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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest Blu-ray discs and DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: Eric writes 400 words on Jersey Shore. He's surprised he had that much to say about it.

Pick of the Week

For people who know it's not polite to punch women in the face, even if the girl in question calls herself Snooki and has a unnatural hairdo: Jersey Shore: Season One

Not even MTV could have predicted the blockbuster it had on its hands. Essentially The Real World, but with an exclusively Italian-American cast and no token gays or minorities, Jersey Shore is the story of seven (at one time eight) playthings who shack up at the Jersey Shore for an unforgettable (and in many ways unforgiveable) summer of booze, boobies, fights and sex. After premiering to a quiet 1.38 million viewers on December 3rd, the reality show reached series highs in total viewers (4.8 million viewers) and other key demos for its season finale in January.

Sure, if the cast was boring and not of the hot mess variety that the casting department brilliantly chose, Jersey Shore's finale would not have been watched by 348% more people than its premiere. But much of its success with young viewers is due to the negative press the show received, including accusations from the National Italian American Foundation, which claimed the show did little more than portray Italian stereotypes in a harsh light. In reality TV, any press is good press.





Besides Big Brother, which I'm oddly attracted to, I haven't watched reality with any regularity since the season of The Real World that filmed over the time that 9/11 happened. However, home on winter break with nothing better to do, I convinced my sister to watch a rerun of the Jersey Shore premiere with me. I wanted to know why MTV, which hasn't produced anything big since The Osbournes and maybe The Hills, suddenly had something fueling the water cooler talk on blogs and Twitter.

From the start, we were blown away. Jersey Shore was one of the more addicting things either of us had seen in ages. Snooki and The Situation and Paulie D and the rest of ‘em. They invite shady people over, tan and go to the gym, get in bar fights. Like a seven-car pile up, it was hard to look away.

Yet returning to my apartment in the new year, I reverted back to my old ways. Four episodes in and with five more to go, I had zero desire to keep up with the show. While wildly addicting, Jersey Shore has a shelf life – and a brief one at that. I'm curious to see how many people turn out for the premiere of season two, which should be here this summer.

Disc includes: Uncensored episodes, deleted scenes, Reunion Special featurette, Tips from The Situation and Snooki featurette, Jersey Shore Makeover with Michael Cera featurette

For people who believe you can never go wrong with Showtime: Nurse Jackie: Season One

When The Sopranos ended its run in 2007, I found myself anxious to see what Edie Falco would get into next. After an attempt at comedy as Jack Donaghy's love interest on 30 Rock – I found her four-episode arc pretty spotty – I didn't know what to make of Showtime's new half-hour dark comedy Nurse Jackie with Falco as the titular Jackie Peyton. Besides Falco, the only cast member whose name I recognized belonged to Peter Facinelli. Facinelli, who's inching closer to household name status, is Edward's father in the Twilight movies. To put it best, I was on the fence about Nurse Jackie. After watching the pilot, which was the network's most-watched premiere ever (1 million viewers), I knew Nurse Jackie was a show worth sticking with.

A better comedy than it is drama, Nurse Jackie is a series that feels like it should be an hour, but taps out after 27 minutes instead. Falco plays flawed emergency room nurse Jackie Peyton, who's married with two kids, but isn't faithful to her husband. Affair guy, Jackie's co-worker, also feeds her addiction to painkillers and other medication by making it readily available to her at All-Saints Hospital.

Though Falco seems to be the only actor on the show who has received acclaim, the ensemble is pretty wonderful, too. At work, Jackie is surrounded by colorful characters with spunky (Elenor) and gullible (intern Zoey) personalities. Jackie's home life could use a little work, though. It's on the dry side.

As for the season, it's slow in parts, wickedly funny in others. In that respect, it's uneven. Like other shows, season two has the benefit of skipping the expositional groundwork laid in season one and a better idea of what stories work with these particular characters, and which don't. Nurse Jackie has an honest chance at evolving into something really special.

Disc includes: Audio commentaries, All About Edie featurette, Unsung Heroes featurette, Prepping Nurse Jackie featurette, Nurse Stories featurette

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