'Jersey Shore' celebrates bad behavior

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Snooki is quite pleased with herself.

The most familiar face on MTV's "Jersey Shore," Snooki (aka Nicole Polizzi) is just snookin' — even when she's hauled off to jail for public drunkenness.

"Well, obviously it wasn't a good time," Snooki said. "But, you know, I didn't hurt anybody, and I just went out to have a good time on the beach. And, you know, stuff like that happens in Jersey. I didn't hurt anybody."

Maybe not. But she was arrested on July 30 after beachgoers in Seaside Heights, N.J., reported that a drunken Snooki was bothering them.

But it was no big deal, according to Snooki.

"I was in the drunk tank for a little bit," she said nonchalantly. "I had too many tequilas."

"It happens," said DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio), one of her "Jersey Shore" castmates.

"It happens," agreed The Situation (Michael Sorrentino), another castmate.

Well, this kind of stuff happens to them, certainly.

If you've never seen an episode of "Jersey Shore" (Thursdays, 11 p.m., MTV), essentially it's about a group of twentysomethings — Guidos and Guidettes — who share a house at the beach. As portrayed on MTV, they spend most of their time tanning, having casual sex, getting drunk and promoting Italian-American stereotypes.

"We're not trying to portray Italian-Americans," said JWoww (Jenni Farley). "We're just trying to portray …

"Ourselves," interjected The Situation.

"We don't represent every Italian-American in the world," said DJ Pauly D. "It just so happens I'm Italian, and I'm proud to be Italian. Proud of my heritage."

"I happen to have spiky hair and a six pack, green eyes. It's working out pretty good for me," The Situation said.

"I'm not Italian. It's, like, the lifestyle that you live," said JWoww.

In a way, they're taking heat for the way MTV promoted the show. And MTV's promotion really played up the Italian-American angle.

Of course, regardless of national origin, there's little argument that the cast is modeling bad behavior. Unless you think casual sex, drinking and excessive tanning is good behavior.

"You know what? We are just a bunch of honest twentysomethings," said The Situation.