'Jersey Shore' Will Spend Season 4 in Italy

MTV's reality show "Jersey Shore" has become a true pop cultural phenomenon in this country, setting ratings records and creating tie-in merchandising opportunities — from iPhone apps to one (to date) bestselling novel — for its memorable stars. Now that these living cartoons have had their antics documented both in their native Jersey Shore and in Miami, network executives are thinking bigger: The cast will spend the show's just-greenlit fourth season in Italy.

Why Italy? MTV's press statement explained the move by saying "The cast is headed to the birthplace of the culture they love and live by," and indeed some of the cast members -- such as Vinny Guadagnino, whose family adheres to many Italian traditions -- have roots in Italy. (At least, I assume that's what his mostly literate tweet refers to.)

Moving the cast to Europe makes sense for much the same reasons Fox, back in the day, brought the second season of its phony reality competition "Joe Millionaire" to Europe. "Joe" producers couldn't count on finding a new group of American women who hadn't heard about Evan Marriott's Season 1 deception, so they rounded up some credulous European ladies to be wooed by alleged millionaire David Smith. So too must it be getting tougher for "Shore" producers to find people to interact normally with the cast of their alleged reality show; presumably, Italians will be able to respond naturally to Snooki's or J-WOWW's behavior, without tempering their actions according to their familiarity with the ladies' televised backstories.