Urban Dictionary defines a Guido as: “A sad pathetic excuse for a male; not necessarily of Italian descent, but most likely; usually native to the New York/New Jersey Tri-State area. Whose wardrobe consists of something out of a bad 1980’s Mafia movie.” (Urban) The definition goes on in detail to describe the lifestyle of a Guido and many other highly opinionated and offensive remarks. While it may not be the most accurate of websites to get information from, it is one that in today’s day and age offers instant results on unusual “pop culture” references. Such is the case when trying to find information on the hit television show “The Jersey Shore”. The phenomenon that is Jersey Shore is awe inspiring. The popularity and the impact that it has had on our society can be viewed in many ways. It has become such a part of our culture, that even the president of the United States is hip to it. So that begs the question, what is “Jersey Shore” and does it reflect more than just a blip on the pop culture radar? If so, should we be worried?
To understand the complex and curious nature of “Jersey Shore” we must first understand exactly what this television show is and how it began. The original concept for the show according to VH1 producer Anthony Beltempo was: “ A show focusing on the "guido” lifestyle for TV, in the form of a competition series.” (Schneider) After a few months of tinkering and testing, the show debuted on December 3, 2009 and was featured on the MTV network instead of VH1 to appeal to a younger more chaotic age demographic. Instead of being a competition series, the show featured eight strangers becoming housemates while living in a paid for summer share in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The first season of the ...
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...icles From The New York Daily News. NY Daily News, 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Oct. 2011.
"Jersey Shore (TV Series)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
Hedegaard, Erik. "Snooki!" Rolling Stone 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
Schneider, Michael. "Jersey Shore: In Their Own Words" TV Guide 14 Mar. 2011: 10-11. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
Seidman, Robert. "MTV Is the #1 Cable Network for 12-34 Year Olds - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers." TVbytheNumbers.com. TV by the Numbers, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
"Italian-Americans Slam 'Jersey Shore' - UPI.com." UPI.com. United Press International, 4 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
Stelter, Brian. "Reality Show Payrolls Rise With Stardom - NYTimes.com." Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 26 July 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
“Tallafornia” – the Irish Jersey Shore!" Spin1038.com. Spin 103.8. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 11 Jan. 2010. Web. 19 May 2010.
Reality shows sent a much-needed lifeline to the television networks industry. These shows have found a new way to bring much needed viewers, and even more important they brought in much needed money. The money came rolling into CBS after premiering Survivor, which brought in a profit of around $30,000,000 to the network. Even though Survivor is the must costly reality show, costing close to one million dollars to produce and hour of programming. In comparison to other shows, which cost far more like CBS’s series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” which cost over 1.6 million to produce per hour. With the amount of money coming in such large sums to networks have had to close monitor how much is being spent. Clearly’ the reality shows have brought in much needed assets to the flattering television networks.
...Captain James and the Pain, Joe Harvard, Colie Brice and others. Saturday featured artists on the big beach stage. New Jersey artists such as Bob Polding with Gary Oleyar (Loggins and Messina) did a set of their own unique blend of American Rock and roll, and Sean Cox had a set before making way for the ever-popular River City Extension.
Garofalo, Reebee. Rockin Out: Popular Music in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2010. 439-40. Print.
New York Times. The New York Times Company, 23 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Rizzo Island is right in the Gulf of Maine, where the capital city of Megatropolis is located at 43°"N -68°”W. It is in the North-Western hemisphere, on the East side of the Atlantic Ocean. It is considered a part of North America and is South of Maine, and West of Nova Scotia. People here have no specific religion, and mostly speak French and English. The flag is rectangular with a giant lobster on it. The reason for this is because lobster is the main money source for Rizzo Island.
Ross, Dalton, ed. "Best & Worst Survivor." Entertainment Weekly 13 Apr. 2010: 80-83. EBSCO. Web.
It would be hard for one to dispute the fact that MTV has influenced every pop culture trend since its birth in 1981. One could even say that MTV is pop culture. No other media network holds in the palm of its hand the power to control popular cultural evolution the way MTV does. What other media network has influenced and helped shape public opinion, filmmaking, newsgathering techniques, presidential politics, and world politics like MTV has? In addition to that, MTV can take credit for reconstructing the music industry (Rushkoff 126). One would be hard pressed to find a person who does not enjoy some type of music. Thus, "Music" television was built on a foundation that was virtually united by the whole world, and its popularity was inevitable. MTV chose popular music as its beating heart, instead of classical music or jazz. Young people around the country could now see their favorite music icons 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, the young people of America were given a national/international platform to share their common voice, a voice that to this day wants to be heard. Since MTV has such a large hand in shaping the young minds of today, it is important that both parents and children are aware of the impact MTV has in their daily lives.
In the last couple of years, the media has exploited different cultures under a veil of entertainment. As time went by it went by many names, In A Resurgence of ‘Redneck’ Geoff Nunberg says, “Many of these names are forgotten now, and others were regional nicknames like tarheels, buckeeyes and hoosiers.” Although the name has change over time from “half breeds” to “white trash” the names still have the same connotations and culture is still around. In the last sixty years a huge hit on television has been southern culture, in particular “white trash” culture. Two famous TV shows for their white trash counterparts, are Honey Boo Boo and The Beverly Hillbillys. The two shows different in many ways also share a lot in common, from their mockery of shouthern poor white to the shift
The first effect of reality shows is the image it gives viewers. Reality shows give misconceptions of everyday life; the Real World and Jersey Shore show young adults relaxing, having a good time, and partying every day. The...
The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 July 2011. Web. 21 Aug. 2012.
Throughout the six seasons romance is a prominent factor of the growing success of Jersey Shore. While many members of the cast develop romantic relationships, the shows the main focus is on Sammi and Ronnie’s unhealthy romance. The common theme throughout their relationship is fighting and hatred, which leads to them breaking up only to eventually get back together. The audience is hooked on the drama these two bring and their constant
New York Daily News." Featured Articles From The New York Daily News. 01 June 2009.
Do you know the guiltiest pleasure of the American public? Two simple words reveal all—reality TV. This new segment of the TV industry began with pioneering shows like MTV’s The Real World and CBS’s Survivor. Switch on primetime television nowadays, and you will become bombarded by and addicted to numerous shows all based on “real” life. There are the heartwarming tales of childbirth on TLC, melodramas of second-rate celebrities on Celebrity Mole, and a look into a completely dysfunctional family on The Osbornes. Yet, out of all these entertaining reality shows arises the newest low for popular culture, a program based on the idea of a rich man or woman in search of the perfect marriage partner. The Bachelor, and its spin-off The Bachelorette, exemplify capitalist ideology founded on the Marxist base-superstructure model and establish the role of an active American audience.
When asking yourself which media outlet continues to offer the most influential presence on our culture the answer is obvious. Television serves as the leading unifying media instrument in our society. Television has always reflected cultural changes and the increasing popularity of certain networks is due to reality television. This genre of television creates the concept of the “instant celebrity”. One example of a reality show that literally promises its participants fame and fortune is Project Runway.