We’re currently in the middle of an onslaught of TV remakes and revivals, where seemingly no updates are off limits. But in a strange change of pace, one such revision is being left on the development floor, as VH1 has decided not to move forward with their planned update of the reality series The Osbournes. This crazy train has officially gone off the rails into Nowheresville.
While there are no direct reasons given for VH1’s disinterest, here’s what Susan Levison, executive vice president of original programming and production, told THR.
We wish we could have worked it out, but it just didn’t come together for us. The family has been absolutely lovely and we wish them the best. We’d love to figure out a way to work with them at some point in the future.
This comes as a bit of a surprise, as talks of the reality show’s return have been going around for the past six months or so, with matriarch Sharon Osbourne touting a 6-to-8-episode limited series being in the cards. But there’s a decent chance that VH1’s backpedaling was the result of a lawsuit that was filed earlier this month.
In the suit, production company JOKS was going after Schweet Entertainment for the latter claiming that it had a 55% interest in any future episodes of The Osbournes, despite JOKS’ ideas for bringing the series back all predating the formation of Schweet, which JOKS claims has never put any invested interest in an Osbournes’ revamping. The weirdest part? Son Jack Osbourne is a member of both companies. But then maybe it had nothing to do with that at all.
This would have been the first time the family was together for a series since the poorly received variety show Osbournes Reloaded on Fox, which lasted for exactly one episode in 2009. Before that, they were a part of one of MTV’s most popular and highest-rated series, lasting from 2001-2005, taking home the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program.
It appeared as if this was going to be Kelly Osbourne’s return to TV after quitting Fashion Police a couple of months ago, but I guess we’ll be waiting for something else. Meanwhile, you can still find Sharon on CBS’ The Talk. And you can also find other potential reality remakes on other networks, such as Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and Punk’d, among others.
So all in all, we may still one day see one of America’s most multi-hyphenate families get back together on the small screen, but it doesn’t appear to be happening any time soon. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to come up with a sauce to go with this bat.
