Well, a new season of Jersey Shore is almost upon us, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, it seems that the guido gang will once again be hanging out at some sort of resort and trying to milk a season's worth of content out of a week of filming.
You know the drill -- Vinny will wear khakis or something, and they'll build an entire episode around it.
Ironically, there's actually major drama going on in Jersey Shore Extended Universe these days, but it looks like it won't be featured on Family Vacation Season 4B.
(MTV likes to divide up its reality shows into seasons "A" and "B," so that they don't have to give the casts raises for filming a new season. Sneaky!)
There have been several developments in the months since the Vegas season came to a close, and fans are overjoyed by the news that Snooki is returning to the show.
But all of that has been overshadowed by the news that Ronnie Magro has been arrested on domestic violence charges for the second time.
Ronnie was released on $100,000 bail last month after being in custody for just a few hours.
His trial will not be held until later this year, and it's anyone's guess how it will play out:
Ronnie was still on probation at the time of his arrest, which obviously doesn't bode well for his chances of staying out of jail.
But working to Ron's advantage is the recent revelation that he will not be charged with felony domestic assault.
The reason for this is a lack of evidence, which seems to be a result of the fact that Ronnie's alleged victim, girlfriend Saffire Matos, has refused to testify against him.
So it looks as though Ronnie will once again avoid serving prison time.
But keeping his job on Jersey Shore?
Well, that's another story.
Obviously, this is not the first time that Ronnie's been in trouble with the law.
In fact, it's not the first time that he's been arrested on domestic violence charges.
We're not sure why Ronnie was able to keep his job amid allegations that he assaulted Jen Harley.
And we're not sure why he didn't get fired after terrorizing Sammi Giancola for years on the original Shore.
The best explanation we can come up with is that those were different times.
Ronnie trying to toss his girlfriend's bed out of the window while she's clinging to the mattress probably wouldn't play so well in 2021.
And it looks as though Shore producers and MTV execs have finally grown tired of making excuses for Ron's toxic behavior.
The trailer for Season 4B was released earlier this week, and fans were quick to note that Magro is nowhere to be seen in the clip.
The preview finds the cast partying in the Poconos, and it looks as though there's even less drama -- and more comedy -- than there was last season.
“The entire family is back together,” Deena Cortese says in the trailer.
“It is everything!”
Ronnie was just arrested last month, and it looks like the season wrapped well before that (we see the cast partying in the snow in the trailer).
So in all likelihood, he was on hand for filming -- but that doesn't mean he'll appear in the finished product.
As The Ashley's Reality Roundup points out this wouldn't be the first time that MTV has ordered a problematic cast member edited out of a reality show.
They did it with Dee Nguyen of The Challenge and Alex Kompothecras of Siesta Key, both of whom were accused of past racial insensitivity.
So don't be surprised if the new season of Shore debuts without any mention of Ronnie.
We're sure he'll be missed by many, but it seems like a decision whose time has come.