It's a Jersey Thing

"It's a Jersey Thing"
South Park episode
Kyle confronts Snooki.
Episode no.	Season 14 Episode 9
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	1409
Original air date	October 13, 2010 (2010-10-13)
Episode chronology
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South Park (season 14) List of South Park episodes

"It's a Jersey Thing" is the ninth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 204th episode of the series overall. It premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 13, 2010. In the episode, New Jersey is rapidly taking over the nation one state at a time and their next stop is South Park. As the Jerseyites spill into Colorado and approach South Park, the town stands strong against the onslaught.

The episode was written by Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA LV in the United States. In its original American broadcast on October 13, 2010, "It's a Jersey Thing" was watched by 3.253 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Media Research. It was the highest viewed scripted show. It received a 1.9 rating/5% share among adult viewers between ages 18 and 49. This is the first episode to be announced immediately following another's airing since "The Passion of the Jew"; all other episodes since Season 9 have been announced on a Friday or a Monday. However, it is not the first to release a preview clip right after the previous episode. The episode "200" had a preview clip released for it the day after the episode before it, "You Have 0 Friends", was aired (even though that preview clip was not used in the final episode).

The episode revolves around the invasion of the Jerseyites, based on characters from the MTV reality show, Jersey Shore and from The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo. It also parodies the show Jerseylicious in the scenes at the hair salon. Footage from the opening credits of the MTV series is used.

Plot

Sharon invites a Jersey family into their home for dinner. The tacky Jersey woman becomes very obnoxious very quickly, and starts to insult Sharon and her friends, leading Sharon to insult her calmly. The woman goes crazy and smashes the table and chairs, but eventually ends up okay. Soon after, many people from New Jersey move into South Park and everyone starts to get annoyed with them. Randy calls a meeting at the Park County Community Center, where he reveals that New Jersey is trying to take over the country and already has everything east of the Rocky Mountains, with all of Colorado in danger of becoming "West Jersey". Meanwhile, Sheila reveals that she is originally from New Jersey, and that she was once a notorious party girl nicknamed "S-Woww Tittybang". When the other families find out, Cartman shuns Kyle from their group, stating that if he is Jersey, he is all bad. Later that night, Kyle, seemingly unable to control his actions, begins to cut and grease his bushy Jewfro into a style similar to Pauly D's hairstyle from Jersey Shore. He is even more shocked to find Sheila now fully decked out in this fashion, and she reveals that Kyle was in fact conceived in Newark; the Broflovskis moved away two months into the pregnancy. Whenever either of them is around New Jersey influences, she says, they will start to exhibit the same behavior.

Cartman's usual distrust of Kyle grows even stronger, since Kyle is now the "three J's" - "Ginger, Jersey and Jew", although Stan and Kenny do not seem to care and they just help out the other townspeople try to drive the Jerseyites out. At first the invasion doesn't seem too bad, but in a bar, Randy and other men encounter a sex-crazed and barely human Snooki. After she escapes, Randy pleads for help from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who tells him that the state cannot provide any assistance due to budget problems and general lack of concern (since Utah and Nevada stand between California and the invasion). In desperation, Randy videotapes a request for help from al-Qaeda and sends it to Osama bin Laden.

As the townspeople arm themselves and barricade the streets to stave off the invasion, Cartman asks Kyle to meet him at the Sizzler, with the intent of locking him in the meat freezer so he cannot help the Jerseyites. Once Cartman opens the freezer, Snooki springs out and begins to rape him and Dog Poo. Kyle now fully transforms into a guido, complete with rings and gold neck chain and calling himself "Kyley-B", and proceeds to insult and hit Snooki, until she flees the restaurant. In the streets, Randy violently interrogates Michael Sorrentino, who can only answer "It's just a Jersey thing, you know, you just gotta be from Jersey to get it." The townspeople hold off the hordes of Jerseyites until their ammunition runs out and their defense seems futile. However, just as the invaders begin to overrun the barricades, a fleet of al-Qaeda suicide pilots fly in and crash their planes into the ground, killing them all. At a town meeting soon after, Randy proudly thanks bin Laden for his help in stopping the invasion. With the Jerseyites defeated, Cartman tells Kyle "You're a monster, but you're my little monster" - and just as bin Laden receives a hero medal, a Special Forces commando comes in and kills him. At first the people are shocked, but then Randy exclaims "We got him!"

Production and cultural references

Series co-creator Trey Parker (pictured) wrote and directed "It's a Jersey Thing".

"It's a Jersey Thing" was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. It first aired on October 13, 2010 in the United States on Comedy Central. Like most South Park episodes, "It's a Jersey Thing" was first conceived by Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone within a week of the episode's broadcast date.^[1] Also Kyle's transformation to becoming a Jerseyite is a reference to Teen Wolf.^[2]

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast on October 13, 2010, “It's a Jersey Thing” was watched by 3.253 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched cable television show of the night. The episode received a 2.1 rating/4 share, meaning it was seen by 2.1 percent of the population, and 4 percent of people watching television at the time of its broadcast. Among adult viewers between ages 18 and 49, the episode received a 1.9 rating/5 share, rising one tenth in the ratings resulting in approximately 100, 000 more viewers than the previous episode. Among male viewers between ages 18 and 34, the episode received a 3.9 rating/13 share.^[3]

Critical reception

The episode received largely positive reviews. Katla McGlynn of The Huffington Post, referred to the revelation of Snooki as the best moment of the episode.^[4] Ramsey Isler of IGN rated the episode with a 7.5/10 saying "the fact that the majority of the story was just a half-hearted satire of Jersey shows that Robot Chicken could've done better, is a sign that something's amiss." Brad Trechak of AOL's TV Squad stated in his review "As a New Jersey native, I should have been really offended by tonight's episode of 'South Park.' Sadly, I was laughing too hard to notice." He also felt the show "walks a line between humor and bad taste".^[2] Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club rated the episode with a B. He compared the episode to "South Park is Gay" and "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" although he stated "“It's A Jersey Thing” may not prove to have the lasting appeal of the aforementioned" episodes.^[5]

Reaction from those spoofed

Despite being ridiculed and spoofed by the show, the reactions from the stars who were spoofed were mostly positive. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi wrote on Twitter, "Snooki want smoosh smoosh. [I'm] going to have nightmares tonight lmao!!! [We've] officially made it...". Jersey Shore star Angelina posted a picture of Snooki as depicted in the episode and commented "Haaaaa wat a jokee. Lil gremlin.". DJ Pauly D posted a shot of the Jersey-fied Kyle after a fan said they were "like twins", while Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino posted a link to the episode while commenting "Southpark Situation! Hilarious!". Castmate Vinny Guadagnino commented "...my face was on South Park, im good now".

Teresa Giudice, star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, initially claimed to have not watched the episode, but later claimed she was "honored to be mocked by them," especially in light of the other mockeries. Former co-star Danielle Staub was pleasantly surprised that "...it wasn't just me being made fun of for a change. You realize you're something else when you're being made into a cartoon. It's pretty funny."^[6]

Home release

"It's a Jersey Thing", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's fourteenth season, were released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-Ray set in the United States on April 26, 2011.^[7]

References

1. ^ Isler, Ramsey (October 14, 2010). "South Park: "It's a Jersey Thing" Review". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/112/1128039p1.html. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Trechak, Brad (October 14, 2010). "'South Park' Season 14, Episode 9 Recap". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/10/14/south-park-season-14-episode-9-recap/. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
3. ^ Gorman, Bill (October 14, 2010). "Wednesday Cable: South Park Up; Terriers Steady; Ultimate Fighter, Ghost Hunters & More". TV by the numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/14/wednesday-cable-south-park-up-terriers-steady-ultimate-fighter-ghost-hunters-more/68070. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
4. ^ Katla McGlynn (October 14, 2010). "'South Park' Takes On 'Jersey Shore': Town Enlists Bin Laden To Fight Jersey Invasion (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/south-park-takes-on-jerse_n_762579.html. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
5. ^ O'Neal, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SOUTH PARK "It's A Jersey Thing"". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/its-a-jersey-thing,46195/. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
6. ^ Carlson, Meghan (October 14, 2010). "What the 'Jersey Shore' Kids, 'Real Housewives' Thought of Last Night's 'South Park' Parody". Buddy TV. http://www.buddytv.com/articles/jersey-shore/what-the-jersey-shore-kids-ter-38392.aspx. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
7. ^ "South Park - 'The Complete 14th Season' Formally Announced; Seems it Really IS Complete!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2011-07-02. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/South-Park-Season-14/14998. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 

External links

• It's A Jersey Thing Full episode at South Park Studios
• It's A Jersey Thing Episode guide at South Park Studios
• "It's a Jersey Thing" at the Internet Movie Database
• "It's a Jersey Thing" at TV.com