Read it all. Here are a few choice paragraphs:
Brought in by VH1 executive Shelly Tatro when the project was being developed at MTV’s sister network, Salsano had counseled against making it an elimination contest. “One week it was fist-pumping, one week tanning — all kinds of craziness,” she says. The producer was convinced just getting the right cast and following their antics would be entertaining enough.
So she searched the tristate area, boiling contenders down to a final dozen, reduced to eight the day before shooting commenced Aug. 1, 2009. (Deena Cortese, who later replaced Angelina Pivarnick, was in that first group but had to drop out because her grandmother was ill.)
Now Salsano had to confront another problem: There wasn’t a single New Jersey city that would let her shoot, except Seaside Heights. “If it hadn’t been for Seaside Heights,” she marvels, “we wouldn’t have a show.”
But she did, and when filming began, to Salsano’s amazement, she got enough material in five days to fill three episodes. She was convinced what she had was gold; still, would others think the same? Because if they didn’t, her company was doomed.
More, with spoilers, after the jump.