Are We Ready for Brighton Beach? the Russian Version of Jersey Shore

Brighton Beach, as many folks know, is sometimes referred to as "Little Odessa," a reference to its huge Russian population. Wanting to show off some of this Russian culture, New York-based television producer Elina Miller has put out a casting call for a Brighton Beach series to rival MTV's Jersey Shore.

Whatever the Russian equivalent of Guidos and Guidettes is, Ms. Miller wants to meet them. In her Brighton Beach casting call on VuePlanet, she says:

"Are you the Russian Snooki or The Situation? Are you a super outgoing and fun-loving Russian-American that sometimes sneaks kalbaska, pel'meni and vodka from the fridge? Can people hear the Euro/Techno/Russian music blasting from your car before they see you pull up? Do you attend birthday parties at Russian restaurants every weekend? The cameras will roll as you do what you do best-eat, drink and PARTY."

Elina Miller is looking for "outgoing guys and girls between the ages of 21 and 30." They should be willing to spend a summer living in the NYC area, all expenses paid. (Hard job, huh?) They also must consider themselves to be Russian-American (or from the former U.S.S.R, including the Caucasus). Being from Brighton Beach is not essential. They are searching for extroverted guys and gals from across the nation "and beyond" who are the "opposite of camera-shy."

Ms. Miller told Sheepshead Bites that her series is not going to reinforce negative stereotypes, when they confirmed that this is indeed a serious and bona fide project. Her aim is to show that it is common, regardless of the culture of young people, for them to want to "have fun" and "to unleash."

Having fun and unleashing in an all expenses paid summer vacation sounds like a pretty good deal, so I'm sure if Brighton Beach is a hit, it won't be the last rival to the popularity of Jersey Shore. Why should television producers stop there? Brighton Beach also has a decent number of other nationalities: Pakistanis, Polish, Armenian and Turkish. If a trend like that got started, it could be year round, like the movie Endless Summer (a 1966 documentary that followed 2 surfers all around the world), and could even become a contest of who parties the hardest at shore towns all around the world.

Sources:
Vue Planet: Brighton Beach Casting Call
Sheepshead Bites: It's Real: Brighton Beach Not A Hoax 2/23/10