10 Years Ago Today The World Changed For The Better
10 years ago today the world was shaken. Not by an Earthquake, not by political news, not by sports news, but by 8 guidos visiting our televisions every Thursday night. Sure they may have had the fake tans and the Italian Flag painted on their garage. Yet it was clear these weren't your everyday run-in-the-mill guidos. This was DJ Pauly DelVecchio from Rhode Island, this was Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino from New Jersey, this was Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi from New York. These are people that would become legends in their time.
Whenever I'm lucky enough to have Jersey Shore cross my mind, it's genuinely hard to formulate words on just how much of an impact this show had on the coming of age years for people that grew up the same time as me. I was in the middle of 8th grade in December of 2009 when Jersey Shore sent shockwaves throughout the country. Now only was the show making headline news for being entertaining, but also because of its representation of Italians. A lot of fellow paisans were calling for it to be cancelled and what not, but frankly us kids in 8th grade couldn't give any less of a fuck about that. Jersey Shore turned out to be most funny, revolutionary, and impactful television we'd ever watched. I mean just look at the Season 1 supercut below.
- Snooki dropping the infamous "Party's here!" for the greatest opening line since Liotta in Goodfellas.
- Angelina simply refusing to work and getting the boot from Danny
- Pauly D hooking up with Jwoww while she has a boyfriend and subsequently showing off his dick ring
- The introduction of GTL
- Fist Pumping which may or may not have led to me getting a 'Fist Pumping Like Champs' shirt from the MTV Store for Christmas '09
- The Situation committing the robbery on Vinny
- Jwoww clocking The Situation on the chin in AC
- That random trashbag punching Snooki
- Ronnie & Sammi becoming a modern day very loud, very Italian Ross & Rachel
- "THAT'S 1 SHOT, BRO!" turned into the official rallying cry of anyone knocking someone else out
- Pauly D's stalker that stalked his whole entire life on the boardwalk
That's only the FIRST season. Do you have any idea how iconic all those moments are? Might as well be up there with the signing of the Declaration of Independence as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention other monumental moments that didn't even make the cut like Angelina using garbage bags for her luggage and "It only takes 9 pound of pressure to break someone's nose". There are reality shows out there in this day and age whose producers would sell their soul to Lucifer solely for one similar moment on their show. Jersey Shore had millions.
Now earlier I mentioned just how impactful this show was so I figured I'd conclude my ode to Jersey Shore with the most resounding example I can think of. Among all the vocabulary it's gifted us over the years including DTF, That's One Shot Bro, and T-Shirt time...there is one Shore-ism that dominates them all and it has to do with transportation. Even in 2019 you'd be hard-pressed to find a group of friends that grew up in the Golden Age of Jersey Shore that doesn't scream "CABS AH HEAH!!" to everyone at their pregame once the car arrives to take you to the bar. It sure doesn't matter now that it's more than most likely an Uber or Lyft, Cabs are here has defied the test of time much like Jersey Shore in general.
So thank you, Jersey Shore, for making me the man I am today. Happy 10th Birthday! See you at Karma for a celebratory round of shots.