It's a Jersey Thing

Plot

When a family from New Jersey moves into South Park, Sharon invites the family into their home for dinner. The tacky Jersey woman becomes very obnoxious very quickly, and starts to insult Sharon and her friends, leading Sharon to insult her calmly. The woman goes crazy and smashes the table and chairs, but eventually calms down. Soon after, many people from New Jersey move into South Park and everyone starts to get annoyed with them. Randy calls a meeting at the Park County Community Center, where he reveals that New Jersey is trying to take over the country and already has everything east of the Rocky Mountains, with all of Colorado in danger of becoming "West Jersey". Meanwhile, Sheila reveals that she is originally from New Jersey, and that she was once a notorious party girl nicknamed "S-Woww-Tittybang". When the other families find out, Cartman shuns Kyle from their group, stating that if he is Jersey (along with being Jewish and ginger, which Cartman already hates him for), he is all bad. Later that night, Kyle (in a parody of the first transformation scene in Teen Wolf), seemingly unable to control his actions, begins to cut and grease his bushy Jewfro into a style similar to Pauly D's hairstyle from Jersey Shore which makes Ike scream and faint. He is even more shocked to find Sheila now fully decked out in this fashion. Sheila reveals to her son that he's technically from New Jersey: Kyle was conceived in New Jersey and during the first two months that Sheila was pregnant with him, she and Kyle's father, Gerald, were living with Sheila's parents in Newark, New Jersey. Whenever either of them is around New Jersey influences, she says, they will start to exhibit the same behavior.

Cartman's usual distrust of Kyle grows even stronger, since Kyle is now the "three J's" - "Jinger (ginger), Jersey and Jew", although Stan and Kenny don't seem to care and they just help out the other townspeople try to drive the Jerseyites out. At first the invasion doesn't seem too bad, but in a bar, Randy and other men encounter a sex-crazed and barely human Snooki. After she escapes, Randy pleads for help from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who tells him that the state cannot provide any assistance due to budget problems and general lack of concern (since Utah and Nevada stand between California and the invasion). Likewise, Japan also refuses to help. In desperation, Randy videotapes a request for help from al-Qaeda and sends it to Osama bin Laden.

As the townspeople arm themselves and barricade the streets to stave off the invasion, Cartman asks Kyle to meet him at the Sizzler, with the intent of locking him in the meat freezer so he can't help the Jerseyites. Once Cartman opens the freezer, Snooki springs out and begins to rape him and Dog Poo. Kyle now fully transforms into a guido, complete with rings and gold neck chain and calling himself "Kyley B", and proceeds to insult and hit Snooki, until she flees the restaurant—which Cartman thanks Kyle for. In the streets, Randy violently interrogates Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, who can only answer "It's just a Jersey thing, you know, you just gotta be from Jersey to get it." The townspeople hold off the hordes of Jerseyites until their ammunition runs out and their defense seems futile. However, just as the invaders begin to overrun the barricades, a fleet of al-Qaeda suicide pilots fly in and crash their planes into the ground, killing them all. At a town meeting soon after, Randy proudly thanks bin Laden for his help in stopping the invasion and reveals that their victory has inspired the rest of the East Coast to drive the Jerseyites back to their own state.

With the Jerseyites defeated, Cartman tells Kyle "You're a monster, but you're my little monster" - and just as bin Laden receives a hero medal, a Special Forces commando comes in and kills him. At first the people are shocked, but then Randy exclaims "We got him!"

Ratings

In its original American broadcast on October 13, 2010, “It's a Jersey Thing” was watched by 3.253 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched cable television show of the night. The episode received a 2.1 rating/4 share, meaning it was seen by 2.1 percent of the population, and 4 percent of people watching television at the time of its broadcast. Among adult viewers between ages 18 and 49, the episode received a 1.9 rating/5 share, rising one tenth in the ratings resulting in approximately 100, 000 more viewers than the previous episode. Among male viewers between ages 18 and 34, the episode received a 3.9 rating/13 share.

Critical reception

The episode received largely positive reviews. Katla McGlynn of The Huffington Post, referred to the revelation of Snooki as the best moment of the episode. Ramsey Isler of IGN rated the episode with a 7.5/10 saying "the fact that the majority of the story was just a half-hearted satire of Jersey shows that Robot Chicken could've done better, is a sign that something's amiss." Brad Trechak of AOL's TV Squad stated in his review "As a New Jersey native, I should have been really offended by tonight's episode of 'South Park.' Sadly, I was laughing too hard to notice." He also felt the show "walks a line between humor and bad taste". Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club rated the episode with a B. He compared the episode to "South Park Is Gay!" and "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" although he stated that "“It's a Jersey Thing” may not prove to have the lasting appeal of the aforementioned" episodes.

Reaction from those spoofed

Despite being ridiculed and spoofed by the show, the reactions from the people who were spoofed were mostly positive. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi wrote on Twitter, "Snooki want smoosh smoosh. [I'm] going to have nightmares tonight lmao!!! [We've] officially made it...". Angelina from Jersey Shore posted a picture of Snooki as depicted in the episode and commented "Haaaaa wat a jokee. Lil gremlin". DJ Pauly D posted a shot of the Jersey-fied Kyle after a fan said they were "like twins", while The Situation posted a link to the episode while commenting "Southpark Situation! Hilarious!". Castmate Vinny Guadagnino commented "...my face was on South Park, im good now".

Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey initially claimed to have not watched the episode, but later claimed she was "honored to be mocked by them", especially in light of the other mockeries. Former co-castmember Danielle Staub was pleasantly surprised that "...it wasn't just me being made fun of for a change. You realize you're something else when you're being made into a cartoon. It's pretty funny."

Home release

"It's a Jersey Thing", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's fourteenth season, were released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-ray set in the United States on April 26, 2011.