#2 – Jersey Shore
This hit reality show ran from 2009 to 2012, and made stars out of participants Snooki, The Situation, and JWoww (believe it or not, these aren’t their real names). It followed eight young people living on New Jersey’s Jersey Shore over the summer, with cameras capturing drunken antics, fights, romance, and everything else. Jersey Shore was a hit because of its (often unintentionally) hilarious dialogue, the tangled relationships between the cast, and the tragic fake tan addiction that afflicted so many of its stars.
Since the show ended, Snooki and JWoww have gotten their own spin-off (called Snooki and JWoww), and the show’s format has been picked up internationally. We have this show to thank for Geordie Shore, The Valleys, and Acapulco Shore among others.