Guilty Pleasure TV

Yup, you've guessed it! My guilty pleasure is Jersey Shore.

Maybe it's silly but I mark my calendar to the precise day the show is set to return and that’s when my Thursday officially becomes Jerzday again.

In the past, I've been known to turn my friends and family members into fans of other shows -- Law & Order, This is Us, Friends, Scrubs, Married with Children, even oldies like Laverne & Shirley or Welcome Back Kotter.

But I have never been able to convert any of them into Jersey Shore fa ns.

It’s definitely not the kind of show that’s for everyone but I actually laugh out loud at it most of the time.

It’s a mood-changer for me and a nice break from the hustle and bustle of every day life.

I've watched it from the beginning and I joke with my friends about how I can't possibly count how many brain cells I must have lost over the years.

It all started when I was in my second year of college and I wanted to take a break from studying. I found myself flipping through the channels and stumbled across the ultimate train wreck.

I couldn't look away.

A screen full of ridiculous guidos and guidettes, the majority of which I would discover later on were only half Italian at best.

As an Italian woman who was in my mid-thirties at the time, I was able to recognize the stereotypes. The big hair and heavy makeup of the ladies, and the gym obsessed, high testosterone demeanor of then men.

It made for some explosive on-screen arguments and never shied away from drama after drama.

J-Woww was beefing with Angelina. Snooki was being arrested for public intoxication. Ronnie and Sammi were arguing over, well, pretty much everything. And Mike "The Situation" was head butting the wall to the point of knocking himself out.

Cast members have come and gone over the years, but there was never a shortage of quality trash TV to keep me entertained.

Even the secondary cast was interesting and some relationships were rather endearing to watch.

Like Vinny's relationship with his mom. They were so close and a reminder of the typical mother and son relationship that usually exists in an Italian family.

I remember my first impression was, I'll bet she still does his laundry for him. And sure enough, she did. Not to mention the massive spread of Italian feasts she would spend hours preparing for him and his friends. It was all so typical and relatable to me.

I found myself mesmerized by the carefree attitude of someone like Pauly D, floating happily through life without a worry in the world and only three responsibilities on his list -- gym, tan, laundry.

Yup, GTL! They even marketed the t-shirt as a reminder.

I remember watching the last run of the show in 2012 and, I must admit, I never paid much attention to the spinoff shows. For me, it just wasn't the same unless the chemistry of the entire cast was present.

I mean, you wouldn't feel the same about Rachel without Ross or Chandler without Joey, right?

Jersey Shore was my reality TV version of Friends. Although, there has been much debate over the years to the legitimacy of the term "reality." Even I'm smart enough to know there must be a degree of the show that is definitely scripted.

In 2018, I remember being happy to hear about the return of the show after a 6 year break.

I had mixed feelings since, in my experience, reboot shows tend to lack in comparison to the original.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of most of the cast, except for Sammi. That didn't bother me so much considering I've never liked her anyway.

I did think it was a smart move to bring Angelina back for a second chance, since her first initial impression didn't sit well with many. She was most definitely drama, and her grudge with J-Woww would make for some good entertainment.

It was great to see the antics and shenanigans take place all over again. I remember watching one day thinking Sammi was pretty stupid to skip out on the opportunity to make some good cash and have a little fun by rejoining the show.

I've been watching religiously every Jerzday since Family Vacation's first season and, I have to admit, I'm enjoying the reboot way more.

It is great to see how each member of the cast has evolved since the original. Mike quit drinking, got married and ultimately ended up in jail for tax evasion but it is a lot easier to like him when he's grounded and showing some genuineness instead of acting like an immature juicehead who brags about his abs.

It has also been great to see the Shoremates come into their own and build their families one mini Gino and Gina at a time. It's added a whole new layer to their personalities.

It is also admirable to see they've had success with their own off-screen gigs.

There's the clothing lines, the DJ gigs and even a Chippendales dancer. Though it has to be said, I did cringe seeing Vinny's mom cry about how proud she was of him since, at the time, she was in the audience watching him take his clothes off and pretty much dry hump the stage. She's definitely that ride or die type of mom and gives off the vibe that she'd likely be just as proud of her little Vin if he was a crack dealer!

It's pretty impressive how well they've all done for themselves considering it stemmed from a reality show that probably wasn't even expected to make it past the first season.

I'm currently bingeing my way through the latest season, and I'm sad to see that Snooki is missing. I read an article that said she quit the show and I couldn't help but wonder if she ever misses the rest of the group.

It's hard to gauge the relationships they have with each other on the other side of the camera. Do they keep in touch? Do they secretly hate each other?

It's all part of the grey area that exists between actual reality and reality TV. Ultimately, that's what makes it so much fun to watch.

You never really know what's coming next and even when it's blatantly obvious that the storylines are reaching, it still makes for good mindless entertainment.

After all, isn't that what a guilty pleasure is supposed to be?