Let’s be honest – not everyone loves the drama and debauchery of Jersey Shore.  But like them or hate them, as MSNBC explains in this video, the cast are “pop culture icons.”

This Today Show video goes behind-the-scenes and goes into the contractual negotiations that threatened to pull the plug on the second season.  The end result – Snooki and The Situation are reportedly pulling down around $40,000 per episode.  To get wasted and not remember things. Nice.

In addition, you’ll see the cast targeted by individuals such as New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie.  The interview kicks off at around 4:20, if you’d rather skip all of the other details.

“We don’t come here and think about money, we come to party,” says Snooki in the interview portion. Wow, all business. Gotta admire that dedication.

Matt Lauer tries a little to hard to ask the tough questions, not realizing that these aren’t world leaders, they’re entertainers.  Take yourself a little more seriously, bro.  We’re all impressed.

You can see the video here.