Nope, not mine (but apparently I'm not alone). Much to the detriment of the Jersey Shore phenomenon, MTV has decided to move the cast to Florida to begin recording season 2 sooner (likely before anyone has the opportunity to forget why they are so obsessed with this train wreck.) While I'm sure the amount of fist pumping and GTL-ing will go unaltered (as an innate characteristic of the guido), it's probably safe to say that there will be less 'smushing' of 'grenades' and less brawls on the boardwalk. Good luck with that, MTV.
(Courtesy of David Hinckley at the NY Daily News):
MTV IS so eager to get another season of "Jersey Shore" onto the air that it has decided the "Jersey" part is expendable. Snooki, The Situation and their pals will shine no matter where they pitch their beach umbrellas, MTV figures.
It makes you wonder if you missed the announcement that MTV has delegated its executive decision-making to a couple of drunks at the Bada Bing.
Moving "Jersey Shore" out of Jersey and expecting it to retain its style and attitude is the reality-show equivalent of thinking you can buy a bagel in Indiana and it will taste like a bagel in Brooklyn.
It's like thinking you can get a decent slice of pizza in California, which is true only if you think pineapple tastes like pepperoni.
Some things don't travel. Jersey Shore attitude is one.
Sure, Jersey exports attitude all the time. DMX is from New Jersey. Jack Nicholson is from New Jersey. Frank Sinatra and Dennis Rodman came from New Jersey.
It's also true that most of the "Jersey Shore" cast didn't.
But 'tude, as seen on TV, isn't just a person or just a place. It's how the two come together.
Location may matter little for a "Survivor," where the cast focuses on internal goals. It's critical for a "Jersey Shore," which turns the cast loose so we can see what stupid thing they will do next.
Like any interesting place, the Shore has a distinct character. It has better beaches than Southern California. It has its own habits, its own foods, its own patterns of sun and light. It has its own brand of fellow shoregoers, not all of them charming.
It has its own language. Summer visitors are "bennies." You go "down the shore," not "down to the shore."
Think of it this way: If you drop rats into a maze carved from cheese, they will react differently than if you drop them into a box wired to deliver electric shocks.
Since a reality show essentially is the same principle as dropping rats into a maze, we will get different data in South Beach than we'd get in South Amboy.
You can't drop these goofs on some other beach and expect to get "Jersey Shore," any more than Berry Gordy could move Motown Records to L.A. and expect great music. It didn't happen.
Location matters.
MTV has a legitimate dilemma. Since cast members will reportedly make $10,000 an episode this year, instead of the boardwalk arcade tokens they got before, MTV wants a fast return. It wants fresh episodes for summer, meaning they must be filmed when a beach series in Jersey would mean people in down coats huddled together for warmth.
So the promo machine is already cranking: Say, fans, where will the cast be shipped? The Hamptons? Wait! Is the smart money on South Beach?
Once they leave Jersey, it won't matter - except to underscore a larger truth about the show.
It's already on an egg timer.
However much we enjoy these goofy people, we aren't friending them for life. When the act wears thin, we will move on.
If they leave Jersey, that happens faster.
Just sayin'.
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