The Shore gets shut down: How will MTV survive without it's 'T-Shirt time'?

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Jersey shore is cancelled? Maybe there’s hope for MTV, but I highly doubt it.

The news of Jersey Shore being cancelled brought on cheers and jeers from teens and young adults around the Twitterverse. Sure, there’s not going to be any more ‘T-shirt time’, GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry for those of you fortunate enough to have lived under a rock for the past few years) or grenades (if you didwatch the show, this is a good thing).  But the cancellation of the eight Guidos and Guidettes got a lot of attention, good and bad, while they were on the air. Is this a sign that MTV is starting to go back to its roots of being MUSIC Television? Don’t get your hopes up! In an interview with Entertainment weekly, executive VP of programming Chris Linn made a statement about the new series of shows for the fall. “As you know, we’ve always taken a portfolio approach. We have numerous other franchises that continue to do well, from Teen Mom to The Challenge to Awkward, so we’re excited about the diversity of franchises. We have a number of new launches, like our new scripted series Underemployed on Oct. 16, we have the new reality series Catfish on Nov. 12, and a ton of new series in the pipeline. As fantastic as it’s been for Jersey Shore to burn as brightly as it has, it gives us the opportunity to put efforts behind our new series.”     

So why is it really being cancelled after six seasons? It’s not (just) because Snooki (Nicole Polizzi, the wildest of the bunch) had a baby boy with her boyfriend Jionni, and not (just) because The Situation (Mike Sorrentino, the oldest member of the group at 30!) had a stint in rehab and is coming back to the shore house sober for season six, but because it was just time, according to Linn. I think it was a strategic move on their part, because this phenomenon had maybe a year or two left tops before they started doing crazier and stupider things just for shock value and milking the ratings for everything it’s got.  If viewers still want their Snooki fix, her spin-off show with cast mate JWoww (Jennifer Farley) has been renewed for season two, which will probably focus on Snooki’s parenting skills with her new born baby boy, Lorenzo.

It’s been a crazy ride for the shore cast. UNICO National, a service organization of Italian Americans, has asked MTV to cancel the show before because of their portrayal of stereotypes of Italian Americans, and their use of the term Guido, which is an ethnic slur towards Italians. Even the governor of New Jersey said the show was negative for New Jersey and encouraged everyone to see the famous shore for themselves rather than watching it on MTV. 

 It’s definitely not the first time MTV has gotten controversy over a show. Teen Mom is still on and going strong, even though there were reports all over America that girls were getting pregnant on purpose to be casted in Teen Mom 2. Whatever happened to Music being played on MTV? My advice to MTV is if they won’t play Music, drop the M, and replace it with an R for the many reality shows it’s known for showing.

This over hyped show of college-aged kids (excluding the Situation) partying hard, getting into bar fights, public intoxication and on again-off again relationships are the reason why so many loved to hate them. Still, the cast was charismatic and actually had moments of sincere friendship and introduced new vocabulary to us. It’s hard to say they won’t be missed, but it’s a win-win situation. They get their lives back to normal (whatever that is for them) and we only have one show left on MTV that seriously needs cancelling.