Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
The Osbournes get unloaded by some Fox stations
The Fox variety program “Osbournes: Reloaded” has run into a buzzsaw, with the Washington Post reporting that at least 16 stations refused to air the Tuesday night gross-out show from heavy metal king Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack.
Medium-sized market Cincinnati, Ohio, was among the stations that declined to air it, while the Fox affiliate in Denver, Colorado, was one of 10 stations that bumped it to a late-night time slot, when few young viewers were tuned in.
David Cavileer, the general manager of a Fox affiliate in Panama City, Florida, told the newspaper that with so many young viewers watching “Osbournes: Reloaded,” because it was scheduled after “American Idol,” it did not “seem like the proper thing” to air the program. Incidentally, Panama City is known as a spring break haven for partying college students, but the station manager said that is not his audience.
Some TV critics also wondered out loud what “Osbournes: Reloaded” was doing on the air. The Washington Post’s style columnist Tom Shales wrote that the show “could make history — as the first TV show ever to be recalled for fear of poisoning the atmosphere.”
