It’s T-shirt time again on MTV. Reality television’s arguably most well-known Italians are back together for a long-awaited reunion.
“Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” brings back the cast of housemates almost six years after the cancellation of the original show, “Jersey Shore.” The show previously followed the celebrities’ daily activities while living together in a summer home in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, including two seasons in Miami, Florida and Florence, Italy. Their constant aggressive arguments and drunken antics made “Jersey Shore” one of the most successful, yet controversial, shows MTV has ever made.
Most of the personalities from the original show, including Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, packed their bags and flew back to Miami for a month of partying and reminiscing. The only cast member who did not attend the reunion, aside from Angelina Pivarnick who left the show after season two, is Samantha “Sammi Sweetheart” Giancola due to her previous toxic relationship with housemate and ex-boyfriend Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.
Unexpectedly, the cast has gone through some dramatic changes, many of which are positive: Polizzi and Jennifer “JWoww” Farley have children, Sorrentino is two-years sober of drugs and alcohol and DelVecchio is, according to Forbes, the seventh-highest paid DJ in the world. Still, they are as entertaining and problematic as ever. The two-part series premiere averaged 2.5 million viewers, proving that the show still has a dedicated following.
Despite any judgments others may have about the original show, which basically followed around a group of expressive Italian-Americans getting sloppily drunk and fighting each other, “Jersey Shore” is easily one of the most successful reality TV series to date. Rated fourth on Complex’s “The Best Reality TV Shows of All-Time” list, some episodes of “Jersey Shore” accumulated almost nine-million viewers and left today’s young adults with some of the most cringe-worthy, yet hilarious, television moments.
“Jersey Shore” was also the first show of its kind; no other reality TV show followed around a group of young adults aggressively partying until MTV aired the show. Since the show premiered, eight similar shows following housemates were made, including MTVUK’s successful “Geordie Shore,” which is currently airing its 17th series. One can argue that other shows, such as “Bad Girls Club,” pioneered party-focused reality TV, but its audience never reached over two-million viewers, proving to be inferior in popularity to “Jersey Shore.”
This show also helped a group of young adults who worked in a T-shirt store on the Seaside Heights boardwalk become millionaires. After the cancellation of the show, MTV made two spin-off shows, including Polizzi and Farley’s show “Snooki & JWoww,” which lasted four seasons. Other cast members built off-screen careers. Of the eight cast members throughout the show, six of them have a net worth over $1 million. The most successful member to come out of the Shore Store is DelVecchio, whose estimated net worth is $24 million. This can be credited to his DJ career and having the highest-earning contract with the network, earning the Cranston, Rhode Island native $150,000 per episode. On the other end, Sorrentino’s net worth has dropped significantly after his tax evasion lawsuit. He pleaded guilty in January and is scheduled for sentencing April 25.
Despite its highly controversial message, which caused New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to demand the show be taken off the air by MTV, “Jersey Shore” is one of the most iconic reality TV shows to date. The reality stars’ questionable decisions and sometimes immoral actions made them successful celebrities and their legacies will live on for a very long time. Now, get crazy, get loud, let’s party, get wild— because “Jersey Shore” is back.
Photo courtesy of cnn.com
