I really hope this doesn’t date me, but when I read that last week’s premiere of Season Two of Jersey Shore was one of the highest rated cable shows ever, I began to appreciate the dignity and intellectual perspective of our own Jerry Springer. At least those cat fights are with total strangers.

I don’t have to see MTV every week for attractive people in bathing suits frolicking on beaches. I’m all for it. But semi-literate people throwing up in the toilet? The entertainment value escapes me.

Am I offended by the Italian Stereotypes? Sorry, I loved The Sopranos. Is it the crude humor that turns me off? Animal House is still one of my favorite movies. It’s just that Snooki and The Situation and J-Wow are so pathetically lame, I get angry at MTV for exploiting them – yeah, I know exploit them for a reported $30,000 an episode, and I know I am a lone voice in the wilderness.

Jersey Shore is a smash not just here but in 30 countries around the world. Perhaps we should just close the state department.

I’m Pat McMahon