Love or hate its rambunctious cast, the show that made Seaside Heights famous - or, at least, infamous - is going off the air.

MTV announced Thursday afternoon its hit series "Jersey Shore" will end after a recently-taped season airs this fall.

The sixth season of the series, which since 2009 has chronicled the oft-drunken misadventures of eight 20-somethings living in a house on Ocean Terrace in Seaside Heights, will premier Oct. 4 at 10 p.m., but when the season ends, it will not return.

The network will air "Gym, Tan, Look Back" as part of a farewell marathon Sept. 6, and the cast will make an appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards that night.

The network has not given a reason why the series is ending.

In addition to the well-documented antics at local night spots such as Karma, Aztec and The Beachcomber Bar and Grill, three cast members wound up in handcuffs over the last several summers the show has taped in Ocean County.

Cast member Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was accepted into the state's pretrial intervention program after being charged with aggravated assault, and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Deena Cortese both were arrested and paid fines relating to borough ordinance violations in Seaside for nuisance behavior.

Most recently, Polizzi and fellow cast member Jennifer "J-Woww" Farley have returned to Ocean County to tape episodes of spin-off program "Snooki and J-Woww" in Manchester.