Jersey Shore was a reality television series on MTV that followed eight housemates as they live, work and party in the Jersey Shore area. The first season of the show was filmed in August 2009, in a summer share house in Seaside Heights. It was also filmed in other towns such as Toms River, Neptune and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the terms "Guido/Guidette", portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes, and was under scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.
On January 29, 2010, MTV announced that a second season of the series consisting of 12 episodes had been ordered and would air in the summer of 2010. MTV announced that the second season would follow all of the first season cast as they "escape the cold northeast and find themselves in a new destination." After the first half of season 2 was shot in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida in May 2010, the cast relocated back to The Shore to film the rest of the season. On August 30, 2012, MTV announced that the series would end after 6 seasons. The sixth and final season aired on October 4, 2012. The series finale concluded on December 20, 2012, with the episode, "The Icing on the Cake".
Synopsis[]
The series follows eight young adults spending their summer living in a house together on the Jersey Shore. The show is intercut with confessionals from the cast discussing their thoughts or explaining situations within the house. The cast is known for their loud, bold personalities, hard partying, physical fights, and their own unique terminology that have since become pop culture phenomenon. The first two seasons followed housemates, Paul DelVecchio, Nicole Polizzi, Michael Sorrentino, Samantha Giancola, Ronald Ortiz-Magro, Jennifer Farley, Vincenzo Guadagnino, and Angelina Pivarnick. Season three introduced new housemate, Deena Nicole Cortese, who served as Pivarnick's replacement.
Front row: Nicole, Sammi, Ronnie
Locations[]
During the first, third, fifth, and sixth seasons, the cast stayed in a Shore House at the Jersey Shore that was connected to the Shore Store. The cast worked at the store in order to stay at the house. The house and the store is owned by Danny Merk.
Season two saw a location change to Miami, Florida, and the cast worked in a gelato shop instead of the t-shirt shop. Season four filmed overseas in Italy and the cast worked at a pizzeria.
Cast[]
Overview[]
Cast Member
|
Season
|
Ep.# | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main cast | |||||||
| Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio | 71 | ||||||
| Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi | 71 | ||||||
| Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino | 71 | ||||||
| Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola | 71 | ||||||
| Ronnie Ortiz-Magro | 71 | ||||||
| Jenni "JWoww" Farley | 71 | ||||||
| Vinny Guadagnino | 71 | ||||||
| Angelina Pivarnick | 15 | ||||||
| Deena Nicole Cortese | 49 | ||||||
| Recurring cast | |||||||
| Danny Merk | TBA | ||||||
| Tom Lippolis | TBA | ||||||
| Jionni LaValle | 24 | ||||||
| Roger Mathews | |||||||
| Chris Buckner | |||||||
Notes[]
1 Angelina only appears from 1x01 to 1x03 in Season 1 and 2x01 to 2x10 in Season 2.
Main cast[]
- Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVechhio
- Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi
- Mike Sorrentino
- Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola
- Ronnie Ortiz-Magro
- Jenni "J-WOWW" Farley
- Vinny Guadagnino
- Angelina Pivarnick (Seasons 1-2, guest Seasons 5-6)
- Deena Nicole Cortese (Seasons 3-6)
Recurring cast[]
- Danny Merk (Seasons 1, 3, 5–6) - the Shore Store owner and the roommates' boss
- Jionni LaValle (Seasons 3–6) - Nicole's boyfriend
- Roger Mathews (Seasons 3–6) - Jenni's boyfriend
- Paola Giaimo - Vinny's mother
- Nino Giaimo - Vinny's uncle
- Caitlin Ryder - Snooki's best friend
- Tom Lippolis (Seasons 1–3) - Jenni's boyfriend at the start of the series
- Chris Buckner (Season 6) - Deena's boyfriend
- Paula Pickard - Mike's friend and eventual girlfriend
- Jonny Manfre - Mike's best friend
Episodes[]
Spin-Offs[]
Broadcast Spin-offs[]
- The Pauly D Project (2012)
- Snooki & JWoww (2012-2015)
- The Show with Vinny (2013)
- Floribama Shore (2017-2021)
- Jersey Shore: Family Vacation (2018-present)
- Buckhead Shore (2022)
- All Star Shore (2022-present)
Digital Spin-offs[]
On October 10, 2018, MTV announced that Viacom Digital Studios launched a YouTube channel dedicated Jersey Shore. Part of the overall deal was an expansion of the franchise with new digital original series starring fan-favorite cast members and friends.[1]
Awards and Nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV: Reality Show | Jersey Shore | Nominated |
| Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star | Nicole Polizzi | Nominated | ||
| Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio | Nominated | ||
| Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino | Nominated | ||
| Dorian Award | Campy TV Show of the Year | Jersey Shore | Nominated | |
| 2011 | People's Choice Award | Favorite TV Guilty Pleasure | Jersey Shore | Nominated |
| 2011 | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino | Nominated |
| Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star | Nicole Polizzi | Nominated | ||
| Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio | Nominated | ||
| Choice TV: Reality Show | Jersey Shore | Won | ||
| Astra Award | Favourite Program - International | Jersey Shore | Nominated | |
| 2012 | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino | Nominated |
| Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star | Nicole Polizzi | Nominated | ||
| Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio | Won |
Notes and trivia[]
- The cast were not allowed to have access to their cell phones, watch TV, listen to music, read, or pass notes. Snooki said that if the President were to die, they would have no idea.
- Most of the cast snuck their phones into the house during filming despite the rule, though they died often because the bathroom time (which was the only moment of privacy) was limited. Angelina was one of the people who snuck her phone in.
- The cast were not paid during the first season and only made money from their jobs at the Shore Store, which was about $200 a week.
- They were allowed one private phone call per week. Any other calls were recorded and filmed for the show.
- The only room in the house that did not have a camera was the bathroom. The cast said they would take extra long showers just to get some privacy. Angelina revealed in her podcast that the bathroom time was limited.
- Although the show made it seem like the cast met each other for the first time in the first episode, some of them did know each other, or at least knew of each other:
- Vinny and Angelina grew up in the same town, as well as graduating from the same high school.
- Mike and Sam knew each other and had mutual friends.
- Mike and Angelina have met before, as the former was also from Staten Island.
- It was confirmed in 2023 that they have went on a few dates together and had made out, but never had sex.
- Mike had recommended Angelina for the show.
- Deena and Nicole actually met during auditions for the show, although the show made it seem like they’ve been friends before that.
- Jenni and Ronnie knew each other and grew up in the same area.
- Jenni and Angelina knew each other and had worked at a bar together previously.
- Deena and Angelina met after the series ended and were friendly.
- The mayor of Atlantic City, NJ, recognized September 22 officially as Jersey Shore Day. The holiday was established in 2023.
- The cast were famously not paid for their appearances in Season 1. The only financial support they received was from their jobs at the t-shirt store. However, Mike claimed in a 2023 interview that he was paid a "few G's" for Season 1, which surprised the rest of the cast as they were not compensated. The cast, minus Angelina would left in Season 2, entered into a joined agreement in Season 3 where they were all paid the same amount.
- They were paid episodically so if they missed filming or an episode for any reason, they were not compensated for the episodes they did not appear in. This was also why production would send a film crew home with cast members who had to leave the shore house. Notoriously, they did with this Vinny when he left the house to focus on his mental health and Sammi when she went home for a few days following her breakup with Ron.