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Jacinta Filiaci

J412 Reality Television

November 26th, 2016

Finding Success on The Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore made its premier on MTV (Music Television Channel), in late

2009 and quickly became the talk of the town because of its vulgar and controversial

nature. The show felt very nostalgic of the networks The Real World through its

showcase of thoroughly-chosen, young individuals living in a house together. However,

the twenty-five years between the shows meant an audience and market seasoned and

familiar with reality television - the show needed to differentiate itself. This was done by

exclusively casting Italian-Americans, or simply guidos and guidettes, a term the show

quickly popularized. It is significant to analyze The Jersey Shore because it remains one

of MTVs highest grossing shows today (Entertainment Weekly), even almost four years

after its last episode aired. The show is plainly a product of its time; its success is highly

attributed to the neoliberal nature of American society.

Within the shows three years on television, it managed to air seventy-one

forty-two minute episodes divided into six seasons. The majority of the show was filmed

in New Jersey, with the exception of a season in Miami and another in Florence, Italy

(TV by the Numbers). The show was coined by VH1 producer Anthony Beltempo who

was already fascinated by the guido lifestyle. Though he intended on creating a

competition based series, executive producer SallyAnn Salsano believed the show

would benefit from a more documentative approach inspired by her own personal
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summer experiences in New Jersey and the success of the show, The Hills. The show

made its move from VH1 to MTV when executives believed it better suited the networks

bold and vibrant brand. The producers wanted to create a show more authentic than

The Hills, with casting director, Van Toffler admitting to soughting out candid,

audacious, chaotic and untraditionally beautiful individuals. This imperfect nature of

the characters would help in depicting the real (Complex Magazine).

Although the show did not immediately bring in high ratings, viewership would

increase substantially every week with each episode. This growth can be attributed to

the large amount of talk the show generated, including a parody sketch by Saturday

Night Live only within its third week on television. The show grew popular among a wide

audience from ages ranging from 12 to 34. Its ongoing success spread beyond the

nation, further inspiring seven official recreations: MTV Super Shore (throughout the

Mediterranean), Acapulco Shore (Mexico), Warsaw Shore (Poland), Gandia Shore

(Spain), The Valleys (Wales), and finally Geordie Shore eventually bypassing its

predecessor with its recent airing of the twelfth season. These recreations would

essentially reproduce the same format though replace the specification of

Italian-Americans with a subculture relevant to the region. For example, in Geordie

Shore, Geordie derives from the regional name and dialect of the people from Tyneside

in the North-east of England (The New Yorker). The shows cancellation in 2012 was

highly unexpected considering its ongoing success. MTV executives claimed it was

simply because it didnt make sense anymore. The cast members were evolving -

growing out of their roles and stereotypes - with the infamous Snooki starting out a
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family and other members entering serious relationships (Page Six). The conclusion of

The Jersey Shore only left more room for spin-offs. The characters became household

names, leading to shows such as Snooki & JWoww and The Pauly D Project. (For

instance, I previously spelt JWoww incorrectly and was quickly corrected by Microsoft

Word).

As the show did not possess any specific rules or instructions, the individuals

were essentially told to be themselves. The show consisted of eight individuals in their

twenties (of course four of them women and four of them men) living in a house

together during the summer and attending regular-wage jobs such as working at an

ice-cream shop. The show was formatted for realism, borrowing from its antecessor, the

observational documentary - using approximately twelve hand-held, thirty-five remote

controlled and six DV (digital video) cameras - all without any direct interaction with the

cameramen (or at least none displayed on television) (The Rolling Stone). Although the

cast was not given specific instructions, a routine would quickly develop through the

combination of big personalities and a lavish home. For instance, all eight individuals

were frequent party-goers and drinkers (and were not required to do much work) and

the house equipped them with not only a great interior (including a hot tub stereotypical

of the genre), but also a close proximity to clubs. All of this combined with the inevitable

and natural pressure that came with constant surveillance and the knowledge of being

watched in general, made for great reality television. The decision to cast only young

Italian-Americans - or a very specific type of young Italian-American - made it easier for

the show to develop this routine and structure. For example, all the characters shared
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similar priorities (partying and their appearance), priorities the characters on the show

would claim were unique to guidos and guidettes (though this claim, and the overall use

of those terms, would eventually lead to outrage from the Italian-American community).

The show would mainly consist of the cast partying, tanning and grooming - a ritual that

would become famously known as GTL (Gym, tan, laundry), a slogan that would find

itself selling out on Tshirts and all kinds of merchandise throughout the country. This

routine and structure would be accompanied by the explosive drama on the show

mainly consisting of fights between the cast members. This formula would continue to

generate followers for seventy-one episodes.

The success of The Jersey Shore is phenomenal considering its very simplistic

and repetitive formula. The show would never experience the same reception prior to

neoliberal times. It is governed by individualistic, self-interested and capitalistic actions,

all tropes of neoliberalism. These attributes can be applied not only to the cast of the

show but also to the viewers. Firstly, the characters spend most of their days worrying

about their appearance, spending most of their time grooming and going to the gym.

They partake in their rituals feeling like free individuals though act in a manner typical

and in promotion of the heternormative, hypersexual and capitalist culture of a

Neoliberal society. The men spend hours perfecting their hair gel, the women put on

tight dresses, they all perfect their tans and go out as an attempt to bring home (or

smush) the perfect mate. Viewers are naturally placed in a position of power, as

voyeurs alienated from the characters in their television screens, sitting comfortably at

home and feeling like cultural anthropologists. Audiences laugh at the ridiculous nature
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of the characters, going as far as feeling superior to them. They are shown real

individuals at their worst stages of drinking on vacation, as opposed to the prior, perfect,

rich blondes of Southern California from The Hills, and feel that sense of superiority

because they are able to easily distinguish themselves from the characters (Franklin,

Nancy). This is what makes the audience a product of a neoliberal system - they

subconsciously assign the bizarre behavior and rationale by the characters simply to

personal incompetence rather than the result of consumerism and social/gender norms

and expectations. For example, they judge the characters for constantly attending to

their physical appearance to the point of making useless purchases (such as Snookis

infamous bedazzled sunglasses she could not see through) while at the same time, they

purchase the shows merchandise (such as GTL T-shirts) in turn, promoting the

behavior and success of these characters they make fun of. The characters capitalize

on the success of the show by using their new home in pop culture, such as JWowws

clothing line, marketed simply through her attire on the show and the several

highly-demanded club appearances by the characters across the country (Sherry, Mark,

and Katie Martin). In a consumerist and individualistic society, the characters benefitted

from merging their sense of self and their brand. They capitalized on their one

dimensional portrayals as fun-loving, free individuals on the show because of how easily

it translated into a brand.

The shows success relied on a neoliberal system consisting of a perceived

individuality dominated by consumerism. In a culture where anyone could be famous,

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the cast members thrived on a platform by being an exaggerated caricature of

themselves through societys paradoxical obsession with sensationalism and reality.

Bibliography

Sherry, Mark, and Katie Martin. "Jersey Shore: Part Fantasy, Part Train Wreck, Cloaked
in Neoliberalism." Ebscohost. N.p., Dec. 2014. Web.
Piazza, Jo. "The Business Behind Jersey Shore." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Jan.
2010. Web.
"MTV Cancels 'Jersey Shore' after Six Seasons." Page Six. Page Six, 30 Aug. 2012.
Web.
Friedman, Emily. "MTV's 'Jersey Shore' Garners Critics Over Use of Term 'Guido'" ABC
News. ABC News Network, 11 Dec. 2009. Web.
Franklin, Nancy. "Jersey Jetsam: MTV Goes to the Beach." The New Yorker. N.p., 10
Jan. 2010. Web.
Couldry, Nick. "Reality TV, or The Secret Theater of Neoliberalism." Review of
Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies 30.1 (2008): 3-13. 2008. Web.
"MTV Renews Jersey Shore for a Fourth Season; Cast Set to Film in Italy in the
Spring." Screener. TV By The Numbers, 25 Jan. 2011. Web.
Tucker, Ken. "The Legacy of 'Jersey Shore': How Will Cultural History Judge Snooki and
Her Spawn?" Entertainment Weekly. N.p., 20 Dec. 2012. Web.
Smith, Aaron. "Cashing in on Jersey Shore Fame." CNNMoney. Cable News Network,
16 Feb. 2010. Web.
Eliscu, Jenny. "Sex, Booze and Fist Pump Fever: The Secrets Behind 'Jersey Shore'"
Rolling Stone. N.p., 27 July 2010. Web.
Gruttadaro, Andrew. "The Wizard of Reality: SallyAnn Salsano on 'Jersey Shore' and the
End of 'Party Down South'" Complex. N.p., 28 Jan. 2016. Web.
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