Talking Scandals and Casting Changes With the Brains Behind 'Jersey Shore'

So, season two is here ... aside from the move to Miami, is anything else different this go-round?
No, but it's really good. Season two is insanely good! There's a lot of fun, a lot of laughter, a lot of drama ... there's a lot of fist-pumping, and it's just crazy.

Angelina is back for season two ... how and why did that happen?
Well, in between the two seasons, Angelina may or may not have had some relations with the male members of our cast. So, they were spending time together, playing checkers on their own, so I think that's where it came from. And then it just kind of followed from there. I wouldn't say that everyone knew she was coming back, but there were certain members of the cast who definitely knew she was coming back.

But Angelina is not back for season three?
Angelina is not back.

And a friend of Snooki's, Deena, comes in for season three?
(Laughing) I cannot confirm or deny that.

You're filming for season three right now?
Yep, I'm in Seaside Heights. We're back here for season three, 12 episodes. We're filming the first week right now.

Why did you decide to go back to Jersey for season three?
I think it makes the most sense. The only reason we left for Miami is because the kids were all going away together anyway, and it's not warm (in Jersey), there was nowhere to go. For season three, why wouldn't we come back to New Jersey? We love New Jersey ... Seaside Heights is completely home to (the cast). This is where they came long before the show.

Is it weird being back there, now that everyone's seen the first season? Do you feel welcomed there?
I've never felt more welcomed with open arms than I have been here. New Jersey's been great, and they're so stoked, also because of the revenue it's created. It's unbelievable ... (Seaside Heights) is five times busier than it was last year!

So what's Gov. Christie's complaint?
I don't know! It's also confusing to me, because the show's not called 'I'm From New Jersey' ... it's titled 'Jersey Shore.' And the Jersey Shore is still in New Jersey, so I just think that, like, the show is great for New Jersey, because it shows that, not only people from New Jersey come to the Shore, but people come from all over the tri-state area. And since I've been back, I've been talking to people, like, 'Hey, where ya from?' I always like talking to people, not telling them what I'm affiliated with, and there are so many people (this year) from Chicago, from the Midwest, who saw the show and are now coming here. It's now a destination that is on other people's radars. So, I think it's amazing.

Do you feel protective of the cast? Are you like the 'Jersey Shore' mama?
I am the mom, the jail warden, the prison guard, the shoulder to cry on, the person they get mad at ... whatever it is, I'm all in. And yes, I do. It's kind of like a regular family, where, like, if someone makes a ... like, I can make fun of my people, but if anyone else does ... don't cross me. It's like how you can pick on your brother or sister and that's okay, but if someone else does it, you get mad. I love these kids, and I always say, when you're doing a show, you have your cast and you have your city, and you treat them all the same.

When this show first started, I looked at the cast and I said to them, 'Listen, all I know is, we're coming in here, this is season one, you guys are trusting me, and we're not here to make fun of you. We're here to have a good time. I want this show to be fun, light-hearted and a comedy. Let's just do this.' And they trusted me. And it was the same thing with the city, you know? A lot of cities didn't welcome us in with, let's call it, open arms, and the people of Seaside Heights ... I said, 'My goal is to make this place look great, to make this place look like the destination that I came to in my early twenties.' This is what I did. I lived in these houses ... this is exactly how I lived my life. So for me, it's just kind of like, it's a celebration. The show is truly a celebration of kids from this background.

Do you think people are taking the show too seriously, then, when they're criticizing it? I'm thinking especially of the incredibly mean profile of Snooki in the New York Times last Sunday.
People can take it seriously or not seriously. Every once in a while, something pops into pop culture, and for one reason or another, you can't even describe it, you can't put your finger on why. I don't know why people get upset about the show. I've never gotten so upset about a show that I felt I needed to write about it. I'd just change the channel. I'd be like, 'I have 500 channels ... clearly, I don't need to sit here and be so crazed.'

That being said, I think everyone's going to watch because it's fun. I think the reason why it works – and people ask me about that all the time – and I'm like, 'Because it's real characters and real people. It's people doing what they want to do and expressing themselves, and not apologizing for it later.' You know what I mean? Whenever you watch (other) reality shows, someone is like, 'Oh my God, last night, buh buh buh ...,' but these kids are like, 'That was so crazy ... moving on ... we call it Monday. Now we're moving on to Tuesday.' And that's really what being in this age group is kind of about. That's how most people think.

You've been a producer on other reality shows, other major, successful reality shows, but is the 'Jersey Shore' really kind of your baby?
This one hits close to home for me, because I relate pretty closely to this cast. Like, I get crazy on Sundays, because I don't have a kitchen, and I can't be cooking my Sunday dinner. Because when I'm not (on the set), I'm literally either at my house or at a friend's house, doing exactly what (the cast) does. It's how I was raised ... dinner at 2 o'clock on Sundays at Grandma's. So, when I'm not here with (the cast), I'm doing the same thing. And on Sunday nights, we always have our caterer make Italian food, because as (the cast) is cooking all their chicken parm and pasta, the crew is going crazy, because we're smelling it and shooting it and looking at it, and that's all we want. So every Sunday, we do the same on set.

Do you eat with the cast, or does the crew remain separate from them?
No, the crew is separate, but it's funny ... sometimes the kids will make extra, and put it out ... they'll put it out back, almost like we're their creatures (laughing) ... almost like we're little squirrels running around. I would definitely say that everyone on this crew has eaten some cooking from the cast, at least a time or two.

And who is the best cook among the cast? Is it really Mike?
Mike is the one that cooks the most, for sure. The cast would be very hungry if it wasn't for Sitch.

Do you call him Situation, or do you call him Mike?
I call him Situation. Sitch. Just Sitch. We've called him that since season one, during the shooting of season one, before (the nickname) caught on.

Did you have any idea the show would blow up the way it has, to become this huge pop culture phenomenon?
You know what, sometimes when you do the casting ... I became so attached to the kids. I had such a reaction to them, and I was like, 'Okay, am I just connecting to them because of my heritage, or because of what it is?' And so, I remember – a lot of my staff is from the east coast, and a lot isn't, we're about 50/50 – and me, and the showrunner with me, Pammie (Pam LaLima), I'm from Long Island and she's from Queens, and for us, we were like, 'This is amazing!' And I said to her, 'Are we just crazy, because this is who we were?' And then we found that every single morning, no matter what time the shift change was, the camera guys would come in and they would be like, 'What happened last night when we left?! Did he end up hooking up with so and so?'

And, usually, on reality shows, people come in and they do their jobs, they shoot and go home, but on this one, the crew was talking so much, that I was like, 'Alright, it's not just us' ... everyone on this set, we were just exploding.

The crew is having fun filming the show too, then?
Yes, it's a fun show, we're having fun, and this is a fun group of people. Even yesterday, we were all together, driving down to do the opening at the Stock Exchange, and it was like 5 o'clock in the morning, and I thought we'd all be falling asleep. But no, we were all talking the whole way, having a good time. They're a good group of kids. They really are just good kids.

Are you filming things like that for the show? Will we see them at the Stock Exchange, and making guest appearances at nightclubs and hosting birthday parties? Will we see the things that have come to them since the first season of the show?
I didn't film the Stock Exchange. But I don't know (about the rest) ... we haven't decided. It's not really who they are as people. And they're themselves when they're just in their own habitat.

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