Scripted vs. Staged: How ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ Differs From the Original Series

Unlike other reality shows such as Laguna Beach, Jersey Shore has never been a scripted series. The MTV show and its cast have been authentic from day one and continue to be. Still, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation is different from the original series in some ways. The spinoff show isn’t scripted, but the situations seen in Family Vacation are low-key staged. 

‘Jersey Shore’ was never scripted and neither is ‘Family Vacation’

Since the beginning, Jersey Shore’s production crew has had a hand in what the cast does. In the first season, when the roommates were 20-somethings with little to no fame, they could do whatever they wanted. However, when Jersey Shore became a cultural phenomenon, production had to provide some guidance. 

In a 2018 interview with Bustle, the cast mentioned a “book” that told them places they were approved for filming. “We tell the producers where we wanna go; we can’t go alone, that’s it,” Pauly DelVecchio said. 

495 Productions head SallyAnn Salsano and her team would scout locations at the Jersey Shore and obtain the permissions they needed to shoot at those establishments. Producers still do this today, wherever Jersey Shore: Family Vacation takes the reality stars. When fans see scenes of restaurants with places already set, that’s because the staff knows the cast is coming. Production assistants contact the venue before the cast’s arrival to get their approval to film. Doing so has always been best practice in creating reality television, from Real Housewives to Jersey Shore and beyond.

‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ doesn’t reshoot things 

Still, just because they’re in an approved filming location doesn’t mean the show is scripted — at least in Jersey Shore‘s case. “Definitely our original show — nothing was manufactured, nothing was scripted,” Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi explained to Dave Portnoy on the BFFs podcast. She continued: “We were in a house 24/7, cameras in our faces for a full month. So I mean you don’t need to script anything.” 

Producers are more involved with the spinoff than they were with the original series

When it comes to Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, “Snooki” says things have changed slightly. “I would say now, though, because we don’t [live together for months at a time] anymore, producers have more of a choice on where we go vacation-wise,” she explained. Jenni “JWoww” Farley clarified, citing production’s need to get involved for “permit purposes.”

“They have more ideas, but then they just throw us in the scene and we just do our thing,” Nicole added. “But we don’t have a script, they don’t tell us what to do. We don’t reshoot things. That would be crazy.” 

Jenni pointed out how “crazy” their real lives are, even off camera. Most of the time, though, we don’t always get to see those stories play out because of how protective the Jersey Shore cast is of one another. Ultimately, they have a say in what cameras capture and what storylines the MTV series puts out into the world.

“That’s how we differ from Housewives,” Nicole added. “We don’t throw each other under the bus.” 

Since 2009, Jersey Shore has been authentic and continues to be with Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Watch new episodes of the reality series on MTV every Thursday.