La dolts vita: 'Jersey Shore' in Italy

For "Jersey Shore's" fourth season, which premieres tonight at 10, MTV sent the tangerine-tinted posse to Florence, Italy, the home of such historical figures as Dante and Leonardo da Vinci, as a way to shake things up and keep the franchise fresh.

Filming "Jersey Shore" abroad was not an attempt to escape the show's fans, according to executive producer SallyAnn Salsano, but a treat for cast members who wanted to visit Italy. "Our whole thing was like, if the show becomes successful, to celebrate, we would all go to Italy together," she said.

For cast members, decried by Italian-American anti-defamation groups since the show hit the airwaves, it allowed them a chance to connect with their roots. For some, that meant checking out the "cool museums" and "learning where Michelangelo painted the 'Mona Lisa.' " (Note: Leonardo da Vinci painted the 'Mona Lisa,' and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jenni Farley are not Italian.)

"My mother was born in Italy, and I knew it would feel like a home away from home," said housemate Vinnie Guadagnino. "I've heard tons of things about it every day of my life."

'NO GRAZIE, JERSEY SHORE' The cast members' reputations preceded them in Florence. It wasn't long before media reports of disgruntled locals wary of the cast's impending arrival began circulating. Then there were accounts of eateries posting "No Grazie, Jersey Shore" signs on their doors, the cultural superintendent barring the cast from filming in museums and Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi's code of conduct for the cast that included not being filmed drinking in public.

"It hasn't been a benefit for us so far," Nicola Pecchioli, who owns a boutique next to the "Shore" residence, said in Italian in May. "They've been closing the road, and people are not able to come to the store because police and bodyguards are standing around."

KEEPING AN EYE OUT For the filming, crews were dispatched all over the city. It took a team of 25 to 30 on the ground working 12-hour shifts to cover the roommates 24 hours a day. Salsano, who lived in a room above the "Shore" house, set up monitors in her suite so she could keep an eye on the cast at all times.

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The constant monitoring helped ensure that those totally "Jersey" moments were captured: among them, the cast thinking that the basilica was the Vatican (the latter is in Rome) or learning that tanning salons are usually found in the back of nail parlors.

Then there were the arduous commutes to a Florentine gym -- a central component of the "Jersey Shore" lifestyle -- which was, on a good day, about 20 minutes from where they stayed because big, American-style gyms were hard to come by in this Italian city.

During production of the show's season abroad, reports surfaced that some parts had been staged or reshot. Every cast member denied the allegations, as did Salsano.

"Not a chance," she said. "At the end of the day, when you put those eight together, not the best scripted writer in the world can come up with what these guys come up with."