‘Jersey Shore Family Vacation’ Is A Reboot Miracle

Jersey Shore Family Vacation is the best thing to happen to 2018. Sure, in a streaming sea of rebooted shows, it was only right that Jersey Shore Family Vacation would be met with some skepticism: do we really need to watch these bozos again? The answer is a loud and resounding, “OH YEAH”. In fact, this particular reboot has turned out to be quite the one-of-a-kind miracle.

The MTV series does exactly what it needs to do: it captures all the things we loved about this group the first time around and proves at their core, they haven’t changed at all. They are still the lovable, drunk, hilarious pals worth watching for an hour every week. Once the cameras turn on, these people are so unapologetically themselves, it’s impossible to avoid observing them in their natural habitat, a Miami mansion. The guidos are funny, messy, and totally ridiculous while proving to be the current best comfort watch anywhere your favorite TV shows are streamed.

Somehow, Jersey Shore Family Vacation has figured out a way to be simultaneously so utterly predictable and wildly surprising. GTL? Check. The daily routine of “Cabs are here,” to a night on the town that includes dancing and falling down and drunken outbursts and then tears? Check and Check. An addictive lexicon I’ve already adopted as a grown ass woman? You’d be a disgust if you think I’m not already spiraling from it.

I never would’ve believed you if you told me I’d be fully enthralled by Ronnie clogging a toilet and the guys dragging around a very heavy life-size doll representing missing cast member Sammi Sweetheart, a joke I thought couldn’t possibly last past two episodes. And yet it’s the bizarre gift that keeps on giving, and almost feels like she’s actually there, and the unit is complete.

In fact, having (nearly) the full cast present is exactly what makes this show such a true treat. I was guilty, just like everyone else, in wondering if a Sober Situation would make things…different. It does not. The group still freely jokes about his financial woes, which he, so far, has been much better at laughing off, rather than choosing to slam his head into concrete walls, his way of dealing with anger in the past. The Mike Sorrentino we’re getting on Family Vacation comes equipped with the same facial expressions, devilish grins, and sly remarks we’ve appreciated from him before, but his newfound Namaste has only chilled him, the very best case scenario. It turns out all that aggression that was churned into drama in past seasons is simply unnecessary. Offering friendly advice to his pals and serving as the designated driver is a much better look for the guy.

It’s also this maturity that helps to balance out the entirely immature nature of the whole entire show. There’s a slight but important reassurance that yes, these people have grown up just a little bit. This is signified by Pauly D. coming to Ronnie’s rescue and saving him from fully cheating on his pregnant girlfriend (no matter what slurping noises you may have heard), as well as the women all carefully considering their marriages during their drunken stupors.

As viewers, hopefully, we have also grown up to a degree as well. I know I’m not hitting the club or the bottle nearly as much as I was back during the first Jersey Shore run, but I sure as hell can still enjoy watching them do it. Vinny’s breaking down the door dance routine is the most genius moment of television I’ve seen so far this year. And I’d rather see him prissing over his new haircut any day of the week than be hit with the drama The Handmaid’s Tale is presenting.

These characters might have slightly different perspectives and very different faces, but as people, they have not changed — which is precisely what makes them so admirable. They aren’t sitting around commenting on the future of America, like nearly every other human is in 2018. Leave it to Ronnie to not even be familiar with the phrase “fake news.” And gosh, how refreshing is that? It’s almost as through this group has been preserved in an underground capsule and released into the world for our pure entertainment — and it’s working.

Jersey Shore Family Vacation is proving that amidst “peak TV” your twists and turns and smart storytelling are nice and all, but can’t compare to the comfort watch that is this show. In fact, it’s so much more than that: the Jersey Shore reboot is revolutionary, just as it was in 2009 when it started. Because now it’s a brand new show featuring all the same old stuff that made it a success in the first place. MTV didn’t try to change the formula — they needed this one to be a hit, so they backed off and let the beloved personalities carry them to their biggest ratings in years.

Unlike other reboots, this show isn’t political (Roseanne) or weird and cheesy (Fuller House) or losing steam as its season progresses (Will & Grace) or in need of a full overhaul including new talent (American Idol, Queer Eye). Jersey Shore Family Vacation is as its best when these goofballs are sitting around eating imaginary popcorn. Watching some poor underdressed women hanging around in a hot tub (and subsequently earning themselves nicknames and alcohol poisoning) is both an escape back to days when we had never seen this on TV before, and reminder that with this group, it’s still exciting television.

I’ll admit, if there was any flaw at all to this season, it’s been a little Ron-heavy. But watching him face his fears of fatherhood by staying up all night and rolling into another day of drinking with Snooki, is a moment I wouldn’t trade for anything. This is a show that doesn’t have to rely on gimmicky or spoilery events, but counts its most mundane moments among its highlights — it’s a real testament to this cast and crew, which includes returning creator SallyAnn Salsano, the brains behind the show that doesn’t make me think, but does make me laugh. Call these people dummies all you want, but they’ve figured out something plenty of other smartypants couldn’t: the key to making an entertaining and successful TV reboot worth watching.

Where to watch Jersey Shore Family Vacation