Beloved guidos return for second season

MTV recently announced that America's most beloved team of fist-pumping, tan-obsessed partiers will be returning to television screens this summer.

That's right, "Jersey Shore" will be returning for a second season.

For those who have never watched the show, the reality TV series "Jersey Shore" focuses on all the excitement in the lives of seven individuals and all the drama that washes up along the Jersey Shore. The show is similar to "The Real World," except for the fact that all of the cast members are self-proclaimed "guidos" and "guidettes," which is a specific stereotype of Italian-Americans, who usually reside in New Jersey or New York and are identified by their unique style and mannerisms.

The lives of Pauly D., Mike "The Situation," Nicole "Snooki," Jenni "J-Woww," Sammi "Sweetheart," Ronny and Vinny are irresistibly fascinating. From the bar fights, to the hot tub escapades, to the incessant drinking, every episode of "Jersey Shore" is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The stars of the series are a clear demonstration of exactly how not to act while in one's 20s, but it is nearly impossible to change the channel once the action has you hooked.

Inevitably, the series' stars have now exploded into a national phenomenon, and their lives are being followed as closely as any other popular celebrity. Cast member Mike Sorrentino has received a lot of attention for his upcoming plan to release his own beer called "The Situation" as part of New Jersey's Iron Hill Brewery. The "Jersey Shore" crew has even received first-class treatment; P. Diddy himself invited them to a party in New York City.

Although the attention the cast has received is tremendous, it cannot last forever. I predict that "Jersey Shore" will keep viewers interested for the second season, and it will possibly last to a third season, but its popularity will be very short-lived. Just like "The Real World," you can only watch so many fights and hook-ups before the show becomes redundant and mundane.

Eventually, the excitement of "Jersey Shore" will fizzle out until TV producers take the same formula that makes for an interesting reality show and regurgitate it into a seemingly "new" series with a new location and new cast members. Is this really what reality television has been reduced to?

Along with all of the attention "Jersey Shore" has received, it has also raised a lot of controversy. In December, the New Jersey Italian American Legislative Caucus called for MTV to cancel the show, according to Yahoo! News. The caucus claimed that the series was "wildly offensive" due to its derogatory representation of Italian-Americans.

While it may be true that the cast members of "Jersey Shore" are not the classiest individuals, it's not very appropriate to pull the race card just yet. If "Jersey Shore" is a poor representation of Americans, then what are shows like "The Jerry Springer Show" or "16 and Pregnant" doing for our national reputation?

It's safe to say that the majority of Americans realize that not all Italian- Americans have spiky black hair, bedazzled Ed Hardy T-shirts and steroid injected arms. Perhaps this ridiculous stereotype is what makes "Jersey Shore" so appealing, because it is such an extreme, yet entertaining, representation of a particular group of people. Americans with aspirations and normal lives can watch "Jersey Shore" and feel better about themselves afterward. The ability to laugh at the pathetic lives of others, despite the cruelty of doing so, is what makes a reality show popular.

Its popularity may not endure as long as the "Jersey Shore" cast members might hope for, but the ideal of the trashy reality show is here to stay -- whether that is a good or bad thing is a different story entirely.