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Some W. Va. Natives Upset By New MTV Series "Buckwild"

CHARLESTON, W. Va. (CBS) -- The new reality show "Buckwild" premiered on MTV Thursday night. It features young people having a good ol' time, but some say it sends the wrong message.

Welcome to the new "Jersey Shore," 500 miles away in Charleston, West Virginia.

For six weeks this past spring, Melissa Whitman and her family lived across the street from guys and girls going "Buckwild."

It's MTV's latest series, and for the Whitmans, the only thing worse than the late night noise is confrontations like one between a cast member and a neighbor.

"I watched the producer actually talk to the lady and tell her exactly how he wanted her to come off on film," said Whitman. "I guess they thought that we were all uneducated."

Waitresses at the First Watch Diner are angry that West Virginians and their state are being portrayed as rowdy rednecks.

"It just feeds into all the stereotypes about West Virginia," said one waitress.

Reporter: "So, if I were going to do a real reality show about West Virginia, what would it look like?"

"You'd have a lot of hard working people that provide for their families, and do what they have to do, sometimes that means working two or three jobs," said another waitress.

Before he was mayor of Charleston, Danny Jones was the county sheriff overseeing Sissonville. It's here, 15 minutes outside of Charleston, where much of the action in "Buckwild" takes place.

"You can find all kinds of people living in Sissonville, W.Va., and they're not people like that are going to be portrayed in 'Buckwild,'" said Mayor Jones.

Sound familiar? It should.

"They're not from New Jersey," said N.J. Gov. Chris Christie in Nov. 2011 of the hit MTV show "Jersey Shore." "They parachuted these losers in."

Like the Garden State's famously feisty governor; W.Va. Sen. Joe Manchin has also denounced MTV's version of reality.

"In no way, shape or form is this reality; and definitely not reality in West Virginia," said Sen. Manchin.

RELATED LINKS:
W. Va. Senator Asks MTV To Scrap "Buckwild" (12/7/12)
More West Virginia News

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