Sharon Osbourne Will Play Maya Rudolph’s Competition On Up All Night, Henry Winkler Will Play Her Father

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Sharon Osbourne will be doing a guest spot on NBC‘s Up All Night, playing herself, cast as a rival TV host to Maya Rudolph‘s character Ava Alexander. Not only that, but Henry Winkler will be playing Rudolph’s father in the very same episode. And then, I exploded. Because that might be too much excellence to deal with in one half-hour.

I have a soft spot for Up All Night for many reasons. One of them is that it’s a moderately successful new sitcom this season that was created by a woman, Emily Spivey, and this all makes me very happy. The other reasons are the people who bring the funny to life on this show, Christina Applegate, Maya Rudolph, Will Arnett, and that baby. Most importantly, however, it’s also really funny. This show is already winning it for me.

But now, they’ve gone and invited all these awesome people to do guest spots, and it’s all people I love so dearly that it might be inappropriate. Starting with Henry Winkler. Arthur Fonzerelli on Happy Days. Principal Himbry in Scream. Barry Zuckerkorn on Arrested Development. Henry Winkler might be one of the coolest people in the world, and now he will play the father of Ava, Robert Alexander, a famous children’s book author who is adored by his many fans, and this makes Ava jealous. Worth noting: Winkler is a children’s author himself, having written a series of books (Hank Zipzer) about a 4th-grade boy living with dyslexia. (Winkler was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 31.)

And that’s not all. Mrs. Heavy Metal aka Sharon Osbourne will be playing herself, since she is already a host on CBS‘s The Talk as well as NBC’s America’s Got Talent. While it’s easy to guess that the latter show will be mentioned more than the former, The Talk is more along the lines of Ava’s eponymous show-within-the-show, Ava, which is a not-that-veiled spoof of Oprah. But Osbourne’s presence (and success) will provide even more awkward, attention-needy moments while Ava’s father is in town. And this will probably be hilarious.

So, here’s to wishing for more continued success — and stellar guests — for Up All Night!

(via The Hollywood Reporter)