The Jersey Shore Season 4 premiere earned monster ratings  – a 19.6 rating among adults ages 18-49 and a projected 118 million viewers overall – shattering all TV records.

Last night’s season premiere of the MTV reality series, Jersey Shore, was the most-watched television show in history!

The premiere episode, set in Italy, was also Jersey Shore‘s third most-watched telecast to date, behind two Season 3 episodes. In the persons 12-34 demographic, the Jersey Shore premiere scored a 8.2 rating, or 6.5 million viewers.

The fourth season of Jersey Shore has the tanned-up gym freaks  leaving behind the humble decadence of Seaside Heights, N.J., to return to the ancestral home of the modern age of wonders: Florence, the Italian metropolis that was once home to Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and many of the other great thinkers and artists of the Renaissance. It’s a perfect mixture of the sacred and the profane, the rough equivalent of asking the Pope to consecrate a row of tequila shots. The famously problem-plagued shoot included delays, Visa problems, fights, neck braces, and presumably a few Bunga Bunga parties.

As the description on Comcast digital guide put it, “violence,” “intensely sexual situations” and “intensely suggestive dialogue” were prevalent.

Here’s J-Woww in FLorence:

Here’s a few highlights of the show:

Snooki shows off a pair of I Heart Vinny underwear as she packs.

“No granatos.” – Vinny, boning up on his Italian and simultaneously conveying what he will not be boning in Italia. Allegedly

“I’ll bring guys home, but I won’t do sex.” – Deena. Lie.

Snooki again with this gem: “Italy’s like that big country. No, Europe is that big country. They have Britain, England, and Italy.”

“Lock up your daughters. Handcuff your wives.” – Mike.

Ronnie and Sammi have an awkward first encounter.

The ladies (term used very loosely) have a nice discussion about breasts.

Here’s the most watched shows in the history of television:

1.  Jersey Shore – Season Premiere – 118 million viewers (2011)

2. Super Bowl XLV — 111 million viewers (2011)

3. Super Bowl XLIV — 106.5 million viewers (2010)

4. M*A*S*H* series finale — 106 million viewers (1983)

5. Super Bowl XLII — 97.5 million (2008)

6. Super Bowl XLIII — 95.4 million (2009)

7. Super Bowl XXX — 94.1 million (1996)

8. Super Bowl XLI — 93.2 million (2007)

9. Super Bowl XLII — 93.2 million (2008)

10. Cheers 100-minute finale special — 93.1 million (1993)

NEW YORK – MTV won’t be able to drop Snooki in Times Square, so she will be dropped on the  Jersey Shore.

In a tragic New Year’s Eve development, there wasn’t room for Snooki in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. MTV’s plan to put “Jersey Shore” star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi inside a ball to drop from the network’s Times Square headquarters has been dropped after an objection by the group that oversees the world-famous celebration.

But Snooki will still drop in as part of “The MTV New Year’s Bash.” Her stunt has been relocated to Seaside Heights, N.J., according to Diane Stabley, borough clerk for the Jersey shore town made famous as the setting for MTV’s hit reality show.

“Like the ball that drops in Times Square, there’s going to be a Snooki ball,” Stabley said Thursday. She said an MTV network crew was in town to pre-tape the spectacle Thursday night.

“We love our Times Square home,” MTV said in a statement confirming the change of venue, “and while we’re disappointed there won’t be a Snooki ball drop there, she cannot be denied!”

Snooki was sent packing earlier in the week by the Times Square Alliance, whose annual gala includes the century-old tradition of dropping its own illuminated ball at the stroke of midnight.

“It was never intended or requested for Snooki to be in the actual New Year’s Eve Ball in Times Square,” said Alice McGillion, the group’s spokeswoman. “The request to have her in a separate ball on a set-back roof came too late and was too impractical to fit in to our outdoor events.”

The Discovery Channel has inked a deal with Snooki for New Year’s Day.   She will be dropped into the Atlantic Ocean in thermal body suit covered in blood.  They will see if they can attract some winter sharks.  It will be part of nest summer’s Shark Week special.

MTV’s 90-minute New Year’s Eve special will be at their Times Square studios, with other “Jersey Shore” stars expected to lead the multitudes in a collective fist pump in hopes of setting a world record.

Be sure to watch the Jersey Girl drop us into 2011!

The program airs Friday at 10:30 p.m. EST.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ – Jersey Shore is being brought back for a second season.  The Pope declares Snooki Polizzi the Patron Saint of the Jersey Shoreline.

Amid controversy and condemnation, MTV is bringing its show Jersey Shore back for a second season. Criticized for its use of ethnic stereotypes and mindlessly broad appeal, the show still found a strong audience among the “televised train wreck” crowd and the hopelessly shallow. Over 10 million viewers tuned in to watch Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi get punched in the face during one episode.  Now, Snooki is being declared the Patron Saint of the Jersey Shore.

Traditional voices within the Catholic Church are criticizing this move as blatant act of populism.  Cardinals and Bishops around the world are calling the move a “publicity stunt.”  “This is demeaning to the great Mother Church,” said Bishop Arlino Guthrizzi.  “Our sacred and dignified institution is being demeaned by her inclusion!  When I first heard the news I spilled trans-substantiated wine all over myself!”  In response to these criticisms Pope Benedict has said, “Who’s infallible?”

“Even the most wayward of God’s children need a shepherd.  And I don’t know how to relate to these kids.  So here you go, have a saint.”  Polizzi will be considered the Patron Saint of the Jersey Shore, artificial tanning, and hair product.