15 Years Later and I Still Hate Jersey Shore (TV)

📺  Jersey Shore first aired on MTV on December 2009

📺  Described as a documentary about summer at the Jersey Shore

📺  Most of the cast came from parts of New York

On December 3, 2009, Jersey Shore debuted on MTV.

The show lasted six years and introduced the world to names like,

🔺Snooki

🔺Pauly D

🔺JWoww

🔺The Sitch

After all these years, I can say I watched exactly 2 episodes and hated it.

But that's just my opinion.

The show was described as a documentary and sought to portray what summers at the Jersey Shore were like.

The cast members, mostly from New York, were cast based on the producers' desire to create a "Guido" feel.

From what I can tell, the show was about out-of-control drinking, lots of skin, and the typical whinny confessionals that featured relationship issues.

Look, I'm not some stodgy old man who pines for purity.

I just didn't find anything about the cast appealing.

They were obnoxious, not very smart and the whole show was one big cliche.

Yet the show was a massive hit.

Although the show was called, Jersey Shore, the show moved to Miami and even Italy for a season.

Despite good ratings, not everyone was a fan.

Italian American groups took offense to the show's use of the term Guido.

The National Italian-American Federation put out a lengthy statement that said in part,

MTV’s program sends a harmful message that permeates pop culture, damaging the image and sensibilities of Italian Americans as a group. Italian Americans, the Garden State and the Jersey Shore deserve better.

The show was also faced with legal issues involving cast members involved in fights, including one in which Snooki was punched in the face.

In 2017, the cast reunited for Reunion Road Trip: Return to the Jersey Shore.  

Later that year, the crew got together for a reunion series based in Miami.  A reality game show followed a few years later.

I've done quite a bit of traveling.  I was amazed at how often people would ask me if the television show was a realistic portrayal of our state.

The question always made me cringe.

Although I was no fan of the show, I will acknowledge that, from what I can see, most of the cast members have parlayed their 15 minutes of fame into lucrative careers.

Perhaps they were smarter then I thought.