‘Jersey Shore’ Cast Members Snooki, JWoww Starring in New MTV Shows

MTV is reportedly expanding their Jersey Shore efforts beyond cable, with a new series starring Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley on YouTube.

The reality TV stars will appear in web-exclusive content starting later this month, according to a new report by The Wrap. Viacom Digital Network is hoping to reach a wider, savvier audience with the Jersey Shore stand-alone YouTube channel.

Starting on Oct. 18, there will reportedly be nine episodes of a series called Cooking in the Crib with Snooki and Joey. It run weekly, and follow Polizzi and her best friend, Joey Camasta, trying out new on-the-fly recipes every week. The show is expected to feature a rotating cast of guests, and premiere each Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.

After that, another show begins on Oct. 28 called Moms With Attitude. This will be a more straightforward, talk show-style program featuring Polizzi and Farley, tackling everything from motherhood to sex and even drinking. That show has 14 episodes planned so far, airing at noon on Sundays.

The shows are a natural progression for the Jersey Shore cast, who have taken naturally to social media in the years since the original series ended. Polizzi in particular runs a highly successful YouTube channel herself, which she has fought to distinguish from her reality TV work by using her own name, employing self-effacing jokes and focusing more on motherhood-related content.

Tyler Hissey, Vice President of Marketing and Social Media at MTV and VH1, told The Wrap that these will not simply be more episodes of Jersey Shore available online. Rather, they are focusing hard on creating “platform-specific” content, with the hopes of hooking the younger generation early.

“As consumption habits change, people are going to go to different platforms to consume content. It’s less about having a Jersey Shore YouTube channel to promote tune in, or really market the linear show,” he said. “It’s more about creating content, using that [intellectual property] as the base, to engage Jersey Shore fans in new ways.”

YouTube has become the main media hub for generation Z — the audience that is poised to graduate high school and take on some disposable income soon. Still, the video hosting site is something of an untamed territory for major producers, who are scrambling for ways to secure dominance there and then monetize it.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. Polizzi has not addressed the future of her personal YouTube endeavors in light of the new channel.