Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

“Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” is crazy, addicting, wild and fun!  After watching one episode, you’re instantly hooked!  You’ll either love it or hate it but if you loved the reality TV show, the DVD comes uncensored and plenty of special features and commentary are included.  Definitely recommended for “Jersey Shore” fans!

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DVD TITLE: Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One

DURATION: (9 episodes) 487 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen

COMPANY: MTV/Paramount

RATED: Not Rated (Explicit Content.  Warning: This program is recommended for mature audiences only.  It contains adult language and situations.)

RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2010

Created and written by Anthony Beltempo and SallyAnn Salsano

Directed by Brand Kreisberg

Produced by Sheonna Mix, Clay Wolflick, Jarrett Lambo, Steven Matty, Lisa Marie Tobin

Executive Producer: SallyAnn Salsano

Co-Executive Producer: Pam LaLima

Associate Producer: Jamaal Avery

Music by Wellington Lora Jr.

Cinematography by Brian Steimle

Edited by Frankie Le Nguyen, Tom Lannin, Christopher Sam, Alexander Bliss, David Coppola

Casting by Doron Ofir, Josh Allouche, Shaggy Bajrami

Production Design by Jake Leslie

Art Direction by Dana Leibovitz

Starring:

Pauly Del Vecchio

Jenni Farley

Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola

Vinny Guadagnino

Ronnie “Fist Pump Brah” Magro

Nicole Polizzi

Michael Sorrentino

Angelina “Jolie” Pivarnick

Mike Sorrentino

Brad Ferro

Julissa Bermudez

On Jersey Shore, MTV follows eight young adults as they move into a summer house to indulge in everything Seaside Heights, New Jersey has to offer. Jersey Shore uncovers sometimes surprising, often hilarious and usually over-the-top personalities as they juggle work, love, nightlife, friendship and the drama that ensues. Includes all nine uncensored episodes!

MTV has had its fair share of popular reality TV series from “Real World”, “Sweet 16”, “Laguna Beach: The Real OC”, “The Hills”, “The City” but if there was one reality TV show that definitely caught the attention of many viewers of late, it would be the series “Jersey Shore”.  A show about eight young men and women who never met and now must live together, work and party at the New Jersey Shore.

The show was filmed in August 2009 and featured a group of individuals (most of Italian-American descent) and talk about their love of being a Guido/Guidette and just having fun.  But unlike other MTV reality TV series, “Jersey Shore” featured individuals partying it up, not getting along, cussing each other out, getting into fights and more.

And the series would also garner some criticism because of its portrayals of Italian-Americans and that because only one of the eight are from New Jersey and five of the people featured are of Italian-American descent. But despite the criticism, “Jersey Shore” surprised and shocked people with its upfront portrayal of the eight individuals, their partying habits and the fights that some got involved in.

“Jersey Shore” focused on the following eight individuals:

• Angelina “Jolie” Pivarnick – A New Yorker who is committed to her boyfriend and is very outspoken (especially towards the guys who bring women back to the home) and refuses to work at the T-shirt shop.  Tends to upset the guys in the house.
• Jenni “JWoww” Farley – A New Yorker with an attitude.  Comes into the house dedicated to her boyfriend but with life away from him (even for a short while), her wild side may come out.
• Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino – The cocky New Yorker who is about fitness, loves showing off his abs, loves cooking and likes hooking up with a girl nearly every day.
• Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi – The New Yorker who calls herself a “Guidette” and wants to date a “Guido”.  Can be wild, loves to have fun and can be temperamental if pushed.
• Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio – The popular Italian DJ, can easily hook up with the girls (including one of his fellow castmates) and sometimes has to be Mike’s Wingman.
• Ronnie Ortiz-Magro – The buff, temperamental New Yorker who didn’t want to get into a relationship but ends up hooking up with Sammi “Sweetheart”.
• Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola – The sole cast member originally from New York.  The heartbreaker who wanted to have fun but ends up falling for Ronnie.
• Vinny Guadagnino – The traditional Italian from New York and a mama’s boy.

“Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” features a total of nine episodes.  Here is a brief synopsis of each episode:

• EPISODE 1 – A New Family – Everyone moves into the beach house but Snooki gives roommates the wrong impression.
• EPISODE 2 – The Tanned Triangle – Snooki must decided whether to stay in the house or leave.  Meanwhile, Sammi’s attention turns to another roommate.
• EPISODE 3 – Good Riddance – Mike is upset with who Sammi has chosen to hook up with.  Angelina decides she doesn’t want to work and JWoww hooks up with a roommate despite having a boyfriend.
• EPISODE 4- Fade to Black – Mike and Pauly go after a few girls while Pauly has to be a wingman.  But can Pauly handle the girl he has to watch over?  Meanwhile, Snooki’s mother visits the house and a fight breaks out and one of the roommates gets injured.
• EPISODE 5 – Just Another Day at the Shore – The roommates come to bat for their injured roomate, meanwhile Ronnie’s family visits the house.
• EPISODE 6 – Boardwalk Blowups – Mike invites the girls back to the house but a fight develops and a roommate gets hurt.  Meanwhile, another roommate gets into a brawl.
• EPISODE 7 – What Happens in AC – The group takes a trip to Atlantic City and feelings get hurt.
• EPISODE 8 – One Shot – Pauly must deal with a stalker, meanwhile a roommate gets into a fight and goes to jail.
• EPISODE 9 – That’s How the Shore Goes – The group celebrates their final days at the house and the end of Summer.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” is presented in Widescreen and Dolby Digital.  Picture quality is good, I didn’t notice any major compression issues but there was slight combing.  Dialogue is in Dolby Digital stereo and is clear and understandable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary – Episodes 1, 4, 5, 6, 9 feature cast commentary by The Situation, Pauly D and Snooki.   Entertaining cast commentary especially during the fight sequences.
• Reunion Special – (41:59) Julissa Bermudez hosts the “Jersey Shore” reunion special as the cast reunite after the first season.  Each roommate is interviewed and cast comment on how life has changed after the show.  The reunion show definitely delivers in tense and awkward moments.  Like a Jerry Springer episode.
• Deleted Scenes – (32:44) Deleted scenes from the “Jersey Shore – Season One”.
• Before the Shore – (21:38) Julissa Bermudez hosts a special episode titled “Jersey Shore: Before the Show”. Footage before the cast became roommates and unaired testimonials from the show.
• Tips from the Situation & Snooki – (7:13) The Situation and Snooki give advice on how to hook up.  Mike gives people advice on how to be like “The Situation” and Snooki shows us how to have a Snooki “poof” hair.
• Jersey Shore Makeover with Michael Cera – (4:12) Michael Cera hangs out with the cast of the Jersey Shore and receives a makeover.

Before watching “Jersey Shore”, I wasn’t really caught up into all the hype as I didn’t watch the series when it first aired.  So, I didn’t really didn’t know what to expect.  I was told many times that it was like a “trainwreck in which you can’t stop watching” and at the end of the series, I’m going to be truthful, I wasn’t a hater.

I was watching one episode after the other and found “Jersey Shore” a lot of fun.  I’ve watched many MTV reality TV shows but I think that “Jersey Shore” had a lot of tension, drama and even some violence but also, everyone in the show wants to have fun and party.  I can imagine how crazy the atmosphere was.  You just don’t see this in the other reality shows.  Sure, “Real World” has had its moments but nothing like “Jersey Shore”.

You can tell by the first episode, that these roommates, they have strong attitudes that you wonder how bad things can get.   It’s one thing to show the partying and the group having fun, but you have a sense that things can blow up easily and that is why the series captures your attention.  May it be the guys trying to hook up with girls, seeing the relationship between Ronnie and Sammi getting tense and of course, the number of fights involving the cast members.

And there is not one person that you root for or your attention gets fixated on, everyone has some sort of issue that is featured on camera and for the most part, with each episode, things get more chaotic, wild and even more entertaining (unfortunately, at the expense of someone’s emotions or bad decision making).

Needless to say, “Jersey Shore” really delivered in entertainment and to see how things got even more awkward in the reunion show was very surprisingly tense. Again, like a “trainwreck that you can’t keep your eyes off of”.  Now I know what people mean by that.  You can’t help but keep watching because after one episode, you’re hooked and things continue to escalate and go crazy amongst the roommates, its that element of surprise that hooks you.

In the end, I know that “Jersey Shore” has its share of haters and people who were offended by the stereotypes of Italian-Americans.  But the thing is, the casting was perfect in finding people who were somewhat self-absorbed, loved to have fun and if one got on their bad side (especially if they were drunk), they were going to blow.

The “Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” DVD delivers in audio commentary and special features and again, it’s uncensored and thus one can expect plenty of profanity, alcohol and whatever the camera picked up on during its tense and even sexual moments.

Overall, “Jersey Shore” is a different kind of reality TV show that some may not be accustomed to seeing on television and some maybe put off by it and some may watch it and be hooked by how things tend to gradually change with each episode.  Things do get tense.  And with people calling shows like “The Hills” being partly scripted and fake, I think the reunion show said it all about this show and how we see genuine moments happening.  Some people from other states/cities may be in awe of how these people live their lifestyle.

There is no doubt that “Jersey Shore” delievered in tense moments, sh*t talking, drunken moments, sex, partying and even surprising violent moments that you just don’t see on a MTV reality TV show.  And because of that, I can’t wait for the second season (new cast or old cast)… and I’ll come out and say it… I’m hooked.

If you enjoyed “Jersey Shore”, definitely give “Jersey Shore: Uncensored – Season One” on DVD a try!