When Jersey Shore premiered on MTV in 2009, we don’t think anyone could have expected how popular the reality television show would become. The premise of the show was a bunch of strangers moving into a house on the Jersey Shore for the summer; working in a t-shirt shop on the boardwalk during the day and partying hard all night. With alcohol and strong personalities in the mix, drama and fights were almost daily, while some relationships blossomed.
Jersey Shore was seen as controversial at the time and received criticism due to the negative portrayal of Italian American stereotypes (some of the cast are not even Italian American), and the use of the terms guido/guidette.
The show came to an end in 2012 after six seasons and 71 episodes. Outside of Jersey Shore, some of the cast got their own shows – the spin-offs included The Pauly D Project, The Show with Vinny, Snooki & Jwoww. A number of shows have since joined the Shore franchise, with Geordie Shore (UK) certainly the most successful.
After a six year break, the cast returned to our screens in 2018 with Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Now in its fourth season, Family Vacation shows audiences how different their lives are now that they’re married/divorced and have children. Of course, there’s still all that drama there which continues to draw millions of viewers.
Reality television is generally not a genre of tattoos we see, but when we found some inspired by Jersey Shore, we couldn’t resist putting together this (albeit short) list.
If you were to get a Jersey Shore themed tattoo, which moment, quote or cast member would you choose?