THE TV COLUMN

Jersey Shore ends, but not Snooki’s 15 minutes

FILE - This Feb. 1, 2012 file photo shows Jenni "JWoww" Farley, left, and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi in New York. The Point Pleasant Beach Council in New Jersey unanimously voted against 495 Productions' request to tape the "Jersey Shore" spinoff featuring Polizzi and Farley. Nearby Toms River also turned down the MTV reality series. "Snooki & JWoww" taped its first season in Jersey City. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)
FILE - This Feb. 1, 2012 file photo shows Jenni "JWoww" Farley, left, and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi in New York. The Point Pleasant Beach Council in New Jersey unanimously voted against 495 Productions' request to tape the "Jersey Shore" spinoff featuring Polizzi and Farley. Nearby Toms River also turned down the MTV reality series. "Snooki & JWoww" taped its first season in Jersey City. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

— If it’s true that all good things must come to an end, it’s also true all bad things must end as well.

The remarkably bad Jersey Shore finally comes an end at 9 p.m. today on MTV. And that’s a good thing.

The poster child for crude, crass, vulgar, puerile, insipid television has been on the air for an unfathomable six seasons. There’s just no accounting for taste.

There was a time when Jersey Shore’s most popular and feral cast member, the 4-foot-9 munchkin Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, seemingly was on every magazine cover and all over the talk shows. Those with a modicum of good taste considered that a sure sign of the impending Mayan apocalypse.

Calendar doomsayers believe today is the world’s final 24 hours. If the end does come tomorrow, we’ll count the departure of Jersey Shore as the last sign of the apocalypse.

The series, with its “guidos” and “guidettes” in drunken fights, multiple arrests, casual sex, boisterous breakups, fist pumping, iron pumping, spray tanning and doing laundry, horrified parents while amusing millions of viewers.

The bottom line is that Jersey Shore is once again proof that millions of viewers will watch a train wreck on TV even if it’s destroying brain cells.

MTV is not letting the series go quietly. At 10 p.m. today, the network will give its censor delay button a workout with a live (yikes!) hour-long reunion special with the cast as they relive Jersey Shore’s “most outrageous moments.”

How they’ll fit all those into only an hour is a wonder.

You’ve been warned: All eight cast members will be on hand in front of a studio audience.

MTV is making the withdrawal easier for die-hard fans. Season 2 of Snooki &JWOWW debuts at 9 p.m. Jan. 8. The spinoff series, starring Polizzi and her best friend Jenni “JWOWW” Farley, expands to an hour format with 12 episodes.

Season 1 featured the BFFs living together “for one last bachelorette hurrah before settling down to focus on the demands of partnership and parenthood.”

Snooki’s baby boy, Lorenzo, was born Aug. 26. In Season 2 we get to watch Snooki preparing to be a mom, nesting, having her water break and going into labor. Baby Daddy, by the way, is fiance Jionni LaValle.

We’ll also see Jenni get engaged to her beau, Roger Mathews, while sky diving.

Enjoy.

The winner is: Tonight’s the night that they finally picka winner on this season of The X-Factor. That means 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar, country crooner Tate Stevens or girl group Fifth Harmony will take away the coveted $5 million recording contract.

I have no opinion. I quit watching after a half-dozen episodes. My final straw: Khloe Kardashian Odom as co-host. Also, the show seems to have devolved into being more about the judges and less about the singers. The ratings have been less than hoped for.

Sinking ship? Judge L.A.Reid told Access Hollywood last week that he won’t be returning next year. In addition, lower ratings may mean that Britney Spears’ $15 million salary is in jeopardy.

I blame lower ratings on the fact that the number of singing competition shows has reached the saturation point. It’s that simple.

Christmas special: If we all survive Friday’s Mayan doom, Christmas will arrive Tuesday. The TV specials continue just in case.

A White House Christmas: First Families Remember airs at 7 p.m. today (encore at 8 p.m. Friday) with host Meredith Vieira taking a look at Christmases past and present with 10 presidential families over the last 50 years.

Interviews feature first lady Michelle Obama and former first ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barbara Bush and Rosalynn Carter. Several “first children” also share their memories, such as Barbara Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Chelsea Clinton, Dorothy Bush Koch, Michael Reagan, Amy Carter, Susan Ford Bales, Tricia Nixon Cox, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Lynda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson.

This year’s holiday theme at the White House is “Joy to All.” For the special, Vieira went behind the scenes to visit with staff and volunteers to find out what it takes to decorate more than 50 trees.

Troop salute: Finally, the 10th annual WWE Tribute to the Troops airs at 8 p.m. Saturday on NBC. The holiday special features Kid Rock, Flo Rida and the Muppets, along with a gaggle of pro wrestlers and divas entertaining military personnel and their families.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Weekend, Pages 32 on 12/20/2012

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