MTV has decided to end Jersey Shore, their still-popular reality TV series, after six seasons. The final season recently wrapped production in Seaside Heights and will begin airing on October 4th.

The cable channel will also air a retrospective Jersey Shore special — Gym, Tan, Look Back — on Thursday, Sept. 6th. The special will include a first look at the final season and will air prior to the Video Music Awards. The Jersey Shore cast will make a live appearance on the red carpet during the Awards’ pre-show.

The series won’t completely leave the MTV however. The cable channel recently renewed spin-off Snooki & JWoww for a second season.

Here’s the press release from MTV:

MTV ANNOUNCES THE FINAL SEASON OF POP CULTURE PHENOMENON “JERSEY SHORE,” WITH SEASON SIX MARKING THE FINAL SUMMER IN SEASIDE, PREMIERING ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 AT 10:00 P.M. ET/PT

The End of an Era Begins Thursday, September 6 Leading up to the “2012 VMA’s” as MTV Gives Viewers the First Look at Footage from the Final Season in the “Jersey Shore” Special, “Gym, Tan, Look Back,” at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT

Cast Will Give Interviews LIVE from the “2012 MTV Video Music Awards Pre-Show” Red Carpet at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT and Network to Air All-Day Marathon Starting at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT

New York, NY (August 30, 2012) – Although the party will never be over, summers at the “Shore” are officially coming to a close. MTV today announced that Season Six of “Jersey Shore,” premiering on Thursday, October 4 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, will mark the FINAL SEASON of the pop culture phenomenon.

MTV will kick-off a season’s worth of celebratory “Jersey Shore” farewell programming beginning Thursday, September 6, leading up to the night’s “2012 MTV Video Music Awards “at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, that includes:

· MTV will reward fans with an EXCLUSIVE, FIRST LOOK AT FOOTAGE FROM THE FINAL SEASON in the one-hour retrospective special, “Gym, Tan, Look Back, ” premiering at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT. The special also features cast interviews in which they reminisce about quintessential water-cooler moments from the show, share their personal feelings on the last six seasons, and give their perspective on the series that turned them into household names.

· Then at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT, members of the “Jersey Shore” cast gathers for their FIRST INTERVIEWS post-announcement to discuss the final season LIVE from the “2012 MTV Video Music Awards Pre-Show” red carpet.

· The full-day celebration kick-off at 11 a.m. ET/PT with an “awards-themed” marathon of “Jersey Shore” episodes, which will feature some of the most iconic moments in the series’ history worthy of an award, including “Best Bromance,” among others.

Following Season Six premiere on October 4, MTV will give viewers bonus programming each week at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT following all-new episodes, from fan-favorite after shows with the cast, to the scintillating reunion special and more.

“Jersey Shore” is MTV’s highest rated series ever in the network’s history and it has achieved and maintained television domination as the #1 cable series for P12-34 consecutively for all five of its previous seasons. The fan fascination with the series led to a Thursday night, 10-spot programming domination and a burgeoning franchise that to date includes, the domestic spinoff series “The Pauly D Project” and “Snooki & JWOWW,” the latter of which will airs its season finale on Thursday, September 13 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

“Jersey Shore” has been one of MTV’s top performing series across all of the network’s international markets and within its target audience of youth viewers 12-24, performing particularly well in Australia, Denmark, Singapore, Spain, Mexico, the UK, Poland, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden. “Jersey Shore” has inspired two international versions for MTV, further expanding the franchise: “Geordie Shore” in the UK is the #1 show in MTV UK history and will air its fourth season later this year, and “Gandia Shore” in Spain is currently in production filming season one.

“Jersey Shore” is executive produced by SallyAnn Salsano from 495 Productions. Jacquelyn French is executive producer for MTV. Janay Dutton is Executive In Charge of Production for MTV. Concept created by Anthony Beltempo.

Sources: Nielsen. Live+SD. Ranked on 000s. Jersey Shore Seasons 1-5. http://videomind.ooyala.com/blog/key-trends-2012-social-tv-season-infographic Techedge international. AU OzTAM, NatSTV panel, DE MMS, IE AGB Nielsen, MX Ibope, NL SKO, PL AGB Nielsen, SG Kantar Media, SP kantar Media, SE MMS, UK BARB UK. Basis: Averaged runs 07:00-02:00h. FY 2012 TD: Oct 2011 – July 2012. Reach +1min consec. Series 10+ runs long-form series.

About MTV:

MTV is the world’s premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV’s sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

What do you think? Are you going to miss the Jersey Shore TV show? Have you watched the spin-off?