The original Jersey Shore, whether you loved or hated the show during its original air date of 2009 to 2012, was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. The cast’s signature looks embodied the gaudy Y2K fashion aesthetics and personal grooming, even creating some trends of their own, like Snooki’s iconic “poof” hairstyle. The series was subject to countless parodies and controversies, especially over the cast’s antics that turned them into stars, and in some cases, role models for millennials coming of age.
What is surprising, with that in mind, is the fact the reality show had a very brief run. The first episode premiered on December 3rd, 2009, and season six concluded the show on December 20th, 2012, meaning that the series only just squeaked past three years on the airwaves. TV shows typically get canceled due to lack of popularity, so what could have happened to take down the series in what appeared to be its prime?
Why was the original Jersey Shore canceled?
In August 2012, a few months ahead of the season six premiere that October, MTV announced that the upcoming season would be Jersey Shore’s last. At the time, Chris Linn, the network’s Executive Vice President of Programming, told Entertainment Weekly that the decision arose from feeling “like the right time to bring it to a close and end on a high note.”
“We’ve always said we’d do the show for as long as it made sense,” Linn explained. “We noticed what was going on in their lives, with Nicole (Snooki) having her baby, the relationships, etc.”
Snooki gave birth to her first child in August of that year, and the responsibilities of parenthood would have certainly changed up the dynamic of the party house significantly. However, that may not be the whole picture. A sequel series, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, has been ongoing since 2018, and most of the cast now have children of their own. While the cast may not party quite as hard as they used to, the series hasn’t been short of drama, especially with the re-introduction of Sammi Giancola earlier this year.
It is possible that ratings did play a role in the decision to end the series. Viewership peaked in 2011, during season 3, episode 4, in “Free Snooki” — the episode following Snooki’s surprise arrest. By the end of season 5, however, ratings dwindled to 4-5 million per episode, meaning viewership had cut in half in a year.
The production budget for a season of Jersey Shore was said to be at least $3 million by 2011, with a hefty nearly $420,000 rebate from the New Jersey taxpayer, which many residents weren’t exactly happy about, given the show’s representation of the area. It seems that value for money rapidly decreased per episode, and New Jersey natives were reluctant to keep forking out for it.
Linn denied that ratings played a role in the decision to end Jersey Shore. “The show still dominates, it’s the No. 1 show in our core demo[graphic],” he told EW. “It’s still incredibly successful.”
“As successful as the show is, we don’t want to be in a situation where we’re milking every ratings point out of a franchise until the end,” he concluded.
Before the last season of Jersey Shore, the series had spawned multiple spin-offs, the most successful being Snooki and Jwoww. It is clear that MTV was keen to keep at least some of the Jersey Shore format alive, even if in smaller spin-offs that were somewhat less focused on partying and “smushing”. Other cast members, like Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, had turned away from this lifestyle, after attending rehab for substance abuse in early 2012. During season 4 of the show the previous year, Sorrentino shocked viewers when he headbutted a wall out of anger, ending up in a neck brace, something he later admitted was due to suffering from drug withdrawals.
The original Jersey Shore had seemingly outgrown what it was originally meant to be, both in maturity and budgetary means. The series could not recapture the magic of the first few seasons, especially without causing risks to the well-being of the cast. As this became more apparent, viewers began to slowly switch off, and the network could not financially justify continuing to make the stakes higher, such as taking the cast to new locations, like Italy in season 4.
While Jersey Shore lives on in Family Vacation, the series’ format is adjusted to the now older, family-based cast members. The sequel series has not quite captured the same international attention as the original, but this steadiness has ensured that the series’ quality cannot fall from such a great height.