TV Revivals: Should ‘Jersey Shore’ return with new cast, or with Snooki, Pauly D, other familiar faces?
We still remember vividly when a certain MTV show in “Jersey Shore” managed to make a big splash almost out of nowhere, and really took much of American pop-culture by storm. At its peak the show was generating better ratings in the 18-49 demographic than almost any other show, the cast members had catch-phrases, and there was mountains of merchandise out there. (We may or may not have a Christmas ornament inspired by one of the cast members.)
However, it’s been years now since the show went off the air, and even spin-off “Snooki & Jwoww” is a little bit in the rear-view mirror. This had us wondering the following: Is there a way to bring this show back either with the established cast, or with some all-new characters ready to take the Shore by storm? That’s what we are going to figure out in the latest edition of our TV Revivals series.
How it ended – Basically, all of the original cast members said goodbye to the Shore, and since that time many of them have become parents and are now enjoying a more low-key life. All of them have varying business ventures now, and have moved on to phases in their lives that are a little more adult. Many of them have also done other reality shows, Pauly D has done a lot of DJ work, and we’ve seen Vinny host a show on MTV.
How to bring it back – There are two schools of thought here. The first is to simply try to bring back the original cast members, which we don’t think would entirely work since they have so many different responsibilities now. It’s hard to have people who are parents partying all of the time, or people in relationships hooking up with people they met at the club. Instead, the more likely idea here is to bring in a group of different people from the area who have a history of going to the Shore anyway, and seeing how they spend their summer. You can even bring in the original cast members for small cameos here and there. Our feeling is that you should at this point have a new cast every couple of years, that way you continue to keep things fresh.
Could it happen? – Possibly. The truth is that while “Teen Mom” may still be on the air along with “The Real World,” MTV hasn’t found a reality show to match the level of pop-culture popularity that “Jersey Shore” once had. There are financial reasons to try the concept again, and we especially think in a year or two’s time we will be at a point where this is nostalgic and you can bring former viewers back.