Jersey Shore

Right now I am sitting on my couch with am empty feeling inside. Tonight is the first Thursday in several weeks that I won't be tuning in and spending time with my good friends: Ronnie, J-Wow, Sammi, Snooki, The Situation and Pauly D.

Not seeing those overly tan, expletive shouting, alcoholic, hot tub loving Shore residents is like a day without the sun. Those goof balls have brought so much hilarity into my life, when really I didn't expect the show to be anything good.

I remember the first day I met those lovable self-proclaimed Guidos and Guittets. It was a Thursday night and I was flipping through channel attempting to find something to watch. And then I stumbled upon a show, that at first glance seemed like the lowest reality television had ever stooped. I watched the first five minutes and had an overwhelming urge to change the channel. I am a die-hard reality television lover but even I felt my brain cells dying a slow and painful death with each second I watched.

But fate much have interviened in some way, because for some reason my finger just couldn't find the channel button. For some reason even though my brain was screaming "CHANGE THE CHANNEL" my body wouldn't respond. And now I can't thank my body enough for disobeying my mind.

Over the course of several weeks I became to a part of the Shore House Family. I learned love the assholeness of The Situation and adored the blossoming love between Sammi and Ronnie. I felt like I had another brother in Vinnie and how he was the most awkward of the bunch. I like most applauded J-Wow when she got up the nerve (drunk or not) to slap The Situation. He finally got what he deserved and for a second he might have realized how big of a d-bag he really is.

I like most laughed when Snooki could figure out how to hang up the duck phone. And I, like most, watched with horror as Snooki caught a punch to the face from a drunk idiot. I felt like if I had been born in New York in the right neighborhood I could have been a Guidette just like Snooki. I would have rocked the poof and spend countless hours giving myself skin cancer in a tanning bed.

The point of this all is to say that now that Jersey Shore is over and their summer has ended I feel lost inside. How am I supposed to learn the proper fist pumping technique if Vinnie isn't on to watch? How am I supposed to learn what a unhealthy summer romance is without seeing Sammi and Ronnie?

How am I supposed to envy the Situation and learn how to do a proper blow-out without Jersey Shore in my life? I find myself praying for re-runs to be on so I can just visit with my friends.

I'm not sure that anyone thought that Jersey Shore would have caught on the way that it did. I believe that most people shared my initial reaction of repulsion when they first saw the show. But MTV had the last laugh, like always, when their new reality show caught on and spread like wildfire. It became a cultural phenomenon over night and I like most was shocked.

Now don't get me wrong, as part Italian I feel a slight sting whenever I hear them say Guido. And I don't think that the behavior of over drinking and having tons of random sex is a good thing for MTV to show all over television. I feel like they are spreading a message that drinking too much and having sex with people you don't know is how you have an amazing summer. That is definitely the wrong message to send and I hope that most teens that watch the show have enough brain cells to know that they should not attempt to replicate their lifestyle.

To end I will make a public internet plea to MTV:

PLEASE CONTINUE THE JERSEY SHORE! I would recommend that you keep the same people on the show, but if you are so inclined you can get new people. Or maybe mix and max. But you can't introduce this type of show and then take it off the air after one season. It's like giving someone enough drugs to get them addicted and then making the stop cold turkey.