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Jersey Shore, the MTV series that has put a spotlight on eight Italian roommates, has hit it big. In the first and third seasons, the cast spent their summers in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The second season was partied away in Miami Beach, Florida. The much anticipated fourth season is currently being filmed in Italy.

            The fist pumping, abs showing, spray tanning, gorilla juicehead, always drunken cast first appeared on MTV December 3, 2009. The series portrays the roommates as they really are, nothing is held back. They spend their days doing the “GTL” thing (for those of you who don’t know, that is Gym-Tan-Laundry), walking the boardwalk, and occasionally showing up for work at the T-shirt shop, The Shore Store. They spend their nights and early hours of the mornings at the night clubs, downing too much alcohol, and fist pumping the night away. The goal for the evening is to bring home a companion who is “DTF” (not going to go into detail here). After they’ve had their fun for the night, the group sends their guests away in cabs, or in some cases, with the family members or friends that have come looking for them. The show is drama packed with roommates fighting, run-ins with the police, and that all-knowing Italian attitude.

            The season three premier brought in almost 8.5 million viewers, over 38% more than the amount of viewers who watched the previous season’s finale, making Jersey Shore the most watched show in MTV history (Gorman, 2011). Also in this season, four of the eight cast members got pretty significant raises.  Snooki (Nicole), The Situation (Mike), Pauly D (Paul), and JWoww (Jenni), were reported to each earn $30,000 per episode. Other cast members Sammi, Ronnie, and Vinnie are said to make less than their roommates, although they were given a $10,000/episode raise from the previous season. This is a huge bump up from the $5000 per episode they were started with in season one. Angelina, the 2 year veteran did not return for season three, after leaving abruptly during season 2 (Starr, 2010). Instead, a new face appeared; Deena, Snooki’s friend from back home, a pint-sized Italian diva with an attitude.

            The success of Jersey Shore has poured over into the cast members’ personal lives as well. Pauly D is now said to earn $80,000 a week for DJing, while Snooki gets $20,000 just for making an appearance. Mike “The Situation” has started his own line of workout videos and supplements (Starr, 2010). These stars owe MTV a huge thank you for picking them out of thousands of interview tapes, and turning them into stars.

            Jersey Shore cast members are plastered all over the Internet, TV commercials, newsstands and book stores. Everywhere you turn you see them with their notoriously huge sunglasses, spray tans, and hairstyles that nearly reach the ceiling, fist pumping their way into stardom. Pop culture icons, for sure.

References

Gorman, B. (2011, January 7). 'Jersey Shore' season premiere draws record 8.45 million viewers; 4.2 Adults 18-49 Rating. Retrieved June 7, 2011, from TV By the Numbers: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/07/jersey-shore-season-premiere-draws-8-4-million-sets-mtv-all-time-series-high/77688/

Starr, M. (2010, July 21). Jersey score. Retrieved June 7, 2011, from New York Post: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/jersey_core_qgsboCvwAh3Wb2Fry3Lg9L