The Jersey Whore

 Well... not quite, but they seem very close. MTV premiered it's latest incarnation of The Real World this Fall - it's not quite the The Real World, but it is a group of strangers (as far as we know), picked to live together in a house for the summer... in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Not all the house members are from New Jersey, most are from Long Island and New York - but they clearly read the Jersey Guido brochure and went out and got haircuts, tatoos and muscles to fit the bill.

 The beauty of this show, as opposed to The Real World, is that it's very homogenous and each person knows their part. They even have nicknames, most prominently Mike "The Situation" and Jwoww, and of course Snooki. This isn't a show where they have the token lesbian and the angry black woman and the conservative dude, and the kid whose still a virgin. No, this time they have a bunch of italian guys looking for sex and a bunch of italian women angry at the guys for looking for sex - and in between they work at a t-shirt store. And by 'work', I mean they occupy space at a t-shirt store and look for women to have sex with.

  Stereotypical, sure - entertaining yes. The same reason people enjoyed watching The Sopranos and The Real Housewives of New Jersey enjoy this show because it's an unabashed fake reality of how we think certain people act. There's a voyeurism involved here, keeping track of the women that The Situation and his buddy Pauly invite back to the house, only to ditch them for two other women who they get sick of, only to be confronted by the original two women who they then re-connect with, and then at some point Snookie gets punched in the face. You can't make this stuff up.


  'The Jersey Shore' has been one of MTV's highest rated shows - probably taking in the audience that Jackass had back in it's heyday in 2002-03.  It's clever because you don't have people who are trying to get to know each other - you have people who already know each other and are trying to deal with each other. There are no political, religious, or social arguments - although when Pauly messed up saying grace I think we were all taken aback a little. Even The Situation was speechless.

  And did I mention that Snookie got punched in the face?  Happy 2010 everyone.