Gossip Girl



Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, originally ran on The CW for six seasons from September 19, 2007 to December 17, 2012. Narrated by the omniscient blogger "Gossip Girl," voiced by Kristen Bell, the series revolves around the lives of privileged young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City.

The series begins with the return of Upper East Side it girl Serena van der Woodsen from a mysterious stay at a boarding school in Cornwall, Connecticut. Blair Waldorf, whom creators describe as the queen at the center of their chess game, is a longtime friend and occasional rival of Serena's, and the Queen B of Constance Billard School's social scene. The story also follows Chuck Bass, the bad boy of the Upper East Side, "golden boy" Nate Archibald, Chuck's best friend and Blair's boyfriend of many years. However, their relationship had been rocky ever since Serena left for boarding school. Other characters of the turbulent Manhattan scene are: Dan Humphrey, Dan's best friend Vanessa Abrams, and Dan's sister Jenny Humphrey.

The success of Gossip Girl led to adaptations outside the United States. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning 18 Teen Choice Awards. The CW officially renewed Gossip Girl for a sixth and final season on May 11, 2012. The final season, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered on October 8, 2012, and ended on December 17, 2012.

Development
The Gossip Girl book series was originally supposed to be adapted into a film starring Lindsay Lohan with head Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. When the film project did not get off the ground, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz took over the project to create a television series. As of October 2006, Schwartz was working on the pilot. He said: "I was very sceptical. I don't want to do The O.C. NYC. But I thought the books were smart. The characters are worldly in a way that Orange County Kids aren't." The characteristics for each character in the pilot were based on the first Gossip Girl book. In January 2007, the show was given the green light by The CW.

Production Team
The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and fellow writer Stephanie Savage have served as the show's executive producers throughout the series' run, followed by Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein of Alloy Entertainment, who were assigned in aiding the adaptation of the novels into the series. Following the success of Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls co-producer, John Stephens was approached by Schwartz and Savage, having previously worked with him on The O.C., and hired him as an executive producer. Joshua Safran, who started as a writer/consulting producer before becoming co-executive producer, was later added as an executive producer. On April 24, 2012, it was announced that he would leave the show at the end of the fifth season to be the new showrunner of NBC's now-cancelled musical series Smash. To fill in Safran's void, co-executive producer Sara Goodman was promoted to executive producer for the sixth season. Alexandra Patsavas who worked with Schwartz on The O.C. was in charge of the music. Eric Daman was at the head of the costume department; he previously had assisted Patricia Field on Sex and the City.

Casting
Featuring nine regular speaking roles, the majority of the ensemble cast was assembled from February to April 2007. Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, who started auditioning in December 2006, were the first two actresses to be chosen in February for the lead roles of Blair and Serena. Penn Badgley, who had previously worked with Stephanie Savage on The Mountain, Taylor Momsen , Chace Crawford , Kelly Rutherford and Connor Paolo also auditioned successfully and landed roles in the series in March, as did Florencia Lozano who appeared only in the pilot, and was replaced by Margaret Colin. Badgley had initially turned down the part of Dan. Actors for the roles of Chuck and Rufus Humphrey were found in April when English actor Ed Westwick and Matthew Settle were cast. Westwick first read for the role of Nate but was then asked to try Chuck. As rumours swirled about the impending cancellation of Veronica Mars, it was revealed at The CW's 2007 Upfronts on May 17, 2007 that Kristen Bell had narrated the pilot, thus making her the title character of another show on the network. Jessica Szohr was signed on to portray the recurring role of Vanessa and received regular status during the fourteenth episode of the first season. Kaylee DeFer joined the series in the eighteenth episode of the fourth season and was promoted to series regular for the show's fifth season.

At the conclusion of the fourth season, Momsen, who went on an indefinite hiatus during the season while retaining regular billing, and Jessica Szhor both left the show. Throughout the series' run, Connor Paolo consistently declined to elevate his recurring role of Eric van der Woodsen to regular status, citing personal reasons for his decision. After becoming a regular on the ABC series Revenge, Paolo confirmed his departure from Gossip Girl in August 2011.

As the show progressed, numerous recurring guest stars appeared in the show. Michelle Trachtenberg signed on to portray Georgina. The role had previously been offered to Mischa Barton who passed. Francie Swift and Sam Robards took the parental roles of Anne and Howard Archibald, respectively. Caroline Lagerfelt portrayed Celia "CeCe" Rhodes, Serena and Eric's grandmother and Lily's mother. Sebastian Stan made several appearances as Carter throughout the show's first three seasons.

Filming Locations
Primarily filming in New York, Gossip Girl has been declared by New York Magazine as the "Most Restauranty Show Since Sex and the City," citing the pilot episode filming locales such as the Japanese restaurant, Geisha, the Campbell apartment where Nate and Serena were filmed having sex and the New York Palace Hotel bar Gilt. Other New York City landmarks and well-known establishments were filmed throughout the first season. Victor/Victrola filmed the fictional infamous Chuck Bass burlesque club, Victrola, at the Box Manhattan, a sister club to The Box Soho in London. The fictional Constance Billard-St. Judes School, based on novel writer Cecily Von Ziegesar's alma mater, Nightingale-Bamford used external shots of the Museum of the City of New York.

The second season premiered at the Hamptons and began filming in mid-June. The season premiere opening montage showed a scene at Cooper's Beach that was instead filmed in Rockaway Beach followed by an elaborate white party. For the sixth episode of the season, Columbia University was used to film the Yale campus, an episode that followed disappointment from Yale fans due to it erroneous portrayal of the admissions process and reliance on Ivy League university stereotypes. During the season's seventh episode,  the Brooklyn Inn is integrated into the show. Remaining true to its New York locations, the show filmed at the Russian Tea Room.

The fourth season premiered on September 13, 2010 with the first two episodes filmed in Paris. New York Magazine revealed several locations shot at the French University, La Sorbonne in the Latin District (or Quarter Latin) of Paris on July 5. Other locations include the Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the Gare du Nord, Avenue Montaigne and Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Columbia University became the primary filming location for the first few episodes of the season following the Paris story arc.

The fifth season premiered on September 26, 2011 with the first two episodes filmed in Los Angeles, California.

Because of its location in New York, executive producer Stephanie Savage said "We were quickly told it would be too expensive, too complicated" at the beginning of the series. She told it had been proposed to shoot in a Los Angeles studio that would recreate Central Park but they eventually filmed the series in New York. Savage explained their choice to film there: "There's no New York City on TV, or there wasn't when we started making the pilot, except what you could see in the background behind the dead bodies on cop shows. We've never seen the city from the point of view of teenagers. It felt like a world with high stakes for young people." Schwartz added: "What's funny about these teenagers is they grew up watching Sex and the City, even though it wasn't about them. And I think they've probably incorporated that into how they mythologise New York. I fought really hard to shoot the show in New York because we want New York to be a character in the show. Many scenes were filmed in the Empire Hotel on the Upper West Side.

Episode Format
Each episode begins with the home page of the Gossip Girl website with Serena's picture from the pilot episode. Afterward, a recap of events relevant to the upcoming narrative is shown, which ends again with the home page of the website, only this time with a picture from other character(s) with a text about a recent event connected with the picture.

The narrator is Gossip Girl, voiced by Kristen Bell. She begins the recap with the sentence "Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite," and ends the recap with whispered voices saying "Where has she been?" "Serena" then the voice of Gossip Girl says: "And who am I? That's a secret I'll never tell. You know you love me. XO XO Gossip Girl."

During each episode, there is always an event taking place, whether small or large. Joshua Safran explained, "we structure it so that every week, the episode leads to an event. I feel like it is much like a procedural."

Cultural References
All of the episodes' titles are based on the name of a film or a novel. For example, episode "The Wild Brunch" evokes western film "The Wild Bunch" and "Seventeen Candles" from "Sixteen Candles". Episode "All About My Brother" refers to Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother" while "Pret-a-Poor-J" came from "Pret-a-Porter." "There Might Be Blood" took its title from 2007 film "There Will Be Blood." "The Serena Also Rises" was titled after novel "The Sun Also Rises." Episode "Easy J" was titled after Emma Stone's hit movie "Easy A." Episode "The Age of Dissonance," which was titled after Edith Wharton's novel "The Age of Innocence," saw a high school production of the novel taking place. Also "The Blair Witch Project" was turned into an episode called "The Blair Bitch Project."

Joshua Safran said, "we draw from classic works like Les Liaisons Dangereuses and "The Great Gatsby" as much as we do from pop culture.

Cast and Characters
List of Gossip Girl Characters

The first episodes of the first season included the original concept from the books, mainly following the lives of the five wealthy and privileged teenage characters in their high school years. Serena van der Woodsen is often described as the "it girl". It is revealed that she has had a scandalous past that continues to haunt her throughout the show and she is notorious for her many on-again, off-again relationships with countless male characters as well as her rebellious drive outs. Dan Humphrey is an outside who becomes a part of the turbulent Manhattan scene, an aspiring writer and fairly straight-arrow guy with a good heart and morals. Blair Waldorf is the beautiful Queen B of Constance Billard School's social scene, as well as Serena's best friend and occasional rival. Nate Archibald is the perfect "golden boy" of the Upper East Side, always being fought over by the prominent female characters, and deals with a lot of issues that compromise his 'perfect' life. Chuck Bass serves as the show's antihero, being a womaniser and party lover with a troubled life and past that provide a hidden vulnerable side.

Besides the five regular cast members mentioned above, three more characters appeared in the pilot episode. Jenny Humphrey is Dan's younger sister, who desperately tries to become the next queen bee, a goal that eventually makes her realise her true values of life; Lily van der Woodsen, Serena's mother; and Dan and Jenny's father Rufus Humphrey. They share a romantic past that follows them throughout the show and eventually leads to their marriage. The Humphrey family is centered upon as they explore life on the Upper East Side. Dan trying to look after his little sister as she discovers the party scene.

Vanessa Abrams, enters the show in its first season as Dan's past love, but still close friend, and becomes a series regular after the 14th episode. Other characters include Eric van der Woodsen, Serena's kind and compassionate brother, who comes out gay late in the first season and becomes very close with Jenny. Georgina Sparks is an occasional antagonist in the show, with a recurring role. Carter Baizen appears as Chuck's enemy with a romantic interest in Serena.

Ivy Dickens, an actress from Miami who is hired by Lily's sister, Carol Rhodes, to portray her daughter, Charlie, to access her trust fund. Ella Rae Peck plays the real Charlie Rhodes, who goes by the name of Lola.

Many characters appear as guest stars as parents and other relatives of the main cast. Eleanor Waldorf and Harold Waldorf (John Shea) appeared as Blair's divorced parents, with Cyrus Rose (Wallace Shawn) as Eleanor's husband and Blair's stepfather. Dorota Kishlovsky (Zuzanna Szadkowski) is Blair's loyal maid. Anne Archibald and Howard Archibald are Nate's estranged parents, while William van der Bilt I (James Naughton) and Trip van der Bilt (Aaron Tveit) are Nate's manipulative grandfather and cousin. Bart Bass (Robert John Burke) is Lily's late husband and Chuck's demanding father, and Jack Bass (Desmond Harrington) is Bart's brother and Chuck's sneaky uncle. CeCe Rhodes is Serena's grandmother and Lily's mother and Gabriela Abrams (Gina Torres) is Vanessa's mother. Introduced in Season 4 is Blair's new boyfriend/fiance, Louis Grimaldi (Hugo Becker).

Series Overview
List of Gossip Girl Episodes

Season 1: 2007-2008
The first season's main focus is Serena's sudden return to the Upper East Side following her mysterious disappearance. Initially, Serena's one night-stand with Nate, boyfriend to Serena's best friend Blair, was thought to be Serena's reason to leave. However, near the end of the season, the cunning Georgina, Serena's former friend, arrives on the Upper East Side, revealing that the night Serena slept with Nate didn't end there, Serena went to meet Georgina at the Stanhope Hotel and a man died in her presence under the influence of drugs, while being taped. The season also revolves around Serena's relationship with outside Dan; Blair's relationship with Nate and her affair with his best friend Chuck; brief romance between Serena's mother and Dan's father; Blair and Jenny's mentor-protege relationship; and the arrival of Dan's former best friend Vanessa. The season ends with the revelation of Serena's secret, causing the break up of Dan and Serena, and Chuck leaving Blair at the airport while she finds a new fun summer fling, before leaving for Europe. The pilot episode of the show follows the first book in the Gossip Girl series, but after that the show starts to separate itself from the books with different storylines.

Season 2: 2008-2009
The second season mainly explores the senior year of the characters with the premiere of the Hamptons and primarily focused on the relationship between Blair and Chuck, who were labelled "the heart of GG" by People magazine. At first, both characters negate their feelings for one another, and go through random schemes and manipulation.

The first half of the season deals with Serena's growing prominence as a socialite which draws the attention of Blair as their friendship is tested when the character of Poppy Lifton (Tamara Feldman) arrives, a socialite who inadvertently drives a wedge between Serena and Blair after inspiring Serena to take her place in the spotlight during the early episodes of the season. Nate faces the aftermath of his father's criminal past and pursues a relationship with Vanessa, who becomes further entangled into the world of the Upper East Side. Jenny reignites her rebellious nature by pursuing a career as a fashion designer, thereby challenging Rufus' skills as a parent while Dan's friendship with Nate and relationship with Serena slowly transforms him from a social outcast to an insider. The show finished its first half during the first week of December, with the shocking death of Bart Bass.

The second half of the season reveals the impact of Bart's death, causing a significant change of character direction for Chuck that subsequently leads to the growth of Rufus and Lily's relationship, the revelation of the two having a son together, and contributing to the decline of Dan and Serena's relationship. John Shea reprised his role as Harold Waldorf during a Thanksgiving episode and becomes entangled in Blair's striving ambition of attending Yale. Desmond Harrington entered the series as Chuck's manipulative uncle, Jack Bass. Feldman returned to the season with Armie Hammer as Serena's new love interest, Gabriel Edwards. Michelle Trachtenberg returned to the role of Georgina and filmed her scenes during February, also adjoining her character's return to the second season mystery.

A backdoor pilot for a spin-off premiered in May, but was not picked up by The CW to the limited number of spots available on their fall line-up.

As the storylines progressed, the role of Gossip Girl is slightly decreased. She continues to run her blog, but she keeps the ultimate information for herself, sending it in the final episode as the last blast, where Serena decides to find out who Gossip Girl really is, but ultimately fails. The season finale ended with a well-received kiss between Blair and Chuck.

Season 3: 2009-2010
The third season focuses on Blair, Dan and Vanessa getting into New York University along with movie star Olivia Burke (Hilary Duff), whom Dan starts dating; Nate getting into Columbia University; Serena taking a year off from school; Jenny becoming Queen Bee at Constance; and Chuck running Bass Industries, along with new adoptive mother Lily. The first couple of episodes feature past of the summer vacation, respectively the week before the start of University classes and school. The role of Gossip Girl is slightly decreased throughout the season.

Many guest-stars were cast throughout the season including Joanna Garcia as Bree Buckley, a love interest for Nate; America's Next Top Model creator Tyra Banks as Ursula Nyquist, a larger than life actress whom Serena served as a publicist for a short time; William Baldwin as William van der Woodsen, Serena and Eric's father, Lily's ex-husband and Rufus' long-time rival; and cameos by Lady Gaga, Tory Burch, Jimmy Fallon, Plastiscines, Georgina Chapman and Sonic Youth.

The ninth episode of the season caused a significant amount of controversy. Parent groups urged The CW not to air the episode as it contained a threesome. The preview for the episode revolved around an "OM3" theme. CW ignored these requests and announced that it was going to air the episode as planned.

Robert John Burke, who played Chuck's father, Bart Bass, returned for A Christmas Carol themed episode in December, while Desmond Harrington returned as Chuck's uncle Jack with a major storyline affecting Chuck and Blair's relationship again and involving Chuck's estranged mother Elizabeth Fisher (Laura Harring).

The season focused hugely on Jenny Humphrey's development and downward spiral. She spends a good past of the season alienating herself from Eric, her former best friend, and chasing after Nate, who has his heart set on Serena. At the end of the season, due to her one night stand with Chuck Bass, and new drug dealing habit, Jenny's father and Lily send her to Hudson, New York, to live with her mother. Other storylines include: Blair and Chuck's attempt and ultimate failure at having a successful relationship; Dan and Vanessa moving from friends to something more; and Serena's attempts to find herself through a new job and brief love affairs with Carter, Nate's married cousin Tripp and eventually Nate himself.