It's been a while since we've heard from the Jersey Shore cast, now that Snooki's raising her little meatball in relative peace. And though the crew's already blessed us with a few mediocre spinoffs—Snooki and JWoww, of course, in addition to the Pauly D Project (is that still happening?). But The Show with Vinny, which premieres tonight on MTV and stars Vinny Guadagnino, brings the camera crew out to Staten Island, and, if the whole season's as adorable as the pilot, it might actually be worth watching.
Vinny is the Jersey Shore denizen nearest and dearest to my heart, probably because he never delved into the same cartoon character quality the rest of his Shore house roommates boasted. And The Show with Vinny removes him from the Shore completely, putting him back at home Staten Island where he is well-fed, nagged and doted on by his mother and sister, and occasionally tortured by a shirtless Uncle Nino who sounds like the slurring lovechild of Rocky and Carmine Corleone.
The premise of the show is simple: every week, celebrities head over to Vinny's house, where they eat dinner with his family and submit themselves to "intimate" "off-the-wall" interviews. Vinny's mother, Paola, comes off as a sweet, loving, incredibly stereotypical Italian matriarch hellbent on feeding her high status guests 'til they burst, and it's fun to watch her interact with them (SPOILER ALERT: in the pilot, she makes dinner for Lil Wayne, and it is AMAZING). Vinny's alone time with the celebs is less interesting, but maybe that's because it's so much more entertaining when his mother and sister make a fuss over him than when he tries to flirt with Jenna Marbles. Upcoming guests include Ke$ha, Scott Disick, A$AP Rocky, Mark Wahlberg (we know he loves mothers!) and Whitney Cummings; we'll see how they fare with Paola's sausage and peppers.
The Show with Vinny premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on MTV.
