Seaside Heights is about to get significantly more quiet.
MTV said Thursday that the upcoming sixth season of reality cash cow Jersey Shore will be its last, ending frequent speculation that the network would maintain the franchise with a new cast.
The last run of Jersey Shore premieres Oct. 4, with production already completed. The network will start saying goodbye with a retrospective special, Gym, Tan, Look Back, ahead of the Sept. 6 MTV Video Music Awards. The cast will be in attendance to promote the new season.
Jersey Shore, a polarizing fly-on-the-wall look at a group of party-obsessed friends in the Garden State, has been MTV’s most successful series of all time. Earning consistently strong ratings throughout its five-season run, the show peaked in late 2011 at nearly 9 million viewers and pulled in cable’s best numbers among adults 18-49. The most recent run bowed to 7.6 million viewers, still blowing the rest of the network’s slate out of the water.
There is more life left in the Shore, though. MTV recently renewed spinoff Snooki & JWoww, despite it not approaching the numbers of its parent series. It debuted to a decent 2.4 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49 in June.
