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'Shoring' up: The 'Jersey Shore' gang is back for another family vacation

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Author: 
Andrew Warren / TV Media
Vinny Guadagnino as seen in "Jersey Shore Family Vacation"

Vinny Guadagnino as seen in "Jersey Shore Family Vacation"

'Shoring' up: There's just no keeping the "Jersey Shore" gang apart. That reality TV show was a huge hit for six seasons from 2009 to 2012, and last year the group of friends got back together after more than five years apart. Clearly, their chemistry hasn't faded with time, and MTV has ordered yet another season of the "Jersey Shore" spinoff, "Jersey Shore Family Vacation."

The original series followed a group of young and larger-than-life men and women living together in a vacation home on a beautiful, sunny beach. Several of its stars' unique nicknames became popularized, including JWoww (Jennifer Farley), Snooki (Nicole Polizzi), Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio) and The Situation (Michael Sorrentino). The group of friends also includes Vinny Guadagnino, Sammi Giancola and Ronnie Magro, and their antics were closely followed by millions of people.

The first season of "Family Vacation" caught up with the gang of friends and reunited them in beautiful Miami, Florida. They're no longer the wild and carefree youths that they were in the original series, though. Oh, they were still wild, but with spouses and young kids in the picture, there was a bit more of a solid foundation beneath the iconic group.

The second season of "Family Vacation," which wrapped up in December, followed the gang to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. There has been no announcement yet about where the friends will spend their third family vacation, but one thing is for sure: wherever they end up, entertaining drama is sure to follow.

There's no premiere date on the calendar yet, but expect the third season of "Jersey Shore Family Vacation" to air sometime this year.

 

Comedy about comedy: Comedy may be subjective, but one thing that isn't is that "Crashing" has been a success for HBO. The semi-autobiographical comedy has been a hit with critics and a favorite of audiences, and its third season premiered last week on HBO. This week's episode airs Sunday, Jan. 27.

The series was created by and stars standup comedian Pete Holmes ("The Pete Holmes Show") as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a young comic struggling to make a name for himself in the crowded standup comedy scene. Fellow comedians Artie Lange ("Mad TV") and T.J. Miller ("Silicon Valley") also star as versions of themselves who move through Holmes' life and help him get things back together after a major betrayal turns his life upside down.

That betrayal was the linchpin of "Crashing's" first season and the event that set the entire series in motion. After finding his wife with another man, the young comedian found himself homeless and crashing on the couches of a series of fellow comics. It's a chapter in Holmes' life that's all too real, and while the show is definitely a comedy, it also deals with the serious issues of adultery, homelessness and the struggle to make it in a difficult profession.

Season 2 saw the introduction of a romantic interest for Pete -- Ali, played by Jamie Lee of "Girl Code" -- as he finally began to move on from his devastating breakup. While the first season focused on how he dealt with the immediate aftermath of the life-altering betrayal, the second season was all about moving on and accepting what had happened.

As for what's in store for the third season -- well, let's not spoil the punchline. Holmes continues to tell his story in the most hilarious fashion possible in "Crashing," airing Sunday evenings on HBO.

 

All's well: Freeform has nailed down its next original series. The youth-oriented channel has put in a 10-episode order for "Everything's Gonna Be Okay," a new comedy-drama created by Australia's Josh Thomas ("Please Like Me"). No premiere date has been announced yet.

In addition to serving as a showrunner and writer, Thomas also stars as neurotic 25-year-old Nicholas, a guy who still lives at home with his single father and teenage half-sisters, one of whom is autistic. He isn't the kind of guy who really helps raise his siblings, but all of that changes when his dad is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

What follows is a warm and heartfelt dramedy that is also charmingly funny. It deals with not only Nicholas' reactions to suddenly being a father figure for two teenage girls, but also their own struggles with the fact that they're losing another parent and their half-brother is now raising them.

The series is still early in development, but Thomas' "Please Like Me" was a critical darling in its native Australia, acclaimed for its perfect blend of seriousness and laughs. Watch for "Everything's Gonna Be Okay" to premiere on Freeform later in 2019.