<Tr> <Td> Nicole Polizzi "Snooki" </Td> <Td> Marlboro, New York </Td> <Td> Chilean (adopted by Italian - American parents) </Td> <Td> Polizzi is from Marlboro, New York, and is an aspiring veterinary technician . She applied to an ad on Facebook that said "Calling all guidos and guidettes," which Polizzi said, "was definitely about my lifestyle ." Polizzi earned the nickname "Snooki" in middle school after being the first of her friends to "make out" with a boy . She became the center of controversy when a man punched her in her face during a bar confrontation . Polizzi was arrested by Seaside police on July 30, 2010 on public intoxication charges, which were later dropped . She previously suffered from an eating disorder in high school . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Michael Sorrentino "The Situation" </Td> <Td> Staten Island, New York </Td> <Td> Italian American </Td> <Td> Sorrentino, an assistant manager of a fitness center in Staten Island, develops an attraction towards Giancola, which does not come into fruition when she becomes interested in fellow castmate Ortiz - Magro . Sorrentino worked as an exotic dancer in 2004 . In the 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars, he partnered with Karina Smirnoff, but was eliminated in week 4 . He also appeared on the British television show Celebrity Big Brother in August 2012 . </Td> </Tr> <P> VH1 producer Anthony Beltempo proposed the idea of a show focusing on the "guido" lifestyle for TV, in the form of a competition series . Executive producer SallyAnn Salsano, who previously worked on A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, devised a new concept, inspired by her own summers in a Jersey summer shore house, and retained casting director Doron Ofir to find the cast . MTV Networks President Van Toffler felt that the series "loud, young, bold" style was better suited to MTV's sensibilities than VH1, and MTV programming executive Tony DiSanto felt that "(After The Hills), it was time to go for a more authentic approach, like a documentary ." Van Toffler described the casting process by saying they looked for "candor, honesty, boldness and a very combustible, chaotic mess . You could honestly say none of these people were traditionally beautiful ." </P> <P> The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer in a summer share in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, known as The Jersey Shore House . Season 1 followed cast members Angelina Pivarnick, Jennifer Farley, Michael Sorrentino, Nicole Polizzi, Paul DelVecchio, Ronald Ortiz - Magro, Samantha Giancola, and Vincenzo Guadagnino at the Jersey Shore . Jersey Shore premiered on December 3, 2009, with back - to - back episodes, averaging 1.375 million viewers . Although the initial ratings were considered unimpressive to Salsano, they slowly grew in popularity, and was the subject of parody on Saturday Night Live after the third week, a turnaround that MTV executive Tony DiSanto calls "the fastest 0 to 60 I've ever seen on a show". Season 1 posted strong growth every week and ranked #1 in its time period versus all cable competition among P12--34 (people 12 to 34 years old) during the first quarter of 2010, with a season high 2.6 rating for the finale . The season 1 finale audience, 4.8 million, was more than triple that of the premiere, an increase of more than 3.4 million, and was MTV's highest rated original series telecast in almost two years . Overall, the season 1 averaged 2.7 million viewers . </P>

Who came up with the idea of jersey shore