Jersey Shore is an American reality television series which ran on MTV from December 3, 2009 to December 20, 2012 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast winter to Miami Beach, Florida, with Season 3 returning to the Jersey Shore. The fourth season, filmed in Italy, premiered on August 4, 2011. The show returned for a fifth season, at Seaside Heights, New Jersey on January 5, 2012. The fifth season finale aired on March 15, 2012. On March 19, 2012, MTV confirmed that the series would return for their sixth season. On August 30, 2012, MTV announced that the Jersey Shore would end after the sixth season, which premiered on October 4. The series finale aired on December 20, 2012.

The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the words "Guido/Guidette", portrayal of Italian-Americans due to the fact some of the members of the cast were not of Italian descent or fully of Italian descent and for perpetuating stereotypes, as well as scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.