Having indelibly defined an entire state by its most obnoxious tourists, Jersey Shore executive producer SallyAnn Salsanno is hoping to do something similar for Boston with the forthcoming TLC series, Southie Pride, a show that takes a wide-ranging look at the rough-and-tumble South Boston neighborhood, then focuses in on those angry women asking what the fuck it thinks it’s looking at. But of course, both Salsanno and the network have taken pains to point out that Southie Pride will not be a Boston version of Jersey Shore, with The Hollywood Reporter noting that instead “it seems to have more in common with the Bravo's Real Housewives, though without the trappings of wealth and celebrity.” “Wealth” and “celebrity,” of course, being two of the major factors standing in the way of cast members getting wicked drunk on Budweiser and gouging each other’s eyes out.
And much as Salsanno spun her recent mothers-and-daughters-go-clubbing-together show Mama Drama as “speaking to a new cultural definition of age with women,” she says of Southie Pride, “Spend some time with the women of South Boston and you quickly learn that pride runs deep, family comes first, and that their friendships and rivalries are forever”—“pride” and “family,” of course, being two of the leading causes of loud Boston women yelling at each other. To that end, Salsanno adds, “And their accents are wicked awesome,” acknowledging with a wink that a lingering shred of decency precludes her from just crafting a show called People Shouting In Funny Accents.