( CNN ) -- Critics may have been divided over the MTV reality show `` Buckwild '' when it premiered last year , but fans were n't . According to the site TV By The Numbers , it ranked as the top-rated original cable series on Thursday nights among viewers 12 to 34 , and pulled in an average of 3 million total viewers per episode since its premiere in January . So reports of the death of 21-year-old cast member Shain Gandee on Monday hit fans hard . Shain Gandee was happy with life before death . `` I still can not get over the fact that Shain Gandee died he was my favorite , '' tweeted one fan named Buffy Sue . `` Rest In Peace . # Buckwild '' The series , which follows a group of young people as they have fun in Sissonville , West Virginia , was controversial before it even aired . Many believed the show would fill the void of the wildly successful `` Jersey Shore , '' which featured plenty of drunken shenanigans , hookups and fights . Before `` Buckwild '' premiered , Sen. Joe Manchin , D-West Virginia , sent MTV a letter calling it a `` travesty . '' `` This show plays to ugly , inaccurate stereotypes about the people of West Virginia , '' he wrote . John Stevens , the executive producer of the show , countered that the series was actually unlike any others on television , as the `` Buckwild '' bunch 's idea of a good time was more hanging out in the woods than on Twitter or Facebook . `` [ I ] t 's not like looking at a train wreck . ... There is a certain coolness to it , '' Stevens told Entertainment Weekly . `` It 's different than a lot of the stuff that has been produced . I think it 's going to get people talking and it might change people 's perspectives . These kids are totally wild and carefree . It will be very refreshing to the MTV audience . '' In reviewing the show , The Hollywood Reporter said it `` follows a slew of wild , drunken West Virginians in their late teens and early 20s . '' `` Not only is it another tired portrayal of Southern stereotypes , but it 's also inexcusably poorly executed , '' the review said . `` The six girls and three boys ( trouble is sure to brew with those odds ) stumble through and stiffly carry out their force-fed cues . '' Hollywood.com was a bit more forgiving . `` Sure , watching them might be amusing fun ( I ca n't wait to see that insane lady in the red wig yell at them ) but it 's never going to be as good as 'Jersey Shore , ' no matter how wild it purports to be , '' the website said . Despite the lackluster reviews , MTV recently renewed the show for a second season . On `` Buckwild , '' Gandee was shown as a charming Southern guy who early on competed with fellow castmate Tyler for the affections of Cara . Gandee noted that he lived in a community surrounded by relatives ( `` They call it a holler 'cause when you holler , everybody can hear ya '' ) and in a sneak peek of the show , his mother , Loretta , is shown expressing how much her son loved his job hauling trash . What happens when reality TV starts getting real . The nine cast members were shown partying , camping and `` mudding , '' where participants spin a vehicle in the mud until everyone inside is covered . Mud played a role in Gandee 's death . His body was found , along with his uncle , David Dwight Gandee , 48 , and Donald Robert Myers , 27 , inside the family 's Ford Bronco . Authorities said the vehicle was partially submerged in mud , including the muffler . On Tuesday , an MTV representative told CNN that production on the series had been suspended . 'Buckwild ' star , two others died of carbon monoxide poisoning .
` ` Shore '' was a popular reality series on MTV . The show was intended to be a replacement for ` ` Jersey Shore '' . Gandee was portrayed as a charming guy who loved his job .