Other Stars Fighting for Ozzy's Gig

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/21/2002 at 12:00 PM EDT

In Hollywood, imitation is the sincerest form of fatuity. And, reports The New York Times, these days everyone from Brandy, Cybill Shepherd and Courtney Love to P. Diddy and David Lee Roth is lining up to let the cameras into their homes to broadcast their lives -- without having to memorize those pesky scripts. Blame this ego rush on the overwhelming success of MTV's "The Osbournes," the smash hit reality sitcom that shows the day-to-day lives of the heavy metal rocker, 53, and his brood. "I want my own reality TV show," Shepherd, 52, who once had a very unreal sitcom on CBS, told The Times. "You could see me in the tub, but you won't see me naked or anything," Shepherd previewed for the paper. She called the prospective peak into her life a "mockumentary . . . a combination of 'Sex and the City' meets 'Sunset Boulevard.'" No takers as yet. Roth, 46, the former lead singer of Van Halen, videotaped a recent barbecue in his Southern California backyard and distributed copies to friends in the press along with the suggestion that he might be the next Ozzy Osbourne, notes The Times. P. Diddy, also known as fashion designer and rap mogul Sean Combs, 32, is negotiating to have MTV record his search for new talent, the paper notes, while Brandy, 23, is discussing with the network a program based on her pregnancy and upcoming childbirth. Its tentative title: "Making the Baby," a riff on the network's show "Making the Video."