In 2009 MTV struck reality television gold when they began airing "Jersey Shore." What made the series so unique and easy to obsess over were the characters. These people referred to themselves as guidos and guidettes -- something most people had never heard of. The beauty of this reality show was that it was letting us inside of a reality entirely different from our own, with people whose beliefs and appearances left us feeling like we were dealing with something just short of an alien species -- a reality where the daily routine consisted of gym, tanning, laundry, and where the people were orange and practically spoke a foreign language.
Though strangers, the characters on the show were all the same in terms of lifestyle, appearance, and lingo, but so different from the outside world. Maybe that's why the show worked even when the cast had been removed from its natural habitat. When sent to Miami and Italy they did not fit in because they were blatantly different and people loved to see that contrast. Imagine seeing your refined college professors at a rave or watching a ten-year-old with a bib and pacifier get pushed around in a stroller. These things simply don't make sense but you can't help but be intrigued by the blasphemy of what is going on, and the curiosity of what is going to happen, because it's like nothing you have ever seen before.
That is not this show
First and foremost, "Jersey Shore" is over and has been for a while. The show was heavily dependent upon the cast and without them, there is no show. A revival of the shore house with a new set of guidos and guidettes would be a more understandable pitch for this stretch of a show, but at the end of the day, it would simply be watered-down Ron Ron Juice.
The culture that is the "Jersey Shore" has been explored and people need something new.
Hence the new location
It's completely understandable that MTV would want to recreate what was truly a phenomenon. However, finding a new location and a new cast to teach the world about an unfamiliar way of life in a comical and drama filled way is highly unlikely.
From the promotional material, it appears that the cast members are from different states surrounding the "Floribama Shore" and they are all relatively normal looking people. A party house full of relatable people from different places for a summer sounds pretty familiar, in fact, it sounds like just another season of "The Real World." While "The Real World" was also a highly successful show that helped define reality television, it's not the same thing as "Jersey Shore" and it doesn't do anywhere near as well as it used to. MTV doesn't try to disguise what is clearly just another season of "The Real World" as "Jersey Shore" to piggyback off its fame.
Will I watch the show? I mean yeah, but MTV you aren't fooling anyone.
