Half of the Jersey Shore cast will be getting fired. The four popular ones are staying and the four who never appear in the footage are getting the boot, to be replaced by four who might ramp up the action and get the show bigger and better than it already is.

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More pictures of the gang after the fist pump…

Guess who is safe from the MTV chopping block? Why even bother keeping half of them?

The oil-soaked handwriting is on the wall … TMZ has learned “Jersey Shore” is about lose 4 familiar, overly-tanned faces in Season 3 … to make room for 4 fresh overly-tanned faces.

Our spies tell us … the footage that was already shot of Sammi, Ronnie, Vinny and Angelina has “underwhelmed” MTV honchos. As for replacing them for Season 3, one source said, “They should be very worried.”

As for The Situation, Snooki, Pauly D and Jwoww … they’re sold for next season.

Sure, they picked the four who get in trouble the most to keep! Do you think MTV picked the right four to keep on the show?

Photos: Bauer Griffin

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