MTV today announced the Season Four greenlight of its record-breaking series Jersey Shore. Set to begin production Spring 2011 in Europe, the hit show will film in Italy and air later this year. Going beyond the East Coast beachfront culture MTV viewers turned into a television phenomenon, America's most talked about housemates are leaving the boardwalk behind for the piazzas of Italy. Poised to get their G.T.L. on abroad, ready to drop in on Vinny's family for a famous Guadagnino dinner and excited to trade gorillas for Italian stallions, this wacky and dysfunctional family is about to turn "the beautiful country" upside down.

"While the stateside Jersey Shore locales have become iconic for our audience it's really the constantly evolving dynamic amongst the cast that keep them coming back each season and Europe is a fresh spin on a show that continues to reach new heights for us," said Chris Linn, Executive Vice President of Programming and Head of Production for MTV. "The cast is headed to the birthplace of the culture they love and live by. We can't wait to see what erupts as a result."

Jersey Shore is MTV's #1 series of all time among P12-34. Currently in its third season, Jersey Shore is averaging an 8.3 P12-34 rating, up 46% versus Season Two (5.7) and up 219% from Season One (2.6). Jersey Shore ranks #1 in its time period (Thu 10p-11p) across all television among P12-34 and P18-49, beating the broadcast networks. This season, Jersey Shore has produced MTV's top four series telecasts ever; its most recent episode on 1/20/11 is MTV's most watched series telecast ever, with 8.9 million total viewers, topping the network's previous record set by Jersey Shore on 1/13/11. The 1/20/11 telecast was also the #1 telecast on Thursday among P12-34, beating American Idol by nearly 1 million viewers.

Jersey Shore is Executive Produced by SallyAnn Salsano from 495 Productions. Jacquelyn French is Executive Producer for MTV. Chris Linn is Executive in Charge of Production for MTV. Concept created by Anthony Beltempo.