ignore the fact that Sharon has cancer for the rest of the season, I mean, because she's still dealing with that, it's going to seem kind of phony.
LIN: Yes. I wonder how the fans are going to react to that. You want it real, and plus, they've kind of been playing it up in the offseason, too. They've been on talk show. They've been on magazine shows, talking about her cancer. So do they just not want it to be a downer?
PONIEWOZIK: They don't want it to be a downer. MTV advertised this as a reality comedy show, which is what it was, and it's what it still is.
I mean, the second episode where they deal with Sharon's cancer is very good, it's honest. It's not exploited it, but I don't think any fans of the show want that. They just want some sort of genuine sense that you're getting a sense of what the family is going through, what their lives are like, and not that you're getting sort of a packaged, phony look at them.
I actually think that, you know, the show could pull it off, that it could acknowledge the fact that they're going through a tough time and still keep a light tone, you know, without sort of wall owing in the melodrama of it all.
LIN: Well, lots of other this evenings it talk about, you know, during the season -- they've got a enough friend moving into the house, Kelly has got an album out, Jack, the son, is coming into his own, so we'll see what happens.
PONIEWOZIK: A lot going on in the Osbourne family.
LIN: As usual.
Thanks so much, James Poniewozik, "Time" magazine.
PONIEWOZIK: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: "Ozzie and Harriet," it is not, that we know. But the Osbournes have earned a place as America's favorite foul-mouthed heavy metal family. And to speculate whether the first season can live up to the vamp and camp of the first, we're joined from New York by "Time" magazine media critic James Poniewozik.
Hi, James. Good morning.
Is it going to be as raw and real? The first time out nobody knew what to expect. But now there's all this hype and expectation.
JAMES PONIEWOZIK, MEDIA CRITIC, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I would say what we've seen of the second season, which is two episodes so far they've previewed, it's raw and real in the way that the first season was, but it's raw and real, but not in the same way.
The first season was about getting a glimpse behind the scenes at this eccentric, weird rock star family and their ordinary daily lives. Since then, they've become international sensations and they've been to the White House correspondent's dinner, and the daughter cutting an album and so on.
And so the second season is really about that fame. It's about the Osbournes, stars of "The Osbournes" TV series. It's still a look at behind the scenes, but at a different kind of phenomenon.
LIN: And a phenomenon dealing with a couple of really serious issues. I mean, you've got Sharon's cancer that they're going to be dealing with. Are we actually going to see her going through chemotherapy and coping with that?
PONIEWOZIK: In the second episode of the season, it's dedicated to her discovering that she had colon cancer and the family's finding out about it. She takes the camera along to chemotherapy sessions, does interviews from her sick bed.
But you do get the feeling that it's tightly controlled. I mean, the Osbournes always has been -- Sharon Osbourne is the business manager of the family. She basically negotiated the series and keeps really tight control. You do have a sense that you're seeing, you know, what the family wants to you see. You don't see anybody sort of breaking down in tears at the news. It's a very sort of composed, almost Quasi-Barbara Walters-y look at the family at that point.
On the other hand, they do touch on some real emotions, and you do get a sense that you're feeling some of what the family is going through. The question is, MTV has actually emphasized to critics when they sent out the preview episodes that it's just going to be this episode that deals with the cancer, this doesn't signify a change in tone for the season. And I think if they completely ignore the fact that Sharon has cancer for the rest of the season, I mean, because she's still dealing with that, it's going to seem kind of phony.
LIN: Yes. I wonder how the fans are going to react to that. You want it real, and plus, they've kind of been playing it up in the offseason, too. They've been on talk show. They've been on magazine shows, talking about her cancer. So do they just not want it to be a downer?
PONIEWOZIK: They don't want it to be a downer. MTV advertised this as a reality comedy show, which is what it was, and it's what it still is.
I mean, the second episode where they deal with Sharon's cancer is very good, it's honest. It's not exploited it, but I don't think any fans of the show want that. They just want some sort of genuine sense that you're getting a sense of what the family is going through, what their lives are like, and not that you're getting sort of a packaged, phony look at them.
I actually think that, you know, the show could pull it off, that it could acknowledge the fact that they're going through a tough time and still keep a light tone, you know, without sort of wall owing in the melodrama of it all.
LIN: Well, lots of other this evenings it talk about, you know, during the season -- they've got a enough friend moving into the house, Kelly has got an album out, Jack, the son, is coming into his own, so we'll see what happens.
PONIEWOZIK: A lot going on in the Osbourne family.
LIN: As usual.
Thanks so much, James Poniewozik, "Time" magazine.
PONIEWOZIK: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
