No Rock And Roll Fun

MY, THEY'RE A LUCKY FAMILY, AIN'T THEY?: imdb is reporting more than a few teething troubles with Sharon Osbourne's new chat show:

The Sharon Osbourne Show is set to debut on September 15, but celebrity guests have proved difficult to book - and two producers are so stressed they ended up leaving the studio in an ambulance. A studio source reveals, "We're six weeks from debuting and we really don't have a formula that works. Sharon is lovely. She's smart. Everybody loves Sharon and no one wants to do a show that will embarrass her. But the executives have changed their minds 10,000 times and it's like we're starting from scratch." Some staff have been working on the show for two months, but stress has proved so great two producers were admitted to hospital - one suffering a seizure and the other an asthma attack. The source adds, "The whole staff feels beaten down and exhausted. Everybody wants to leave. There's a sense of mutiny." Jim Paratore, president of Telepictures Productions, said on Monday, "This show won't be like any other show on TV. The Sharon Osbourne Show will combine celebrity segments a la Live With Regis And Kelly, human interest stories a la Oprah, plus musical guests and pre-taped mini-reality segments. It's really three shows in one, and that's why it's been such a difficult start-up. It's always been a very ambitious show. It takes a while to get everybody on the same page." So far the only celebrities lined-up by bookers are David Spade and Bow Wow, and Paratore admits, "Morale is mixed. The people doing good are feeling good, the people who are not, are not."

I'm sure they'd be able to drag Kelly and Jack on as guests. Ozzy would probably be too much to handle. Blimey, even Jeremy Spake managed to handle the transition from reality TV to proper telly with more grace than this bunch.