WHERE'S HARRIET ? :

Watch out, kids, it's a trick. On second thought, don't watch, kids: it's a trick. : Smoking out 'The Osbournes' message (BARRY SAUNDERS, June 1, 2002, Raleigh News and Observer)

[P]arents seem to have discovered that when it comes to preventing the tykes from toking up, honesty is the best policy. Exhibit No. 1 in that new policy is Ozzy Osbourne.

"The Osbournes" is the top-rated show in MTV's history and probably the weirdest. If you've seen some of the music network's previous offerings--such as a leering, geriatric Jerry Springer hosting a spring break beach party -- you know the show had to beat a lot of schlock to take that title. The "reality" family series, which features the aging (and not gracefully aging, either) rocker at home, has thrust Ozzy back into the spotlight he shared 30 years ago when he was a drugging, boozing frontman for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath.

While most teens who watch "The Osbournes" may think they're simply viewing a funny, dysfunctional family -- a family that makes everyone else's look normal -- astute viewers will see the show for what it is: an hour-long anti-drug screed. That's what makes watching it so insidious if you're a teen and an act of genius if you're a parent.

You know, it'd be great if tv worked that way--show your kids what a hash these people have made of their lives with sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll and they'll straighten up and fly right. It doesn't. Instead kids say : "Hey, this guy's been a total burn out for thirty years and he's still got his own tv show and a pretty cushy life. So what if he's a stumbling, mumbling, slobbering moron--he's rich and he's famous. Sign me up." Posted by Orrin Judd at June 3, 2002 12:06 AM