Whether you loved or hated the Jersey Shore cast, their drama-filled, skimpy-clothed antics are here to stay—in fact, MTV is renewing the show in just a few weeks.

Story by Christina Vila; photos by Rodney Rogers

The Jersey Shore Craze

Alex Estrada didn’t know anybody at the party, an oddity in the small town of Gainesville. By the looks of them, she didn’t really want to. Her boy-cut hair, flowery dress and cardigan were a sharp contrast to the extensions, skimpy skirts and bedazzled shirts of those inside. Her horror grew with every backless dress she saw. Then it dawned on her: It was a “Jersey Shore” party. That’s when the hair gel and orange tans made sense.

College students across the nation have embraced the “gym, tan, laundry” mentality of the instantly classic characters from MTV’s Jersey Shore. Filmed in Seaside Heights in the summer of 2009, and with a second season premiering July 29, the program followed eight housemates on their adventures in New Jersey. The cast lived, worked and partied together for a month, attracting drama and creating special relationships along the way. The show was controversial because of its stereotypical portrayal of Italian-Americans as guidos, obnoxious, tan partygoers concerned more with their hair and less with other people.

College students are hosting themed parties, dieting to get abs like the housemates and drinking like it’s still summertime at the Shore. The show averaged 2.6 million viewers per episode, 1.5 million of them between the ages of 18 to 34, according to The Nielson Company, which measures and analyzes data including television ratings. The finale alone attracted 4.8 million viewers. The Hills, the popular Laguna Beach spin-off that launched Lauren Conrad and friends into the spotlight, has averaged 2.5 million viewers in its latest season.

According to Meredith Cochie, an adjunct lecturer in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, the series meets every formula for an addictive television show. The drinking, tanning and conflicting personalities together create relatable characters.

In addition, the “instant celebrity” achieved by these characters also attracts people, she says. “College students have the habit of fixating on pop culture phenomena like this. The trends’ lifespan come in small, intense bursts until something new and exciting comes along.”

The Wannabes

Michelle Figueredo, a sophomore at Florida International University, first equated the show to a Real World rip-off from what she saw in the commercials, skeptical that it could be much more than eight people partying. A few months after the first episode, she was hosting her own Jersey Shore-themed party.

“The theme,” she says, “adds a little kick to the average college party. It wasn’t just about winning at beer pong for one night. The outfits entertained everyone for longer than usual.”

Michelle had almost as much fun getting ready than at the party itself. With her mini skirt, zebra shoes and poufed hair, she looked like a replica of Snooki, arguably the most entertaining of the female housemates. Michelle made her male friends gel their hair—although nobody spent 25 minutes like character Pauly D would every day. They fist-pumped the night away dressed in their most impressive club apparel.

“It’s fun to act like these ridiculous people. It seems like they had so much fun with their summer and made such good friendships. That’s what every college kid wants,” she says.

Jersey Shore mania has even had an impact on gym routines. Adam Lenz, a junior at the University of Florida, tried dieting and exercising to get abs like Mike. The aspiration of looking ripped, hot and tan like the cast members of the show motivated Adam. He and his friend would run four miles a day and then do specified workouts such as chest, shoulders or abs. Although Adam did lose weight and gain some muscle, school and work got in the way of going to the gym as steadily as the boys on the Shore, proving yet again that reality TV is not always real life.

The Haters

But opponents of the show argue that MTV is propagating a negative image of Italian-Americans. Susceptible as young minds are to accepting stereotypes fed to them through the media, they may believe this is the only type of person in this culture. Dominick Maurici, an Italian-American student at Miami Dade College, finds the image of the guido on the program disturbing.

“I am not a guido,” Dominick states emphatically. “I don’t want people to think every Italian acts or talks like this.” Dominick argues that these aren’t even real Italians since they can’t even speak the language. They are just putting on a show for the cameras and getting attention for their stupid antics, from hot tub hookups to boardwalk brawls. But like Pauly D said, they’re not representing all Italians, just themselves. To Jersey Shore cast, being a guido is a positive thing.

Here to Stay...For Now, Anyway

But MTV knows what young people like, and not even Dominick can resist acting like the juiced-up walking abs on the program, pulling up his shirt in his best impression of Mike “The Situation.” MTV attracts viewers in the college-aged demographic with the stupid fun portrayed in shows like this one. If they can watch people make bad decisions, if they can live vicariously through seven drama-magnets, then they’ll take it.

Social media propagates this generation’s obsessions. Just when you think the trend has started to die down, when you believe you have seen the last of the Jersey Shore nicknames on Facebook or Snooki as a Trending Topic on Twitter, another event invitation pops up for a party (and soon a sequel), bringing out your inner guido or guidette all in the name of fun. And you do it willingly. Although you never fall in love at the Jersey Shore, you can’t help falling in love with it.

We’ve got ourselves a situation.

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