By Abigail Weighell
Contributing Writer

On Thursday, April 5, “The Jersey Shore” returned to MTV for the reboot, “Jersey Shore: Family Reunion” after a six-year hiatus. Although the cast went to Miami for the reboot, it’s bringing back a negative association to New Jersey.

Seven of the eight roommates are back: Deena Cortese, Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio, Jenni “Jwoww” Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Margo, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, have returned to MTV to continue the never-ending party.

Out of the eight original cast-mates, only one of them grew up in New Jersey, while the rest of the cast comes from New York. When this show originally premiered, it was filmed in Seaside Heights, N.J.

“New Jersey always gets a bad reputation and this show does not help its cause,” says Jessica Dunn, a Kutztown University freshman from Staten Island, N.Y. “I think the show is great. I’m an Italian-American from New York, just like the majority of the cast, and I’m fine with the images they portray.”

The show brings clubbing, drinking and partying to a whole new level. The scenes and situations depicted on this show are merely meant for entertainment purposes, however, people like to associate “Jersey Shore” with Jersey culture and assume that’s what it’s like to live in the Garden State.

On the night of the premier, KU students were hosting watch parties to celebrate the event.

“Jerzday is like a holiday. If you don’t go to a watch party, are you even watching ‘The Jersey Shore?’” says Emily Tooley, a KU junior from Lansdale, Pa.

For the premiere, many KU students gathered with groups of friends or acquaintances to experience the first episode together.

“’The Jersey Shore’ is my Super Bowl,” Tooley said. “I’ve waited months to watch it and I invited a bunch of my friends over to watch it with me.”

But some note that the show does encourage the stereotypes about New Jersey to continue.

“This show portrays Jersey as trashy,” said N.J. resident Jodie Fry, a KU junior. “It doesn’t show what Jersey’s really like.”

But Dunn said people shouldn’t take the show too seriously, keeping in mind it’s all in fun.

“This show should be taken at surface level,” she said. “It’s a reality TV show. It’s meant to be entertaining.”

Others agreed. “The Jersey Shore portrays a part of Jersey life that isn’t accurate for the majority. Although people in Jersey like to go out and have fun, this show over-exaggerates the ‘party scene’ that isn’t New Jersey,” Fry said. “Although the cast spent a summer in New Jersey, the events that were shown to the public are nothing like the everyday lives of most Jersey residents.”