The entertainment world is closely watching the shocking news of one of the biggest strikes to hit the industry since Jay Leno pretended to write his own jokes.
The cast of “Jersey Shore” reportedly went on strike on the very day a third season was to have started, to protest key points in their contract. That is to say, the do-re-mi.
The strike follows a series of proposed original measures that would have merely slowed down, for example, the number of times The Situation would take off his shirt, or put a strict cap on the number of times Vinnie would “beat up the beat” on the dancefloor.
There was talk among the “Jersey Shore” cast of an arms limit on the grenades they’d bring home from the bars, but talks stalled when the guys were unable to define exactly what constituted a grenade.
One of the things that frightened producers the most, supposedly, was Snooki’s threat to stay out of the tanning booth, in protest also to Obama’s recently levied tanning tax. Should her vivid orange fade to a mere burnt sienna, say, millions of viewers would need to readjust the tint on their sets to compensate.
Along these lines, Pauly D hinted he would stop using hair gel for the duration, briefly sending stock of several hair care companies in a tailspin.
Sammi and Ronnie threatened to stop fighting though they didn’t know at first what would fill their time; Ronnie even said he’d stop slugging complete strangers at bars.
Suddenly, the work action for more money put the future of thrown drinks – the very mainstay of the program’s action –at risk. And J-Woww vowed to either remove of the w’s off her nickname or allow herself to become merely J So-So.
Worse, threats by the cast to sit quietly at the beach and read books were taken with the utmost seriousness inside Viacom offices. It could undermine the entire network.
For now the second season of “Jersey Shore,” shot last winter in Miami, is in the can, as they say, ready for airing July 29.