MTV's 'Jersey' shore looks familiar

A TV show about a group of 20-somethings who rent a summer share on the Jersey Shore. Hilarity, hookups and high jinks ensue.

Been there, seen that.

A decade and a half before MTV's controversial "Jersey Shore," there was "Down the Shore," a Fox sitcom that was a lot less controversial. A lot less funny, too.

The comedy about three 20-something guys (lifelong pals) and three women (co-workers at a Manhattan ad agency) sharing a house in the fictional town of Belmar Bay debuted in June 1992 and lasted for parts of two seasons.

It had a cool theme song: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' signature "I Don't Want to Go Home" (written by Steve Van Zandt). It also had solid comic pedigree: Its creator was Alan Kirschenbaum, son of Borscht Belt comic Freddy Roman and later an executive producer of "Coach" and creator of "Yes, Dear." One of the supervising producers was Kirschenbaum's high-school buddy Phil Rosenthal, who would go on to co-create "Everybody Loves Raymond" four years later.

The housemates included the one requisite Italian-American: a womanizing garment-center worker named Aldo Carbone, played by Australian actor Louis Mandylor.