The Best

'The Osbournes'
Just as Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath spawned a new genre of music, this MTV classic, starring Ozzy's family, spawned a new genre of television: celeb reality. Not as much a show about music as a show about family, "The Osbournes" proved that big dysfunction equaled big ratings. The show was a brilliant publicity coup by wife/manager Sharon, who reinvigorated her hubby's career (and revenue stream) by inviting America into her living room for a cup of tea and some incoherent babbling. From the yipping of their umpteen lapdogs to the constant bickering of the Osbourne offspring, life at casa de Ozzy was a three-nosering circus. But the show wouldn't have been so successful were it not rooted in genuine affection. As dysfunctional as the family was, they clearly loved each other. And, besides, whose family isn't at least a little bit bonkers?

'Super Group'

This VH1 show mixes two formulas the network has had a lot of success with: nostalgia and music. "Super Group" takes five no-longer-at-their-peak hard rockers and supplants them in a gaudy Las Vegas mansion to form a new band. The show is essentially "The Surreal Life" gone metal, and it's a hoot (or should we say howl?). Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) is a bigger diva than any of those Destiny's Child ladies, and his youthful enthusiasm is both admirable and obnoxious at the same time, particularly when suggesting terrible names for his new band (Savage Animal, Celeb-u-tard). Rounding out the group is guitarist/hunting enthusiast Ted Nugent, who, like David Lee Roth, speaks in intelligent-sounding, but frequently baffling riddles; Scott Ian from Anthrax; Evan Seinfeld from Biohazard; and Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham. "Super" may be a bit of a stretch for some of this group's members, but it is an apropos adjective for this hard rockin' guilty pleasure.

'Bands on the Run'

This compulsively watchable series lasted only one season but was one of the genre's pioneers. The concept was simple: Send a handful of bands out on tour to compete against each other for the chance to win a record deal. Each of the bands would play in the same city on the same night, and whichever act brought in the least amount of money from both concert attendance and merchandise sales would have to leave the tour. While the concept itself may have been flawed (is money-making ability really a sign of a band's worth?), watching the bands slash each other's tires and drink themselves silly was a whole lotta fun. Dallas' Flickerstick won the whole shebang, quickly releasing an album that even more quickly fell off the charts. Fans of the show have long hoped for a revival of the show, and they may just be in luck. Reports have surfaced recently about a second season being developed with previously established bands instead of
up and comers, naming both Bow Wow Wow and Faster Pussycat as possible participants.

'Bands Reunited'

Yet another VH1 program to make the list, this one took our favorite defunct bands, rounded up the founding members and coaxed them into reuniting for a one-night only special performance. Featuring bands such as A Flock of Seagulls, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Kajagoogoo, the most eye-opening part of the show wasn't the actual reunion, but seeing what each of the band members had been doing with themselves since the breakup. Some members were still in the music biz (some even touring with their once-famous band), but more frequently, the one-time hit makers were hard at work on a second career. Also interesting was hearing the breakup stories from several different perspectives.  "He fired me!" a scorned drummer would confess candidly only to have the singer share a different story in a subsequent segment. The show also gets points for airing failed reunions (Squeeze and Extreme, we're looking at you), though the half-hour running time was usually a dead giveaway that the band in question wouldn't successfully reunite. Here's hoping VH1 decides to reunite the crew of this fave for another season.

'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

A guilty pleasure of the mammoth kind, this NBC summer hit served as a prime-time rejuvenation for some of yesteryear's one-hit wonders.  Each week, five artists competed in front of a studio audience performing a pair of tracks: their biggest hit plus a current chart topper, at which point the studio audience would vote for their favorite. The show included appearances by forget-me-nots Juice Newton, Missing Persons and Wang Chung, but all fell to the smooth hip-hop of '90s rappers P.M. Dawn, who took home the grand prize: a six-figure donation to their favorite charity.