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But don't tell that to Hollywood (or New Yorkers).

In the media, New Jersey is often portrayed one of three ways:

# An overgrown Little Italy. Everybody seems to know somebody who knows somebody who is "[[The Mafia|connected]]", be they a mechanic in Hoboken or a soccer mom in Parsippany. [[Sleazy Politician|The politicians]] rival Third World dictators in brazen corruption. All the white people are Italian (and as of the 2010s they'll be white in name only, as they'll be slathered in fake-tan body paint), and they all know what the hottest clubs are. The men have blowouts, dress in either Armani Exchange clothing or muscle shirts, do vast quantities of steroids, drive [[Cool Car|'80s IROC-Z Camaros or entry-level BMWs]], and are insanely misogynistic and homophobic. The women, known as "Jersey Girls," are all [[Bottle Fairy|Bottle Fairies]], still have [[Eighties Hair]] decades after it went out of style, wear ten pounds of makeup, and are always [[Stripperiffic|dressed like they're headed to the club]]. The only radio station is WKTU, and they are always playing [[Lady Gaga]] or Cascada remixes. If a techno-sounding beat starts playing, the natural response is to start pumping one's fist in the air. And everyone speaks with an obnoxious, nasally, highly [[Flanderized]] [[American Accents|Italian-American/New York accent]].

# A [[Weirdness Magnet]], with UFOs, monsters, ghosts, and [[The Jersey Devil]] waiting around every corner, and with the gateway to [[Hell]] sitting in the sewers of Clifton. Parts of it may be an out-of-[[Hollywood New England|New England]] branch of [[Lovecraft Country]].

 

For information on the various regions, cities and locales of the state of New Jersey, as well as a long list of famous New Jerseyans, check out [[Joisey/Trivia|our handy Trivia page]].

 

 

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{{examples|Appearances in media:}}

* Part of the Intoccabile Arc of ''[[Noir (anime)|Noir]]'', of all series, takes place in the Skylands.

 

* Some comic book fans believe that ''[[Batman]]'s'' Gotham City is a thinly-disguised Newark. In current continuity, the city is now confirmed to indeed be located in New Jersey.

** If this is true, then perhaps Bludhaven is a version of the nearby Elizabeth or Linden.

** Given its position on the coast it seems Gotham is in the area of Little Egg Harbor. This would make Bludhaven the equivalent of Camden, which we can all agree is fair. Gotham's official history (yes, there really is such a thing) explains that it was heavily settled by Swedes; since Swedish immigrants had a large presence in southern New Jersey and Delaware, Camden is a fair candidate.

** And then there's [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111228234052/batman/images/6/6b/Gotham_New_Jersey.jpg this].

* For a while, the third [[Steel]] lived and worked in Jersey City.

* In a ''[[Booster Gold]]'' comic, Booster travels to some point in the future and wonders aloud what Jersey City looks like at this point in time, or whether the city even exists.

{{quote|''Lost Housewife 1'': Ehwajehno! Wigodda perra skoytsfum sumuddaboyg! (Translation: Hey whaddaya know! We gotta pair of skirts from some otha' burg!)}}

* An issue of ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'' featured a tall tale by Hercules of a fight he got into with Thor. At the end, he changed course and claimed that Thor [[I Am Not Left-Handed|had actually been holding back]] ... and when the Thunder God '''stopped''' holding back, "He flung me into a land the gods forgot! New Jersey!"

 

* ''[[Felix the Cat: The Movie]]'' has Felix setting his eyes upon the crumbling, corrupt [[Wretched Hive|Progress City]], and what does he say? "Where are we, New Jersey?" Also an example of [[Self-Deprecation]] when you realize that Felix the Cat Productions Inc. just happens to be located in New Jersey.

** Rural New Jersey, no less.

* New Jersey features in every film of [[Kevin Smith]]'s [[View Askewniverse]], often as the main setting. Smith himself is from Highlands.

** Which makes their journey all the more interesting as there are fifteen different White Castles within ten minutes of driving.

* ''Artie Lange's Beer League''. Became a running joke on ''[[Howard Stern|The Howard Stern Show]]'' (which Lange is one of the hosts of) due to its poor production values.

* ''[[Garden State]]'', obviously.

* In ''[[Dude, Where's My Car?]]'' the good Aliens threaten to banish the bad Aliens to none other than Hoboken, NJ.

** For that matter, the infamous 1938 radio show was also set largely in New Jersey.

* The New Jersey Turnpike makes notable appearances in ''[[Being John Malkovich]]'' and ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]''.

* ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]'''s Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense is located in New Jersey, where it's disguised as a waste treatment plant.

* In ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]'', Geena Davis' character, a CIA agent, lives in New Jersey, and has to get out. She complains that she <s>gave birth to a child</s> got herself out of Beirut, so getting out of New Jersey shouldn't be too hard. [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s character disagrees, saying many have tried and failed, including the state's entire population.

** The original was filmed in Hope and Blairstown, both in the Skylands.

* Most [[Troma]] movies, particularly ''The [[Toxic Avenger]]''.

* The slasher film ''[[The Prowler]]'' takes place in Avalon Bay, New Jersey.

* ''[[Léon: The Professional]]'' (aka ''Leon'') [[You Fail Geography Forever|fails Jersey geography spectacularly]] in its final moments: Mathilda is at the Spenser School, which is (according to an overheard conversation) supposed to be in Wildwood, New Jersey. However, the final moments of the film show that it overlooks the Hudson River and Manhattan. Wildwood is in fact an oceanfront community near the tip of Cape May, over 150 miles away from New York City. (The scene was actually filmed at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.)

* Events of the 1982 ''[[Alone in the Dark (1982 film)]]'' happen in New Jersey.

* Daniel and his mom from ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' were originally from New Jersey.

* ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' is largely set in New Jersey.

{{quote|'''Eddie:''' Baby, there's nowhere else in the world like the Garden State! You got miles of swamps and mountains of dumps... different colored rivers... automobile graveyards, breweries, factories, ballparks, all mixed up together. It's the best place to live.

'''Diane:''' Uh huh. Then why does the Statue of Liberty face the other way? }}

 

* F. Paul Wilson's short story "The Barrens" sees the Pine Barrens as an annex of [[Lovecraft Country]].

* [[Stephanie Plum]] cheerily bills herself as a Jersey girl, and yes, among her relatives, friends, and colleagues, a lot of New Jersey stereotypes get covered.

* [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s books tend to be set in New Jersey.

* Irene Adler, one of the few people (and the only woman) to have ever outwitted [[Sherlock Holmes]], was from New Jersey.

 

* On ''[[Big Bang Theory]]'' Leonard is from NJ, which comes up from time to time. For example in the 2011 Halloween episode Leonard manages to pull a trick on roommate Sheldon who says as a Texan native he is an expert at retribution. However when Sheldon tries to pull a trick on Leonard, Leonard manages to turn it against Sheldon.

{{quote|'''Leonard''': You may be from Texas, but ''I'm'' from ''Jersey!''}}

* ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'' is set primarily in [[The Roaring Twenties|Prohibition-era]] Atlantic City.

** The credits for ''[[Ed]]'' consisted of him driving through town. To this Westfield native, it was very odd to see the familiar sights of downtown Westfield, cut and pasted out of sequence.

** In certain towns in the area it was filmed some shops still have the Stuckyville name painted on their windows. Most visible at a Jewelry shop in Westwood.

* New Jersey is often used as the butt of jokes by late-night comics like [[The Tonight Show|Jay Leno]] and [[David Letterman]], as well as New York-based sitcoms like ''[[Seinfeld]]'' and ''[[Friends]]''. Listing all of the instances of this would require a separate page.

* Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the fictional hospital where ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' takes place, is in New Jersey.

* ''[[The Sopranos]]'' was set in New Jersey, and helped to reinforce many of the Mafia stereotypes.

* ''[[Point Pleasant]]'' was set on the Jersey Shore, but was filmed in California. [[Did Not Do the Research|It showed]].

* Similarly, the short-lived 1992/1993 [[Sitcom]] ''[[Down The Shore]]'' was set in a townhouse in an unspecified Jersey Shore town (possibly Belmar).

* ''[[The X-Files]]'' featured the Jersey Devil in its fifth episode.

** Before that, MTV did two of their spring break specials (1998 and 2002) in Seaside Heights.

** According to Jersey-native and ''[[Cracked.com]]'' writer Daniel O'Brien, ''Jersey Shore'' is the [http://www.cracked.com/blog/jersey-shore-is-the-worst-thing-to-happen-to-the-east-coast-since-911 worst thing to happen to the east coast since 9/11].

* After the media started mocking New Jersey after [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8162101 a massive corruption scandal], [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]] took time out of his show to [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-28-2009/hey--c-mon-that-s-not----why-would-you----whoa- defend his home state].

** And later: "You went all the way to ''Jersey'' for a ''cake''?"

* ''[[Will and Grace]]'' played with this. They described Jersey as something of New York City's suburb, a nice, peaceful place to raise a family. However, this being ''Will and Grace'', that was also considered where New Yorkers go to die. The only reason to go to New Jersey (aside from the outlet malls) is if you've gotten married and had kids (and essentially your "interesting" life as a New Yorker is over.)

** Parts of (if not the whole) series was actually filmed in New Jersey. The bowling alley shown in the series is Lodi Lanes.

** Also, Rick Gomez is from New Jersey and has a perfect North Jersey accent.

* The reimagined ''[[Hawaii Five-O]]'' features a new Danny Williams that is a former Jersey detective. In a touch of irony (or possibly a [[Take That]]), he's not really all that fond of the beach.

* ''[[Sonny With a Chance]]'' briefly features a skit about fairytale princesses in New Jersey.

* This was pretty much the only joke of the early Joe Piscopo ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' character Paulie Herman, that he was from New Jersey.

 

* [[Voltaire (musician)|Voltaire]]'s song "Bomb New Jersey" (the other Voltaire). However, there are enough in-jokes that only people from New Jersey would get that it's hard to be offended.

** Voltaire grew up in New Jersey (and hated it), and mentions it in more then one of his songs. For example: "Hell in a Handbasket".

* [[Bruce Springsteen]] is from New Jersey, and several of his songs are love letters to his home state. Several others are about how much the state sucks (see: "Born to Run"). He also contributed the [[Ending Theme]] for the above-mentioned ''[[The Wrestler]]''.

* John Gorka has a song called "I'm from New Jersey," which is a pretty accurate impression of residents' reactions to New Jersey jokes. Can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkMTM7wrCs4 here].

* The [[Bloodhound Gang]]'s "Ten Best Things About New Jersey", which is [[Take That|around 10 seconds of silence]].

** They sing about Jersey a lot, too -- "Hackensack", for instance.

* Dean Friedman's 1977 song "Ariel" is about a Jersey boy who meets a spacey Jewish girl in Paramus Park and falls in love with her.

* The Bouncing Souls are from Jersey, and reference the state (especially Asbury Park) a lot in their songs.

* [[Bon Jovi]]'s fourth studio album was named ''New Jersey'', and most of the band hails from the state.

* [[Tom Waits]]' song "Jersey Girl".

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

* [[TNA]], in a transparent effort to cash in on ''[[Jersey Shore]]'''s popularity, briefly had the gimmick "Shore", featuring expies of the Situation and Snooki who feuded with the real J-WOWW.

 

* Comedian Artie Lange on ''[[Howard Stern|The Howard Stern Show]]''. When on the show and in his comedy act, he'll sometimes exaggerate his Joisey characteristics to the point of becoming the epitome of a stereotypical Hudson County resident.

* Humorist Jean Shepherd broadcast nightly from WOR, and would often talk about New Jersey, coining the phrase 'Slob Art' for concrete Mexicans, and other such, and particularly applying it to Rt. 22 in northern NJ, pointing to the big ship sailing along in the median.

* In 2005, Todd Pettingill of NYC radio station WPLJ released a [[Song Parody]] of [[Aqua]]'s "Barbie Girl" called [http://www.madmusic.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=12496 "Jersey Girl"].

 

* On his album ''What Am I Doing In New Jersey?'', [[George Carlin]] proposes retitling New Jersey from "The Garden State" (''"Ha-ha, sure...if you're growing smokestacks, yes"'') to "The Toll Booth State".

 

== Theatre ==

{{quote|'''[[John Adams]]:''' Wake up Franklin, you're going to New Brunswick.

'''[[Benjamin Franklin]]:''' ''[half asleep]'' Like hell I am, what for?

'''Stephen Hopkins:''' The whoring and the drinking.

''[Franklin leaps to his feet and marches out behind Adams.] }}

{{quote|'''John Hancock:''' New Jersey. Where the hell is New Jersey?

* In ''[[One Touch of Venus]]'', the characters, being New Yorkers, sing a number called "Way Out West In New Jersey," whose premise is that the territory beyond the Hudson River might as well be [[The Wild West]].

* The obscure, but hilarious ''[[Once Upon a Time In New Jersey]]''. It's exactly what it sounds like.

 

* The island of Alderney in ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] IV'' is based on New Jersey.

** Which replaces the actual [[New York City]] island of Staten Island, which is an improvement on the geography of the city.

* ''[[Superhero League of Hoboken]]'' takes in place in tri-state area, with super heroes having headquarters in, well, Hoboken. It's not much better even with heroes.

* The [[Cell Phone]] game ''Tank Battles in Suburbia'' has eleven levels set across New Jersey suburbs like Montclair, Glen Ridge and Raritan, with the final level being on the Turnpike.

* In ''[[Battlefield: Bad Company|Battlefield: Bad Company 2]]'', Pvt. Sweetwater says it "smells like Jersey" when your squad goes into a drainage ditch.

* Several levels in the final stage of ''[[Need for Speed]]: The Run'' take place in New Jersey, and they play the Type 2 stereotype to the hilt. No prizes for guessing that said tracks mainly comprise industrial parks, highways and landfills, or that the one area of Jersey covered in greenery also happens to be within sight of [[Big Applesauce|New York]]. And in Challenge Mode, there's even a race called [[Jersey Shore|"The Situation"]].

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

* The American on ''[[The Bugle]]''.

* In ''[[Decades of Darkness]]'', much of the action during the North American War takes place in New Jersey, which serves as an analogue to [[World War I|the Western Front]]. That's right, even in an [[Alternate History]] New Jersey is ''still'' [[War Is Hell|Hell on Earth]].

* Slowbeef, of [[Let's Play]] fame, lives in Jersey. He alternates between mocking it and defending it.

* The automatic censor at Worth1000.com changes "hell" to "[[Place Worse Than Death|New Jersey]]".

* Michael Jones, [[Rooster Teeth]] employee and star of ''Rage Quit'', was a New Jersey resident before he moved to Austin, TX to work at RT full time.

 

* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': [[The Tokyo Fireball|The New Jersey Fireball]] is a regular occurrence on the show. The show is set in Jersey City, although the creators seemed to [[Did Not Do the Research|know nothing about the location]] (culturally, Jersey City and indeed all of Hudson County are quite different from the suburbs and the Shore that most outsiders are familiar with). The suburbs and Shore tend to conform more to the Jersey stereotypes outsiders are familiar with. But Jersey City, on the other hand, most definitely does '''not'''.

* ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' had the Jersey Devil.

'''Landlord''': Oh, no catch... but we are technically in New Jersey.

'''Fry''' ''(back home)'': Man, not one place even remotely livable. }}

{{quote|'''Leela''': Who would've thought that Hell actually existed? And that it would be in New Jersey?

'''Fry''': Well, actually... ''([[Trap Door]] opens)'' }}

{{quote|'''Narrator''': The landfills were full. New Jersey was full. }}

'''Fry''': Well, actually... }}

* An episode of ''[[South Park]]'' has [[Bumbling Dad|Randy]] and the boys going up against the Jersey people. ''Every'' person from New Jersey is incredibly loud and arrogant and "all they do is have sex and fight each other". [[Running Gag|It's a Jersey thing]]. It gets so bad they have to get help from {{spoiler|Al Qaeda}}.

** That whole episode was more of a [[Take That|jab]] at ''[[Jersey Shore]]''.

* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', specifically South Jersey.

* An episode of ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' had the team going to New Jersey to fight the [[Jersey Devil]]. It's as awesome as it sounds.

{{quote|'''Leonardo''': Way to be stealthy, Raph!

'''Michelangelo''': Yeah, I don't think they heard you over in Joisey. }}

* According to ''[[Robot Chicken]]'', Care-A-Lot is turned into New Jersey as a result of the [[Care Bears]] provoking the [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|Great Cloudkeeper's]] wrath when they begin an [[Sugar Apocalypse|ethnic cleansing]] of the Care Bear Cousins.

{{quote|'''John Corzine:''' Hello. I'm New Jersey governor John Corzine. I hope you've enjoyed this reenactment of our state's proud history. [eats some rainbow] The Garden State: Come get in on some of this rainbow!}}

** In another episode, Marge and Homer are supposed to go to Dayton, Ohio for an elderly relative's birthday, but decide to take a last-minute romantic getaway to Miami...then wind up in Atlantic City when they find they're being tailed by Bart and Lisa. Homer and Marge are making out in a glass elevator, and Marge expresses (mock) concern about other people seeing them.

{{quote|'''Homer''': "What, they've never seen a fat guy making out? It's on the freakin' state flag!" (Cue a shot of a flag featuring a fat man kissing an attractive woman.)}}

 

== Other ==

* The magazine ''[http://www.weirdnj.com/ Weird NJ]'' has undoubtedly contributed to New Jersey's reputation as a [[Weirdness Magnet]]. Teenagers will often go on tours of the state using the magazine as their guide. Has been spun off into two books, as well as books covering other states.

* Most media about [[The American Revolution]] will reference New Jersey in some capacity. The state played a pivotal role in the war, being the host of some of its most famous battles. [[George Washington]]'s crossing of the Delaware River, immortalized by the famous painting, was the beginning of his attack on Trenton, and he made his winter camp at Morristown twice in the war.

** New York and Philadelphia (two of the three largest cities in the colonies at the time, with Patriot hotbed Boston the other) are literally next to it, and control of New Jersey meant quick access to both.

* An Iranian journalist who was imprisoned following the 2009 election riots said that his jailer/interrogator was obsessed with New Jersey, which he saw as some sort of capitalist American paradise and was intensely jealous that the journalist had been there. Neither the journalist nor [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]] could figure out the cause of that.

* Why did New York get all the lawyers and New Jersey get all the toxic waste? [[Take That|New Jersey got first pick.]]

* Speaking to almost any Pennsylvanian about New Jersey will almost inevitably result in them stating that New Jersey should be blown up. Why, you ask? Because New Jersey is the armpit of the country and Pennsylvania needs a beach. What lovely neighbors...

*** Nor does it help that on the other side of that very same river is Philadelphia.

* An old cartoon in ''The New Yorker'' shows a religious pilgrim walking through a dark tunnel with a glum look on his face. The caption explains that he has just learned that "the light at the end of the tunnel" is New Jersey.

* Why do so many people move from New Jersey to [[Hollywood New England|Vermont]]? They were in the northbound lane, had to go that far out of their way to make a U-turn and figured they might as well stay...

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Undead Horse Trope]]