"Jersey Shore" (Show) < Jersey Shore

"Many millions watching weekly"

So far the show's averaged in between 1 and 3 million viewers per episode.

Let's face the facts jack. This is not the first time that MTV has decided to trash the Jersey Shore, but they've truly went over the hump this time around. As someone who has lived in the great state of New Jersey his whole life; I've lived here for 23 years, it's embarrassing to know that there are people seeing how the Jersey Shore shouldn't be portrayed.

MTV's "True Life" (another show on the network) aired two episodes based solely in New Jersey, one of an individual with the "tough guy" attitude who struggled with the ladies and always seemed to start or finish a fight; and the other with a couple of girls and their friends dolling up for a summer full of euphoric highs and painful lows. Both of these episodes were shot in Seaside Heights, NJ - and lucky for the Jersey Shore, cameras mainly focused on only trashing this particular area.

But now we have a similar look & feel to the two episodes of "True Life" in the show "Jersey Shore." Clearly MTV felt those two episodes weren't enough for widespread audiences, and that MTV's 1998 "Summer Share" programming, as well as their 2002 "Shore Thing" programming has given them enough of a positive rep to continuously come back to Seaside Heights, or the Jersey Shore in general to pump up the jams and partay. As a matter of fact, MTV's "Shore Thing" was a fun experience as I went down multiple times to see how it was. I didn't get to go down in 1998.

"Jersey Shore" is a show that pits eight twenty-something year-old Italian Americans in a house together. Only one of the cast members is from New Jersey. The rest are either from New York, with one other from Rhode Island. If you have never seen this show before, you're probably saying: "This isn't so bad..." Oh yeah? Well, let's move on further.

As we get to know each and every character during the first show, things start to go downhill quick. Drama arises while we see that this one isn't getting along with that one; this one is trying to get with that one; the one over there is ticked because this one is now with three other woman in a hot tub, etc. All the while we have certain stereotypical terms that are used over and over again. Does the term "guido" and "guidette" ring a bell?

I am part Italian, so I take offense to these racial slurs, and yes they are racial slurs. If this were a show about African Americans with the use of the N word, or a show about people of Spanish decent with the use of the S word, there would be major hell to pay, but since this is a show about Italians, they get away with it. There's another derogatory Italian racial term that I won't even say, but it hasn't been brought up on the show... Yet... I don't think MTV could air that specific term, but then again I didn't think airing guido & guidette was empowered.

If fist pumping and an abundance of hair gel is your cup of tea, perhaps you'd see eye to eye with "Jersey Shore," but I can honestly tell you that if you've lived in the great state of New Jersey for at least a few years, or you've visited the state numerous times, you know that what you see isn't always what you get. It's not only the Italian Americans that are upset over this show... It's a majority of the state.

Many year-round residents of the small beach-town of Seaside Heights, NJ feel that people will automatically assume the area is only home to partying, random hookups, and excessively tan young adults based on what they see on the show. "Jersey Shore" was filmed during the summer, as it's an entirely different environment during the summertime months.

During the off-season, there are about 3,100 residents. The boardwalk is shut down, the beach is virtually dead, and the sound of the ocean can be heard from a distance. Once summer arrives, Seaside Height's population grows by a gigantic volume, and the sound of the distant ocean is replaced by loud adults and screaming children enjoying themselves on the rides.

Surely there are teens and young-adults that enjoy partying it up, but doesn't that happen in many other locations as well? Why magnify it in New Jersey over and over again?

Even before the December 3rd debut, the New Jersey-based Italian American service organization UNICO National called on MTV to cancel the show. UNICO National President Andre DiMino stated that the show is "trash television." DiMino also became outraged that the "Jersey Shore" promos used the pejorative "guido," however MTV has now ceased referring to the cast as guidos in its promos.

MTV has stated numerous times that the cast members can use the derogatory terms on the show, so that's alright. Although I don't find that alright. Do you? The terms aren't blurred out by the editors during the airing of the shows.

MTV needs to cut the BS and give New Jersey what's rightfully ours back. It's wrong to portray something as erroneous as "Jersey Shore's" view of a small shore town that's over-populated during the heated summer months, especially when they only show a group of individuals making complete and utter fools of themselves. The millions that watch this show every week are either watching it to see how brainless these characters are, or they're actually entertained in a good way by it.

I am dissatisfied with the show and I think it should be canceled. Apparently I'm not the only one as there have already been numerous ads pulled from the network that air during "Jersey Shore." So far Dominos, American Family Insurance, and most recently Dell have instructed MTV to remove any remaining ads from the reality show.

How many more before they won't make much, if anymore money?