Jersey shore

[Ack]

Ah. I have no opinion, as I avoided it like the plague.

[gtmtnbiker]

I did read in a Joel Stein/Kevin Smith TIME article that most of the cast members aren't actually from NJ though, which I thought was interesting.

I'm not surprised because in real life, you have lots of people from NY/CT who vacation/summer in the Jersey shore.

[Luke]

Ah. I have no opinion, as I avoided it like the plague.

Ack is a smart man.

[ExedExes]

I love this response. Where in NJ is it filmed? Point Pleasant?

I've never watched Jersey Shore, but one gets an impression of its overall lack of quality pretty quickly regardless. I grew up in New Jersey, and when my friends and I heard about the show we were thinking, "Yay! Thanks for manufacturing another reason for the rest of the country to make fun of us, MTV!"

I did read in a Joel Stein/Kevin Smith TIME article that most of the cast members aren't actually from NJ though, which I thought was interesting.

Thank you! Seaside Heights was where it's filmed. (also known as "Sleaz-ide") Point Pleasant is just that, the kinder, gentler "Jersey Shore". It's smaller than Seaside is and isn't as popular with the people from New York.

I lived in NJ until 2002 and every summer we'd vacation on that small island strip and we were in between Point Pleasant and Seaside. Both places had great arcades (and still do, as far as I know), and even other great arcades up and down the shoreline like Barnacle Bill's which is outside of SH.

MTV also came down to SH to do their summer "Beach House" in 1998. That was when it started to get a bad rap.

You are also correct on the cast members not being from NJ. They were from New York, Staten Island, etc. But, as someone else correctly pointed out, the New Yorkers take up the place every weekend in the summer. The slang term in NJ for them is "Bennies".

The last year I was there, they had an exclusively 80s arcade room with nothing but arcade games from the 1980s and a BIG screen Ultracade cabinet (with ExedExes, of course!) and 80s music filling the room. 2 video walkthroughs can be found here and here.

I'm pretty knowledgeable about the area if there's anymore questions. I've got tons of pictures too.

[Luke]

You are also correct on the cast members not being from NJ.

I'm pretty knowledgeable about the area if there's anymore questions. I've got tons of pictures too.

And also I think only one of the cast members (Vinny) is actually of Italian descent.

Question for exed: Do you know where God (in the Kevin Smith Universe) played ski-ball? Visiting that place is on my bucket list, right behind never going to NJ (figure that).

[gtmtnbiker]

I lived in NJ until 2002 and every summer we'd vacation on that small island strip and we were in between Point Pleasant and Seaside.

Growing up, my family vacationed in LBI (Long Beach Island) for 2 weeks every summer. It was a blast.

The slang term in NJ for them is "Bennies".

Oh, yeah, now I remember. They get all of the "benefits".

[ExedExes]

Question for exed: Do you know where God (in the Kevin Smith Universe) played ski-ball? Visiting that place is on my bucket list, right behind never going to NJ (figure that).

After looking at IMDB for filming locations. they mentioned Asbury Park and Red Bank. They sound about right because Monmouth County seemed to be a base of operations for Kevin Smith (Clerks was filmed in Leonardo). Asbury Park was *THE* Jersey Shore destination before it got all desolate and neglected in the 80s and 90s. They are cleaning up and rejuvenating as we speak; I know of a nice pinball museum that opened in the past year or two over there.

[Godot102]

Unfortunately for me, I happen to live fairly close to Seaside. That show was basically a show about people I used to go to school with. Its funny because I know quite a few people that behaved and still behave just like the people on that show, years before it premiered. I also remember when my brother first saw a commercial for it, he told me "I can't believe they are making a show about people from our area!" . Watch it if you want to lower your IQ.

[Zing]

and if the show is so bad, how come it survived 5 seasons?

One flip through the channels and you will see so many absolutely horrid shows that are on multiple seasons.

My girlfriend watches a series of shows called "Real Housewives of…" various cities. I am not being facetious at all when I say that I watched five minutes of it once, and it was literally two people arguing about what someone "tweeted". It is the most brainless and disgusting show I have ever witnessed. Not only it is several seasons in, but there are several variations and spin-offs.

I thought shows like Big Brother and Real World were bad, then I saw this. Girlfriend claims she watches it to make herself feel better about her own life.

[Gamerforlife]

and if the show is so bad, how come it survived 5 seasons?

One flip through the channels and you will see so many absolutely horrid shows that are on multiple seasons.

My girlfriend watches a series of shows called "Real Housewives of…" various cities. I am not being facetious at all when I say that I watched five minutes of it once, and it was literally two people arguing about what someone "tweeted". It is the most brainless and disgusting show I have ever witnessed. Not only it is several seasons in, but there are several variations and spin-offs.

I thought shows like Big Brother and Real World were bad, then I saw this. Girlfriend claims she watches it to make herself feel better about her own life.

I'll probably get a lot of flak for saying this, but it's just an observation based on my own personal experiences. Most of the crap TV that gets the high ratings these days have a pretty large female audience. Now I'm not a sexist, and I am not trying to be offensive, but when I hear people at my job talk about the kind of crap shows mentioned in this thread, it's almost always females. I don't know guys who watch that crap. The last time I talked to a dude at work about TV, it was Game of Thrones. I then convinced him to try Breaking Bad. A lot of these garbage shows appeal to women it seems. I don't know why.

Now I know a girl at work who can list shows she's enjoyed like The Wire, Deadwood and various other quality HBO programming. I know another one who is watching Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. So obviously not all women have crappy taste in television, but believe me when I say they are certainly the minority compared to what most of the other women at my job watch. Most of the ladies go on and on about reality TV, stupid day time talk shows, American Idol, Real Housewives, Dances with The Stars, Jersey Shore and various other IQ lowering nonsense.