“Frenchie Shore”, the local adaptation of the popular American reality show “Jersey Shore”, rivalled Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon” as the most polarising entertainment topic of November in France.
Since its launch on Paramount+ and MTV France on 11 November, the reality show has flooded social media, particularly TikTok, where users have illegally posted sexually explicit but blurred clips from the show. It is currently the most watched programme on Paramount+ in France, where a new episode is broadcast every Saturday at 11pm.
A faithful adaptation of Jersey Shore, Frenchie Shore follows the lives of 10 housemates in a villa in the south of France as they party and hook up. It has been described as “borderline porn” and “the trashiest reality show ever produced in France” by French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak in a wide-ranging interview with Le Parisien newspaper published on 20 November.
As well as unleashing a tsunami of articles in newspapers and magazines, the show has also been derided by journalists on prime-time talk shows such as Quotidien, while others on news channels BFMTV and CNews have described it as “dangerous” for French youth.
The last reality show to cause such an uproar was in 2001, when Loft Story, the local version of Big Brother, was launched on the commercial channel M6. The first reality show in France to depict the debauchery of contestants trapped in a house, Loft Story provoked strong reactions and even protests outside M6’s headquarters in Paris.
Asked by Le Parisien about the controversy surrounding “Frenchie Shore”, Abdul Malak said that although the programme has a warning for viewers under 16 on Paramount (and 18 on MTV), “anyone can find it on social networks”. She said she was worried about inexperienced teenagers who “will think it realistically depicts human interactions and sexual relationships”.
Abdul Malak also urged the French broadcasting authority, Arcom, to intervene and take action against “Frenchie Shore”, as it does with programmes broadcast on traditional French TV channels. But the organisation said it couldn’t intervene to prevent the show from being broadcast or impose fines because neither MTV France nor Paramount+ are based in France, according to a source close to the programme. MTV France and Paramount+ are based in the Czech Republic and Germany respectively. However, Roch-Olivier Maistre, the president of Arcom, has written to his counterparts in the Czech Republic and Germany to raise the alarm about content that raises issues of “respect and protection of human dignity” and “protection of minors”, according to France Info. A source close to the production says that the show can’t be fined or suspended because it is correctly rated and the sexual content is blurred.
While the French Broadcasting Authority can’t take action against illegal content on social networks such as TikTok, a spokesperson for the platform told the AFP news agency that it had already deleted certain videos uploaded under the hashtag #FrenchieShore and would continue to do so.
“Frenchie Shore is produced by Ah Production, a label of the Satisfaction Group. Contacted by Variety, Paramount+ and Ah Production declined to comment.
It’s the third iteration of “Jersey Shore” in France. The format was previously adapted by Banijay Production France into “Les Ch’tis” in northern France and “Les Marseillais” in the southern city of Marseille.
“Jersey Shore has also been adapted in Germany, Mexico, the UK, Italy and Mexico.
