Considering a Snookie Marathon

My TV fare for a bunch of years has been PBS. Public Broadcasting Service for those overseas, it's our hippie/educational/independant tv
I used to love TV. In times long past there would always be something at least moderatley entertaining and a lot of it if wasn't educational it at least offered a window into another world

Not so much today

Have I gotten so old that I have heard every story there is or have those guy just stopped trying? A lot of friends and family are enjoying their new tv's with the new visuals and size and thinness and such. I got one too, but can't seem to want to upgrade. I don't see the point if the acting or writing or whatever isn't up to snuff, who cares how clear the picture is.

That said, I have been tempted of late to commit a night to a marathon watching the Jersey Shore.

Should I do it?
If I do how long will I last?
Anyone watch it and admit to it?

 

The only way I see this show is by watching clips of it on The Soup, a show that makes fun of reality shows.

From what I've seen, they are a train wreck, and everybody likes watching a train wreck. (except for those involved)

Snookie puts me in mind of a Guido Hobbit.

 

I am also not a tv watcher, but at the end of the summer, I did do a Jersey Shore marathon, so as to find some association with pop culture. The hype about it got me interested. You can watch it on Netflix, I started with the first season and never made it beyond that. It's basically a visual example of "what not to do" and a peek inside the lives of the careless (and stupid) young. Their priority is looking hot, meeting hook-ups, and finding common social ground. Because they have no real personalities (Vinnie excluded from this, and Mike even) they have nothing in common, except eating, tanning, dancing, f*ing and fighting. I was mostly shocked that their parents would allow them to make fools of themselves, publically. But fame is important to some, I suspose, no matter the cost.

Living as an adult in the real world where you cannot operate like these guys, nor would you want to, Jersey Shore became a form of escapism for me. Where are you going tonight? I would ask myself, as I wearily climb the stairs- I'm going to Jersey Shore, bitch.

 

This is going to be a major shock to your system.
I bet you don't make it more than 2 hours.
Make sure qualified medical personnel are standing by just in case.

And if you want to see something witty, and irreverent, tied to pop culture, go with South Park.
Jersey Shore is just idiotic.

 

Find a better marathon.

 

At first I thought you said a "Sookie" marathon (ie, True Blood) and I was going to come to your defense. To be fair, I do know about four otherwise-intelligent people at work who love watching Jersey Shore, so maybe there is some value to it.

I would suggest you pick something else though. In approximate subjective order of best-first:
The Wire
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Boardwalk Empires
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife

If you have your heart set on a reality show, I at least tend towards ones that revolve around some subject matter I am interested in:
Top Chef (learn about food!)
Project Runway (learn about sewing and fashion!)
The Amazing Race (see the world!)

 

One of the first 'reality' shows was Real World on MTV I watched some of that and before the end of the first season you could see ample evidence of the editors hand and that kind of spoiled it for me. I had come to accept that those people were as one dimentional as portrayed and rather enjoyed their antics. Since then reality shows have become more popular i guess due to it's low production cost. And they have diminished in quality since the begining. and from the clips I have seen Snookie and crew are right at the bottom of the barrel.

I was thinking that the Jersey Shore would be like watching a really bad movie. And a really bad movie can be a laugh riot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkjExJqf34o

 

This is EXACTLY why I watch it. I know I shouldn't, but it makes me feel better about myself because I'm NOT these people. I fear that it is more people like me raising the ratings than people who watch it because they actually like it. I'll admit that I do like me some hot gorillas though.

When I was ill I couldn't do much but watch tv. I watched some pretty crappy, aka AWESOME, tv. My favorite was "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant." I highly recommend you watch it. Now that I am no longer sick and able to drink again, I am thinking of making a drinking game out of it.

Drink:
She has a weird craving
Her friends joke that she is pregnant
"Unexplained" weight gain
Awful baby-daddy
Breaks up with baby-daddy
Gets back together with baby-daddy
Negative pregnancy test
Drinks or smokes

Finish your drink if she has the baby in the toilet because she just thinks she's just having a bad BM. Happens more times than you think it would.
--- merged: Sep 17, 2011 4:27 PM ---
Also...because I am going to a rugby social today after the match and the the theme is White Trash, I have thinking about the difference between white trash, redneck and hillbilly. I came up with a subculture of White Trash called Guido Trash. It will be an interesting blog entry when I flesh it out.

 

Guido Trash for sure!!! Yuck! If I were Italian I'd be offended and hate it even more than I do.

 

I can hardly look at pictures of these people. Cannot imagine trying to actually watch an episode of the show.

 

It's best to ease into it. Five or ten minutes at a time is usually the maximum dose that can be tolerated.

 

sounds like my likely tolerance for survivor if I were to ever expand my 30 seconds total viewing time of any of the 27 takes they have done.

 

I'm gonna do it
I am off work tomorrow, I will find an episode on Hulu or YouTube or whatever, haven't had tiome until now.

I will report back later, If you don't hear from me....send help

 

Went to Hulu
I gat to see I dunno 8 minutes then got an offer to join otherwise I have used up my eight mins. Should I join Hulu and pay so I can see the Jersey Shore?

Anyway went to MTV whrer they offered free full episodes. Opted for season 1 episode 1, figured if I likes it I could catch up with the rest of the world so that was the best palce to start.
I got cut off again towards the end of the episode.

Doesn't look interesting.

Gonna go back so I am sure

 

You poor bastard...they have you!

 

Oh I give up.
I went to a couple few sites to see full episodes. Each time I would either see what amounts to a teaser or the vid would hit a point where it was 'buffering' long enough that I grew tired of waiting

What I did see tells me that it's noy something I'd watch given a choice. A bunch of drunken cocky kids free to do what they want without (apparent) consequence. I saw, I forget, 6 or 8 kids but with maybe 1.2 personalities among them combined. Looks like Real World squared.

 

Glad to hear you were spared the horror

I'll admit to getting REALLY into the Real World: London. I don't know if it was because they were actually that cool, if I fantasized about living in London, or if it was just because I was 14. Maybe all of the above.

I will also admit to watching about 15 minutes of the very first episode of Jersey Shore. After even that short amount of time, I was thoroughly fed up with every single person on camera.

 

Jacintha was very hot, but a big freakin' mess.

 

After watching I couldn't help but imagine either one of these kids\'s Grandmother beating the crap out of their silly behavior

 

I watched an episode, once. It was enough to turn my stomach. If any of them were either intelligent or attractive, I might attempt another episode, but with life being short and all, I just can't see wasting any of it watching shallow, self-centered, arrogant and immature adults parading around the worst in themselves. And getting paid nicely for it.

I'm not sure why it's so popular - probably for all the wrong reasons. Maybe for a few good reasons, as well. Sometimes mindless escapism is just what the doctor ordered, and if you're mature enough not to relate to them on any level, their antics can be reversely gratifying.

My concern, overall, for reality shows like this is the long term fallout. Teenagers (especially) and young adults believing that the behavior they witness is not only common and acceptable but something to be emulated. I won't rest easily with the prospect of handing the world over to a generation of Snookies.

Though it's possible the Jersey Shore crew are not taken seriously by anyone. I hope so, anyway.