You might think of Kris Kardashian as the OG family manager, but four fathers actually were years ahead of this trend. Who could possibly be so brave to balance family chaos live on camera, before there was a roadmap of reality TV PR nightmares? Check them out below, because we bet you forgot all about these.
1) ‘The Osbournes’ (2001 )
Before there were ring lights or filter apps or “momagers”, there was Ozzy Osbourne bumbling around his Beverly Hills mansion in his slippers, ranting about remotes. MTV’s The Osbournes arrived in March 2002 and went nuclear the following day. It was a watershed moment for celebrity culture, the behind-the-scenes frenzy of Ozzy, his wife Sharon, their two children Kelly and Jack. The show’s groundbreaking secret? It had no interviews or glitzy sets or confessionals. There was just the Osbournes, on the verge of having their children rip each other’s faces off in the dining room, Ozzy spouting 10 curse words at the remote, Sharon reacting with a hug on one shoulder and the whip-crack of her discipline on the other. At its height, over 8 million people were watching each episode, and The Osbournes was MTV’s most watched show ever. The reaction from critics? Genius, or insanity Ozzy Osbourne, already forever the metal devil on leather, now became “America’s dad” clumsy, innocuous and completely out of his depth. Sharon and Ozzy showed us what unfiltered real-life dysfunction looks like in a high-profile family before Kris Jenner started developing corporate empires for her children.
2) ‘Hogan Knows Best’ (2005)
Most people know Terry “Hulk” Hogan as a professional wrestler, but many others discovered him as a borderline-creepy suburban dad on the VH1 reality series Hogan Knows Best. The show first premiered in July of 2005 to the highest ratings ever for a VH1 series premiere, and the show’s creators have taken some credit in this for luring viewers in with curiosity about the Hulkster. Those who watched Hogan Knows Best were presented with a supposedly unfiltered look at Hulk’s family life, which included the family of Hulk, his wife Linda, and their two children. The show focused most of its time on Hulk’s relationship with his teenage daughter Brooke, as she attempted to kickstart her career as a singer and actress. In addition to being loving and supportive, Hulk comes off as an extremely overprotective and controlling parent, most prominently shown in recurring segments where Hulk harasses and threatens any boy who tries to date Brooke, sometimes complete with a mock interview and flexing his famous biceps. He also uses GPS trackers on her car, enforces what would be considered a ridiculously strict curfew if he wasn’t Hulk Hogan, and his lax household management methods are reminiscent of professional wrestling locker rooms. Hulk Hogan would later divorce his wife Linda and the series was canceled in 2008 due to this and his infidelity, with one of his affairs being with Brooke’s friend. Yikes.
3) ‘Gene Simmons Family Jewels’ (2006)
Gene Simmons Family Jewels aired on A&E from 2006 until 2012 focusing on Gene Simmons balancing his rock star career with his business endeavors while raising his children. Everything about Family Jewels was methodical, from the way Gene taught his children, Nick and Sophie, about branding to his long-term aversion to marrying longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed (season 1 spoilers, right there). Gene was nothing like the Osbournes. There was no one-liner rage or candid chaos, just highly manicured reality entertainment for consumption. Journalists dubbed it “the most watchable infomercial ever made,” which wasn’t an exaggeration. Gene plugged KISS tours, his book publishing, anything he could sell viewers during the show’s commercial breaks. He bought a football team in Australia (spoiler alert, this never actually happened, the whole story was a fabricated exaggeration), and he showed every single moment of it. Under the façade of a KISS infomercial, Simmons showed an unexpected level of humanity by reflecting on his father’s grave visit in Israel and his emotional detachment from his children. Family Jewels was less a portrait of who Gene was as a person and more about how far he went to control the image of who he wanted to be.
4) ‘Run’s House’ (2005)
Run’s House was a breath of fresh air compared to the other sibling pairs of dysfunction. It gave viewers something they rarely found on TV at the time, a representation of a black family full of love, groundedness, and spirituality. Run’s House premiered on MTV in 2005 and centered on Joseph Simmons, one of the founding members of the hip-hop group Run-D.M.C., as he raised his children and remarried after his career in music. By that time, MTV was moving away from music videos and into more reality programming, so Simmons and his family offered a very different brand of “real” TV. There was little to no drama and plenty of routine in their suburban New Jersey house as Joseph took on a very hands-on role with his three children. It wasn’t the highest-rated show in MTV’s history, but it did present a positive image of a successful Black family and broke stereotypes with its focus on humor, faith, and its honest moments. Every episode closed with his signature bubble bath, where he would message his thoughts on the week’s events as well as some spiritual lesson. Run’s House was successful in that it showed that reality programming could be wholesome and still interesting. It could be tender and funny, and filled with faith, while keeping viewers tuned in.