Let’s just get it out there — I love “Jersey Shore.”

There. I said it. Judge if you must, but hear me out.

For those who don’t know, “Jersey Shore” is a reality show on MTV that follows eight 20-somethings as they spend a summer living it up at, you guessed it, the Jersey Shore. Actually one of the seasons was shot in Miami and the current episodes were done in Italy, but whatever. Just go with it.

The show has the normal things you would expect from any reality show, with enough debauchery, infighting, drunken wisdom and egoism to make even Charlie Sheen proud. There are certainly lots of people who think it may be the dumbest show on television, but those people are clearly ignoring the one — or many — shows on their DVR that are no better. Don’t pretend like you’re watching the National Geographic channel all day.

My roommates and I realized last night while watching the show that it is pretty much the only one that all three of us watch. There are others that two of us keep up with, but “Jersey Shore” is sure to bring everyone into the living room at the same time.

One of the things I love is that the majority of the time they refer to each other with nicknames — not ones that came organically from within this group, but rather were brought from home and tossed in as a part of their original introductions. “My friends call me Snooki.” Oh, OK, we’ll just call you that then.

We all have nicknames for friends that we use once in a while, but those always have some sort of inside joke that makes sense within that relationship. I don’t introduce myself with the option of calling me Hotshoe, Heinous, Christafuh, Erty, Channas or Issypher, since those are only meaningful to certain people. I have no idea where Snooki came from, but it certainly wasn’t from the Shore house. For the non-watchers, the other names include JWoww, The Situation, Pauly D, and Sammi Sweatheart — though no one uses that last one because she’s not. At all.

Another sign of a great show is the use of catchphrases, and “Jersey Shore” certainly doesn’t disappoint. When we get close to 10 on Thursday nights (when the show airs) you are guaranteed to hear shouts of “Cabs are heeere” and “Awww yeah, burgers for the boys” ringing through our house. I might even go to Twitter in the pre-show excitement:

That’s all not to mention the now-ubiquitous terms GTL, smush, and grenade that sprang from the show.

But really the main draw of the Jersey Shore comes down to the fact that it features one of my favorite things in the world — drama that doesn’t involve me.

Oh and it inspired the name of my fantasy football team, which year after year brings lots of assets to the table but ultimately underperforms: CWoww.