There is a remarkable Situation brewing with MTV's "Jersey Shore." Forget about cable, the addictive series is now posting ratings that place it among the highest-rated series in all of TV. It's beating the likes of "Survivor" and "Modern Family" in the ratings networks generally care most about. Last Thursday's season premiere drew an average of 5.674 million viewers in the 18-to-49 demo. That comes close to topping even "Grey's Anatomy" and would place it squarely in TV's top 10.
To be sure, these rankings compare the one episode of "Jersey Shore" with full-season averages for the others with repeats. But, there is little reason to believe the buzz around "Jersey Shore" won't lead to higher ratings as the summer moves along.
Triumphs in the 18-to-49 demo, however, may be less important for MTV than the cable trade group that asserts cable is on par with broadcast. MTV network focuses on a 12-to-34 demo, where "Jersey Shore" just might top every regularly scheduled series.
What makes the show, now in season four, so appealing? While the question bubbles up with smash comedies and dramas, it seems to carry more weight when breakout reality hits arrive, starting with "An American Family" in the 1970s.
With "Jersey Shore," the answer may be an easy one: there's plenty to talk about, but not much to worry about. It's like a good summer vacation.
For those older than 24, the show isn't about much more than eight young Italian Americans living in a house together and passing the time at the gym or tanning until it's time to go out at night and booze it up.
One of the characters, the delightfully diminutive "Snooki," was horrifyingly punched in a bar in the first season, but short of that all of the drama has been self-created.
Last season, a principal storyline involved two characters, Sammi and Ronnie, in a relationship that had them on and off again more than Congressional negotiators while trying to hammer out the debt-ceiling deal. This season, it appears as if a maypole will be Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino's infatuation with "Snooki."
"Snooki" does ram her car into a police vehicle this time, but the officers riding in it suffer minimal harm, according to the Florence police. The season is set in Italy.
On the groundbreaking reality series "An American Family" in 1973, there were serious family fissures exposed. On "The Real World," a character raised awareness about the AIDS virus. On "Survivor," cast members can get horrible news about a relative back home.
But there's been little to rock audiences with anything resembling the real wor
ld on "Jersey Shore." The show thrives on escapism and a chance to poke some good-natured fun at over-the-top characters.
In the spring, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino's estranged father blasted his son in the media for not giving him some of his newfound money for help, but that was a story for TMZ and didn't make it onto the show. Probably won't.
Outside Sorrentino, the show offers characters who appear to come from stable, loving homes -- ones where, in addition to parents, there are aunts and uncles to dote on them.
There's no sign of any trouble back home as the characters live and love in Jersey, Miami and Florence. That's except when a character has to grapple with how to balance temptation on the show with relationships back at home.
For the most part, the characters seem to have a pretty problem-free life, save crises with hair treatment. There are some interpersonal issues and plenty of self-imposed idiocy - "Snooki's" bad driving, cluelessness about the basics of Italy - but not much to cause the audience much consternation.
MediaPost social media standout Amy Chou, a rising senior at NYU, said she tried to avoid watching the show early on. She thought to a degree she was above spending time with "ridiculous" characters. But "then I caved with season two."
A friend brought her around saying "it's just relaxing and you just shut off your mind and watch people do stupid things."
So that means there's not much to discuss, right? Actually, Chou found herself at a dinner last week, where conversation about the premiere episode lasted about half an hour.
There were romantic antics to ponder, ludicrous quotes to rehash and "Snooki's" unending luggage pile to mock, but it was all in fun.
