There isn't much new under the reality TV sun and anyone who thinks otherwise is only deluding themselves -- every new show to hit the air and follow around "fill in the blank" is a copy of a copy of a copy; so it goes with the A&E program Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which debuted in August 2006 -- it's hard not to consider this half-hour a near-blatant rip-off of "The Osbournes," but where Ozzy and company stumble around heaving frozen turkeys and swearing at bubble machines, Gene Simmons, his partner of two-plus decades Shannon Tweed and his kids, Nick and Sophie, are down-to-earth, startlingly normal folks. Well, as normal as the family of a fire-breathing, blood-spitting, face-painted Seventies rock god can be.

It's not groundbreaking, but it is entertaining -- and thankfully not in the creepy voyeuristic sense that pervaded "The Osbournes" as that show wound down. Gene and Shannon are two people whose parenting skills are admirable, rather than dumfounding, which drains a lot of potential drama from the series, making the Simmons clan more affable and friendly than probably 90 percent of those who ever make it onto a reality show. Interspersing interviews with the Simmons family (and Shannon's wacky sister Tracy) amid footage of the family going about their daily routines -- from attending the Adult Video News Awards to signing up for facelifts -- Gene Simmons Family Jewels embraces its stereotypical nuclear family tropes and exploits them to great effect. This quartet is affecting, goofy and compulsively watchable; it wasn't hard for me to breeze through all 13 half-hour (actually closer to 22 minutes) episodes in just a few sittings.

Over the course of this first season, a multitude of little plot lines develop and play out, most notably building to a finale that culminates in a genuine cliffhanger, which ties together many of the show's themes in a surprising fashion. Sure, a lot of what you see onscreen is manipulated and planned (as evidenced by the supplements) but the people involved in the situations are real, which helps Gene Simmons Family Jewels rise above what is quickly becoming a pop culture slur: reality TV. You don't have to be a foot soldier in the KISS Army to enjoy Gene Simmons Family Jewels -- but I'm betting it wouldn't hurt.

A&E has packaged the first season of Gene Simmons Family Jewels in a two-disc keepcase with no insert (although an episode guide is easily locatable on the network's Web site). Seven episodes are on the first disc, with the remaining six episodes plopped on disc two, along with the bulk of the special features.

The Video:

Presented as originally broadcast in 1.33:1 fullscreen, Gene Simmons Family Jewels looks OK, but not as sharp as it probably could -- there's a lot of softness and occasional fuzzy edginess to the image, which detracts from an otherwise defect-free presentation. The interview segments are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and also suffer from the fleeting image defects. It's surprisingly that a show so recently broadcast would look less than stellar.

Again, as originally broadcast, Gene Simmons Family Jewels arrives on DVD sporting a perfectly adequate Dolby 2.0 stereo soundtrack that conveys all the laughter, lamentations and looniness in crystal clear fashion. Occasionally, forced English subtitles will assist the sequences that feature dismal dialogue volume, but those are few and far between.

Supplementally speaking, there are those who might feel bummed that the Simmons family doesn't contribute any commentary tracks, but given that, uh, the entire show revolves around them talking, it's not terribly surprising that the foursome didn't sit for a chat. What is on hand, however, is worth sifting through. On the first disc, the lone extra is a 22 minute, 35 second "rough cut" of the pilot, titled "Happily Unmarried," which suffers even more so from iffy image quality. The second disc contains the meat of the bonus features with a handful of featurettes, playable separately or all together: the 11 minute, 19 second "The Unseen Couch Interviews"; the 14 minute, three second "Inside The Demons Lair with Gene"; the three minute, 52 second "Gene's History of Rock and Roll"; the four minute, 39 second "Bloopers"; the six minute, 51 second "Behind the Makeup" and the 10 minute, five second "Gene Simmons: 24/7." It's probably worth pointing out that for diehard soldiers in the KISS Army, a "Signature Series" edition of this set exists: in addition to what's on the DVDs, it comes with a 20-page hardcover family photo album, a bonus CD with two songs from a forthcoming Gene Simmons boxed set and a DVD containing the Gene Simmons "Biography" episode.

It's hard not to consider Gene Simmons Family Jewels a near-blatant rip-off of "The Osbournes," but where Ozzy and company stumble around heaving frozen turkeys and swearing at bubble machines, Gene Simmons, his partner of two-plus decades Shannon Tweed and his kids, Nick and Sophie, are down-to-earth, startlingly normal folks. Well, as normal as the family of a fire-breathing, blood-spitting, face-painted Seventies rock god can be. Recommended.