Metal icon, mate, and spawn back for second season:

MTV's hugely anticipated second season of The Osbournes will premiere just two days before Thanksgiving, on November 26 at 10:30 p.m., Sharon Osbourne confirmed to E! News Live.

There has been much speculation that MTV might push back the debut episode because of Sharon Osbourne's ongoing battle with colon cancer. Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that the cable network was keeping a backup date open in January "just in case."

But this week MTV execs pooh-poohed any postponement. Sharon, the family's manager and regarded as the show's driving force, seconded that sentiment, telling E!, "We're going to premiere November 26."

Asked if she was looking forward to the new season, Osbourne replied: "I'm shitting myself, I am!"

The Turkey Day-timed date is key to the synergistic clan's plans of moving as much Osbourne-related merchandise as possible for the holidays. November 26 just happens to be the same day Epic Records is due to release Kelly Osbourne's debut album, Shut Up. While no specific date has been announced yet, Miramax also is looking to release the complete first season of The Osbournes on VHS and DVD about the same time. Heck, even Osbournes-branded trading cards are due on store shelves the last week of November.

MTV can't roll out the new season fast enough, either. The network has a lot riding on The Osbournes, having ponied up a reported $20 million to the family in hopes of repeating the unchecked success of the first season, when The Osbournes became the biggest show in MTV's history (averaging 5.3 million viewers) and won an Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Reality Program. MTV reps say four of season two's 20 episodes are in the can.

Shooting since July, the second season of The Osbournes looks to continue the formula that made the initial run a veritable cultural phenomenon: 24-hour unfettered access to the oft-addled Ozzy, matriarch Sharon, bayonet-toting wannabe music mogul son Jack, pink-haired princess Kelly and their menagerie of un-potty-trained pets. Joining the madness this time around will be the couple's oldest daughter, Aimee, as well as Robert Marcato, one of Kelly and Aimee's friends who appeared on the show last season....