The Jersey Turnpike

Season four of The Jersey Shore premiered tonight, and just like The Hills, America’s favorite reality show has become overly produced, and less real.

First, MTV would have us believe that the eight cast members are still completely anonymous and unaffected by the attention the show has brought them.  The only indication that the cast members are figures in the public eye, came last season when Snooki drunkenly stumbled onto the beach and crowds had amassed on the boardwalk to watch her get arrested.

Though Jersey Shore is not Masterpiece Theater or an HBO scripted series, it still presents itself as reality television, simply following the cast as they live their lives.  The show may have never been unadulterated reality, but the first season did not seem as contrived as subsequent seasons.  Unlike previous seasons, very little about this season seems to be based in reality.

During the first fifteen minutes of tonight's premiere the most obvious examples of non-reality were: the passport photo shoots, the guys’ sleepover at Vinny’s house before the flight (because none of them were unable to get a hotel room), the girls’ flawless appearance after an overnight flight, layover, the three hour drive from Milan to Florence are just ridiculous, (As if MTV was unable to arrange a more direct route from the US to Florence for the girls.)

Beyond that it's hard to ignore JWoww’s face, which has been heavily altered from heavy-handed cosmetic procedures, and The Situation’s story about sleeping with Snooki, which seems crafted purely to stir up drama in the house right off the bat.

For now, I’ll try to enjoy the show for what it is and can rest easy knowing three things about The Jersey Shore will never change: Pauly and Vinny’s love affair, Sammi’s vanity, and Snooki and Deena’s stupidy.