Is Snooki worth $10,000 an episode?
The cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" wants a huge pay raise for season two of their hit show. Are the hard-partying housemates worth it?
Plans for season two of "Jersey Shore," MTV’s runaway hit about the unapologetically trashy adventures of a group of self-proclaimed "guidos" and "guidettes," have hit a snag: the cast wants a giant raise. Snooki, The Situation, Pauly D., and their seven housemates unanimously rejected the network’s initial offer of $5,000 an episode for each member and have not yet responded to MTV’s second offer of $10,000. Is the cast pressing their luck, or just being smart negotiators? (Watch an ABC report about the "Jersey Shore" cast's financial demands)
The show's 'guidos' are a dime-a-dozen: Don’t feed the "greedy" "Jersey Shore" ego, says Susie Anderson at LimeLife. "It doesn’t really take that much to get drunk, hook up, and party non-stop." That’s a job plenty of youngsters would gladly do for free. If MTV ends up finding a new cast for the show, "it might be kind of fun." Frankly, I'm not convinced the original cast can "keep us entertained" for a second season.
"'Jersey Shore' cast demanding salary increase"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The kids deserve more money than MTV is offering: Whether or not the cast of "Jersey Shore" has any real talent isn’t the point, says TMZ. The season finale of the show drew an "off the charts" 4.8 million viewers. Considering that characters in "The Hills" – MTV's other hit reality TV show – sometimes make over $100,000 an episode, "the 'Jersey Shore’ kids, frankly, should be holding out for a hell of a lot more than $10k."
"'Jersey Shore' kids drive hard bargain"
They should take the $10K — that's really all they're worth: While the cast of "Shore" could justifiably demand more than $10,000 an episode, says Foster Karner at Gawker, the "Orange Creature Cadre" was "smart" to push such a low-ball price. Why? Because they're never really going to be that popular. Unlike the uber-rich cast of "The Hills," nobody actually wants to "be like" the "Shore" crew — "except for a small segment of the population who are either already like them or, given a few years, will be them."
"Can the 'Jersey Shore' kids get paid MTV’s ‘big bucks’?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programs
The Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
Video games to curl up with this fall, including Ghost of Yotei and LEGO Party
The Week Recommends Several highly anticipated video games are coming this fall