Lotsa stuff going on over the river and through the Lincoln: Bravo reportedly inked Real Housewives’ Caroline Manzo’s sons to a reality deal, while a Jersey Shore lawyer lays the smack down with the best legal letter you’ll read today.
Chris and Albie Manzo, whose mother and aunt were among Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s original cast (their aunt Dina left the show after the first season) appeared on Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker recently. Since then, they have “moved into a bachelor pad in Hoboken,” according to Page Six, and may have been signed up by Bravo to broadcast moments of their lives like this one:
The two were seen last week with friends at the Chandelier Room at the W Hoboken, where they were treated like royalty. “Girls were literally throwing themselves at Chris and Albie,” a partygoer tells us. “There was a lot of commotion.”
I’d consider watching! The Manzos are the reality family that most remind me of actual humans, you know?
But if you prefer your Jersey boys a little less subtle, you may be more interested in the day’s other news: a response from one of MTV’s lawyers to writer Christopher Gambale, who claims his idea for a show about guidos was stolen by the network after he pitched it in 2006.
As an initial matter, GUIDOS A Reality Series — the work your client claims to have registered with the Writers Guild of America — consists of text that was simply cut and pasted off UrbanDictionary.com (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=guide&defid=585341) A copy of the text, which is word for word identical (including typographical errors) with the material posted by various different users at different times on the urbandictionary.com website, is enclosed.
Such a parenthetical BURN! Even better than the catty use of [sic]. This part is also a gem:
As your client is well aware, Jersey Shore was not the first work to focus on young Italian Americans. By way of example only this theme has been explored in works such as Saturday Night Fever, My Cousin Vinny, Kiss Me, Guido, and Growing Up Gotti. Indeed, MTVN has aired numerous programs exploring this theme, including a 2004 program titled True Life, I’m a Jersey Girl which focused on cast members’ tanning habits, romances, drinking and dancing while vacationing in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. This program also prominently featured tanned young men with spiked hair and tight shirts.
Love it. I haven’t seen such LOL-worthy cultural references rendered in such grave tones since I read the transcript of Jay-Z’s NPR interview the other day. (Check out Terry Gross’ opening line!)
Albie and Chris Manzo get their own spinoff on Bravo [Page Six]
MTV Slams Writer — We Didn’t Rip Off ‘Jersey Shore’ [TMZ]