Excess tans, booze and drama: ‘Jersey Shore’ is the best of MTV

When it first premiered, I called "Jersey Shore" the greatest comedy on television.

I remain convinced of this.

Season two of the controversial series recently debuted to massive numbers on MTV, as the original gang head to Miami and get up to their usual hijinks.

At first glance, the show seems like just ordinary fare from the network. A bunch of college kids, over-boozed and over-sexed live together, create drama and act stupidly.

But "Jersey Shore" works on so many other levels.

By themselves, they seem like pretty decent people. Even Snooki, characterized as the baby of the show, could be quite a nice person.

Together, however, MTV has created a supergroup – the likes of which haven't been seen since the hairbands of the '80s.

MTV shows typically don't keep the exact same cast beyond one season. The cast of "The Real World" is fresh every season, and even "Road Rules" sprinkles some new people in the mix every so often.

By keeping the same cast, MTV has enabled the audience to head into a new season of excess drinking and foolish shenanigans with an entire season of backstory.

We know that Ronnie and Sammi left the previous New Jersey residence with romantic entanglements. Now, in the second season, we learn their romance was all too short. We can expect, in "Jersey Shore" fashion, plenty of jealous outbursts and drunken rages.

Plenty of people have complaints about the show. Even the governor of the Garden State, Chris Christie, has voiced complaints the show is "unrealistic."

I'm not exactly sure what Christie was expecting from MTV. A show on MTV isn't going to be a world-class travel documentary.

He does have a state to look out for, however. But I don't think the antics of this show are going to bring in an excess of already such existing behaviors.

The same argument was made against "The Sopranos," with critics saying the show played into stereotypes of a state infested with organized crime.

Curious that everyone was quiet during Natalie Portman's performance in Zach Braff's "Garden State."

The truth is "Jersey Shore" is brilliant entertainment.

You can hate on the cast all you want. You can deride their lack of class, their inability to look beyond the bottom of a bottle.

But they're getting paid $30,000 an episode for their third season and are part of one of the most-talked about shows in years. They're making a hefty penny from doing whatever they want and at MTV's expense.

"Jersey Shore" is about a group of kids getting away with whatever they can, knowing full well you will watch it every step of the way.

Even if you watch it to complain about it, you have to appreciate that.