VH1 producer Anthony Beltempo proposed the idea of a show focusing on the "
guido" lifestyle for TV, in the form of a male competition series. Executive producer
SallyAnn Salsano, who previously worked on
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, devised a new concept, inspired by her own summers in a Jersey summer shore house, and retained casting director
Doron Ofir to find the cast.
MTV Networks President Van Toffler felt that the series' "loud, young, bold" style was better suited to MTV's sensibilities than VH1, and MTV programming executive
Tony DiSanto felt that "[After
The Hills], it was time to go for a more authentic approach, like a documentary." Van Toffler described the casting process by saying they looked for "candor, honesty, boldness and a very combustible, chaotic mess. You could honestly say none of these people were traditionally beautiful." (left) and
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino (right) during shooting in
Florence, Italy in May 2011 The series follows the lives of eight
housemates spending their summer in a
summer share in
Seaside Heights, New Jersey, known as The
Jersey Shore House, as well as other locations in other seasons. Residences include a confessional room for cast members to self-record their thoughts on daily house drama. Season 1 followed cast members
Angelina Pivarnick,
Jennifer Farley,
Michael Sorrentino,
Nicole Polizzi,
Paul DelVecchio,
Ronald Ortiz-Magro,
Samantha Giancola, and
Vincenzo Guadagnino at the
Jersey Shore.
Jersey Shore premiered on December 3, 2009, with back-to-back episodes, averaging 1.375 million viewers. Although the initial ratings were considered unimpressive to Salsano, they slowly grew in popularity, and was the subject of parody on
Saturday Night Live after the third week, a turnaround that MTV executive
Tony DiSanto calls "the fastest 0 to 60 I've ever seen on a show". Overall, the season 1 averaged 2.7 million viewers. In an article in
Rolling Stone, it was mentioned that the house had 35 remote-controlled cameras in fixed locations, 12 hand-held ones, one IMX camera and six DV cameras. Nicole Polizzi said that: After Season 1, the cast negotiated pay increases, though both they and DiSanto explained that it was not contentious, and was given undue weight by the press. Rather than wait until the next New Jersey summer for Season 2, the production moved to Miami. It would follow all of the first-season cast as they avoided the cold northeast winter and that the footage to be shot at the Jersey Shore would be used for a third season. The second season premiered on July 29, 2010, Season 2 was the #1 television series in the
P12-34 demographic for the summer of 2010 across all TV and has also posted continued growth every week. On July 20, 2010, MTV announced that the cast would return for a third season, with the exception of Pivarnick. Season 3 returned to the original Jersey Shore summer setting, The season's January 6, 2011 premiere was viewed by a record 8.45 million viewers, making it MTV's most viewed series telecast ever. The second episode of the season once again set a series and MTV high at the time, with 8.56 million viewers, only to set another record with the airing of the fourth episode, which garnered 8.87 million viewers. On January 25, 2011, it was confirmed that the show had been renewed for a fourth season, to be filmed in Italy during the first half of 2011. The fourth season premiered August 4, 2011. Believed complications caused by
Nicole Polizzi's pregnancy, and several cast members (including Polizzi, DelVecchio, and Farley) receiving spin-offs sparked talk about the future of the series past the fifth season, however on March 19, 2012, MTV officially confirmed that the series would return for a sixth season, with all cast members returning. Filming for the sixth season took place in mid-2012, and featured Polizzi nearly eight months pregnant. MTV said in a statement, "While things will definitely be a little different this time when they hit the boardwalk, their trademark hilarity and family dysfunction will remain the same."
Jersey Shore house The '''
Jersey Shore house'
is the name given to the house used on MTV show Jersey Shore''. Located in
Seaside Heights, the house was used during the first season, starting on December 3, 2009, and was used on the show in four out of the six seasons, the exceptions being season 2 (Miami Beach, Florida) and season 4 (Florence, Italy). Since the show's cancellation, the house is currently being rented out for days at a time; it was reported in 2018 that the house was renting for $1,200 a night. All of the furniture that is seen on the show was brought in by the production company, including the hot tub, for which they needed a permit from Seaside Heights when filming.
Employment While staying in Seaside Heights, NJ, the cast worked at a local boardwalk store, the "Shore Store", which was owned by Danny and Paul Merk. Danny was also the landlord of the cast's summer house. He described Mike Sorrentino, a self-proclaimed slacker, as the laziest guy in the world. However, he added that Mike was the most talented when it came to sales. The cast started off earning $10 an hour, receiving $20 an hour by the end of the series. The Miami season (second season) saw the group working at the Lecca Lecca
Gelato Caffé situated in South Beach. Producers decided on the location due to its Italian roots. The cast "slaved over cold gelato", working four-hour shifts. In Florence, the cast worked at the O'Vesuvio
pizza parlor located near the
Uffizi Gallery. ==Media and merchandise==