Editor's note: David Bianculli is founder and editor of TVWorthWatching.com. He is a TV critic for NPR's "Fresh Air" and teaches TV and film history at Rowan University in New Jersey.

(CNN) -- The name of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie surfaced once again in the national news this week, floated by some as a possible new entrant in the ever-widening, fickle field of Republican presidential contenders.

But Christie got even more attention on his own by heading straight to the "Jersey Shore" -- the TV show.

On Monday, Christie vetoed a $420,000 tax break previously granted to MTV's most popular program -- the highly viewed and just as highly derided reality series featuring Snooki, The Situation and other often inebriated free-range narcissists. In denying the show's producers the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's 20% tax credit on TV shows filmed or produced in the state, Christie said it was unjustifiable "for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens."