producer Anthony Beltempo proposed the idea of a show focusing on the "
guido" lifestyle for TV, in the form of a competition series. Executive producer
SallyAnn Salsano, who previously worked on
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, devised a new concept, inspired by her summers in a Jersey summer share house.
MTV Networks President Van Toffler felt that the series "loud, young, bold" style was better suited to MTV's sensibilities than VH1, and MTV programming executive
Tony DiSanto felt that "[After
The Hills], it was time to go for a more authentic approach, like a documentary." Van Toffler described the casting process by saying they looked for "candor, honesty, boldness and a very combustible, chaotic mess. You could honestly say none of these people were traditionally beautiful."
[13]
The series follows the lives of eight
housemates spending their summer in a
summer share in
Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Season 1 followed cast members
Angelina Pivarnick,
Jennifer Farley,
Michael Sorrentino,
Nicole Polizzi,
Paul DelVecchio, Ronald Ortiz-Magro, Samantha Giancola, and
Vincenzo Guadagnino at the
Jersey Shore.
Jersey Shore premiered on December 3, 2009, with back-to-back episodes, averaging 1.375 million viewers.
[14] Although the initial ratings were considered unimpressive to Salsano, they slowly grew in popularity, and was the subject of parody on
Saturday Night Live after the third week, a turnaround that MTV executive
Tony DiSanto calls "the fastest 0 to 60 I've ever seen on a show."
[13] Season 1 posted strong growth every week and ranked #1 in its time period versus all cable competition among
P12–34 (people 12 to 34 years old) during the first quarter of 2010, with a season high
2.6 rating for the finale.
[15] The season 1 finale audience, 4.8 million, was more than triple that of the premiere, an increase of more than 3.4 million, and was MTV’s highest rated original series telecast in almost two years.
[15] Overall, the season 1 averaged 2.7 million viewers.
[16]
In an article in
Rolling Stone, it was mentioned that the house had 35 remote-controlled cameras in fixed locations, 12 hand-held ones, one IMX camera and six DV cameras.
[17] Nicole Polizzi said that:
They have cameras everywhere, all the time... You're always being watched. You kind of get a little paranoid, because you're like, 'Who's watching me?'... It's trippy. it messes with your head. But that's why we go crazy. That's why we fight with each other. That's why we drink. We're living in a house for two months with that shit. We can't have cellphones, TV, radio or internet... There's no normalcy. It's like a prison, with cameras. The only time we're not on camera is when we're in the shower, and that's why we all take three-hour showers, just to get away from it all.
[17]
Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino during shooting in
Florence, Italy in May 2011.
After Season 1, the cast negotiated pay raises, though both they and DiSanto explained that it was not contentious, and was given undue weight by the press. Rather than wait until the next New Jersey summer for Season 2, the production moved to Miami.
[13]
In January 2010 MTV announced that a
second season consisting of 12 episodes had been ordered and would air that summer.
[18][19][20] It would follow all of the first season cast as they avoided the cold northeast winter
[18][19] by relocating to the
South Beach,
Florida. In May 2010 the cast relocated back to the Jersey Shore for the rest of filming, but it was later determined that the production company had enough footage from the Miami shoot to fill the entire second season,
[21] and that the footage to be shot at the Jersey Shore would be used for a third season.
[22] The second season premiered on July 29, 2010,
[22] averaging 5.252 million viewers.
[23] Season 2 was the #1 television series in the
P12-34 demographic for the summer of 2010 across all TV and has also posted continued growth every week.
[24]
On July 20, 2010, MTV announced that the cast, would return for a third season,
[12][25][26] with the exception of Pivarnick.
[27] Season 3 returned to the original Jersey Shore summer setting,
[12][25] and replaced Angelina with Deena Nicole Cortese, a longtime friend of Polizzi.
[28] The season's January 6, 2011 premiere was viewed by a record 8.45 million viewers, making it MTV's most viewed series telecast ever.
[8][29] The second episode of the season once again set a series and MTV high, with 8.56 million viewers,
[30] only to set another record with the airing of the fourth episode, which garnered 8.87 million viewers.
[31]
On January 25, 2011, it was confirmed that the show had been renewed for a fourth season, to be filmed in
Italy during the first half of 2011.
[2][3] The fourth season premiered August 4, 2011.
[3] MTV confirmed in June 2011 that the fifth season will return to Seaside Heights.
[32]
Episodes
| Season | Ep # | First airdate | Last airdate |
|---|
| Season 1 | 9 | December 3, 2009 | January 21, 2010 |
| Season 2 | 13 | July 29, 2010 | October 21, 2010 |
| Season 3 | 13 | January 6, 2011[33] | March 24, 2011[34] |
| Season 4 | 12 | August 4, 2011[1] | October 20, 2011[1] |
| Season 5 | 14 | January 5, 2012 | April 5, 2012 |
Cast
| Name[35] | Hometown[35] | Ethnicity[35] | Biography |
|---|
Angelina Pivarnick[36]
Seasons 1 & 2 | Staten Island, New York | Polish-Italian American | Pivarnick is a New York City bartender. She starts out the season with a serious relationship at home, but the two break up in episode 3, which indirectly leads to her eviction from the shore house after refusing to work her shift in the T-shirt shop.[37][38] Pivarnik again departed the house during Season 2, after violent confrontations with Mike and Nicole. She did not return for Season 3. She calls herself the "Kim Kardashian of Staten Island," but is mocked by other cast members as the "Staten Island dump" or the "Rob Kardashian of Staten Island." |
Deena Nicole Cortese[39]
Season 3-present | New Egypt, New Jersey | Italian American | Cortese, a longtime friend of Polizzi,[39] had originally auditioned for season 1 and been rejected.[40] She eventually joins the cast starting in season 3.[39] She describes herself as a "blast in a glass." |
Jennifer Farley[41]
"JWoww" | Franklin Square, New York | Irish-Spanish American | Farley is a graphic designer and club promoter from Franklin Square, New York. During the casting process, she states, "I thought the guys would be enormous and really mean, and I thought the girls would be catty and overdone."[13] She enters the shore house with a steady relationship at home but cheats on her boyfriend with castmate DelVecchio and ends her relationship in season 3 episode 4 for different reasons.[38][41] Farley has had breast augmentation surgery, which she got as a birthday present to herself just before turning 21.[42] |
Michael Sorrentino[43]
"The Situation" | Staten Island, New York | Italian American | Sorrentino, an assistant manager of a fitness center in Staten Island, develops an attraction towards Giancola, which does not come into fruition when she becomes interested in fellow castmate Ortiz-Magro.[44] Sorrentino worked as an exotic dancer in 2004.[45] In the 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars, he partnered with Karina Smirnoff, but was eliminated in week 4.[46][47] |
Nicole Polizzi[48]
"Snooki" | Marlboro, New York | Chilean (adopted by Italian family) | Polizzi is from Marlboro, New York, and is an aspiring veterinary technician. She applied to an ad on Facebook that said "Calling all guidos and guidettes," which Polizzi said, "was definitely about my lifestyle."[13] Polizzi earned the nickname "Snooki" in middle school after being the first of her friends to "make out" with a boy. She became the center of controversy when a man punched her in her face during a bar confrontation. Polizzi was arrested by Seaside police on July 30, 2010 on public intoxication charges, which were later dropped.[49][50] She previously suffered from an eating disorder in high school.[51] |
Paul DelVecchio[52]
"Pauly D" | Johnston, Rhode Island | Italian American | DelVecchio is a disc jockey from Johnston, Rhode Island outside of Providence. He strikes up a brief romance with fellow castmate Farley but the relationship does not progress.[38][53] DelVecchio was nominated for the 2010 "America's Best DJ" competition.[54] |
| Ronnie Ortiz-Magro[55][56][57] | Bronx, New York | Puerto Rican-Italian American | Ortiz-Magro is from The Bronx in New York City. He strikes up a relationship with castmate Giancola.[38][58] |
Sammi Giancola[59]
"Sweetheart" | Hazlet, New Jersey | Italian American | Giancola is from Hazlet, New Jersey and is recently single at the start of the series. She attended William Paterson University and was a midfielder on the women's soccer team.[60] Giancola ultimately strikes up a relationship with fellow castmate Ortiz-Magro in season 1 episode 3.[38][61] |
| Vinny Guadagnino[36] | Staten Island, New York | Sicilian American | 21-year-old Guadagnino comes from a traditional Italian American family in Staten Island.[62][63] A graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz who had plans to attend law school if acting did not work out. Guadagnino applied after a friend sent him an application asking for "the orangest, most muscley, spiky-haired people", which Guadagnino filled out "as a joke." Describing first meeting his castmates, he says, "I see Pauly and his spiky hair and his whole guido look. Great, they found the most stereotypical kid. Then Snooki seems like a train wreck. But you realize we're all starting this crazy new adventure."[13][64] Guadagnino is an advocate for disenfranchised communities including LGBT teens and homeless animals. He has appeared in a PSA for the It Gets Better Project and has rescued and found homes for many animals in his local community.[65] Guadagnino guest stars in The Hard Times of RJ Berger in episode, "Cousin Vinny" on March 28, 2011. |
Media and merchandise
DVD releases
On February 23, 2010,
Amazon.com and MTV teamed up to release Jersey Shore on DVD.
[66] The title theme, "Get Crazy" by
LMFAO has been changed.
[citation needed] Other songs have been changed since their original air date as well.
[citation needed] A retail release by
Paramount Home Entertainment with added commentary was released on July 20.
[67] Although it is claimed the DVDs are uncensored, the video and some audio is still censored.
[68] The DVD also includes special features include deleted scenes, the reunion special, "Tips From The Situation and Snooki," "Before the Shore," and the "Jersey Shore Makeover with
Michael Cera" amongst others.
[69] On December 28, 2010 the Season 2 Uncensored DVD was released. On July 26, 2011 the Season 3 Uncensored DVD was released.
Soundtrack and literature
A
soundtrack to the series was released by
MTV and
Universal Republic on July 20, 2010.
[70][71] Aimed to create the perfect summer playlist, the album features songs from a variety of artists including
Enrique Inglesias,
Pitbull,
Taio Cruz,
Ludacris,
Lil Jon,
3OH!3,
David Guetta,
Fergie,
Chris Willis,
Girlicious and
LMFAO as well as DJs like
Deadmau5,
Steve Aoki,
Tiësto,
Diplo,
Paul Oakenfold and Delvecchio.
[71] A deluxe edition of the album was also released containing a bonus CD featuring songs inspired from the first season of the show, like
LMFAO's "
Get Crazy."
[70] The first single off the album was
Enrique Iglesias' "
I Like It",
[70] whose video also featured the Jersey Shore cast.
[72] In September 2010, Matthew Wilkening of
AOL Radio ranked Delvecchio's rap song off the soundtrack, "(It's Time to) Beat Dat Beat", as the #1 Worst Song Ever on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever; as a bonus, Wilkening used Delvecchio's quote as the reason for the #1 list: "Being a guido's a way of life. I don't represent all Italians, I represent myself. I started this whole GTL shit (Gym, Tan, Laundry). You have to stay fresh to death."
[73]
A
quote book titled
Gym, Tanning, Laundry: The Official Jersey Shore Quote Book (
ISBN 978-1-4391-9682-3) was released by MTV on June 15, 2010.
[74] The book also includes a bonus DVD with the most memorable moments from season one of the show.
[75] A
sticker book titled
Jersey Shore Sticker Activity Book (
ISBN 0-7666-3904-5) was also released on the same date,
[76] as well as a 2011
wall calendar (
ISBN 0-7407-9797-2) by Andrews McMeel Publishing.
[77]
