XOXO, Gossip Girl

Introduction

Secrets, scandal, socialites, and success: this show has all you need to dive right into the dramatic lives of New York City’s wealthy elite.  Both set and produced in NYC, this show highlights the lavish lifestyles of teenagers from some of the wealthiest families in the city, documenting the parties, drama, fights, relationships, and struggles of a group of students at Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Judes School for Boys; they are sister schools, so the lives of the guys and girls are closely intertwined, even during the school day.  A group of four (seemingly) best friends and the “poor” Dan Humphrey take the stage as the main characters of the show.  News breaks that the party-girl Serena van der Woodsen is back from her year-long (unexpected) hiatus, and this stirs up drama in the school, especially between her and her best friend, Blair.

The show is based off of the preppy lives of such students as they pass through high school like every other normal teenager.  However, they do so while also juggling family drama, inheritances, media attention, and Gossip Girl, a gossip site that documents the every move of the main characters at the school.  People send in photos and stories to the infamous Gossip Girl, who then shares these blasts on the site for all at the school- and elsewhere- to read.  The main characters- Blair Waldorf, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Serena van der Woodsen, and Dan and Jenny Humphry- all are victims of the constant attacks by this anonymous source and have to face everyday issues while also struggling with all of their secrets being exposed online.  They all have to try and live their lavish lives while avoiding the eye of Gossip Girl, navigating different relationships and college applications and fights with parents.  Every relationship, affair, party, fight, and scandal is somehow caught and posted onto this site, making the show one full of drama, pettiness, and crazy plot twists.

If you’re looking for a show filled with drama, heartbreak, and revenge, this is definitely the show for you.  The story-line is always interesting and the characters leave you cheering on their relationships, hoping things will go their way.  And whenever everything seems fine, something always comes up- there is never not a twist, and Gossip Girl never leaves a stone unturned.  All of the drama and secrets are revealed, and the way the characters face these problems and confront their friends about certain issues is totally entertaining.  And even in the sixth season the show was interesting and fresh, since the problems are not really repeated throughout the show.  The writers did a great job of coming up with new ideas to hook the audience.  I’ve probably seen this show at least five times, and I can say with certainty that it is worth it.  Even if you are not a drama fan, it is still an exciting show to watch, and I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who needs a good show to binge.

Production Information

Not only was the show set in NYC, but it was also filmed there, capturing many scenes in various iconic New York settings, helping the show seem a bit more realistic while also glorifying the New York City (specifically the Upper East Side) life.  It was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who served as the executive producers during the show’s airing, as was based off of the Gossip Girl book series.  While there were different ideas on how to take the show at first, especially with the casting, the creators decided to stick to the characteristics of the books and move away from a New York City “rendition” of The O.C. The show ran six seasons, from 2007-2012, with a total of 121 episodes.  However, the last season has only 10 episodes, so make sure to watch sparingly and not binge it all too quickly!

Script and Acting

As crazy as it may seem, there are many people residing in the Upper East Side who live very similarly to the characters of the show, where something such as Sunday brunch consists of 100 people and food catered from the hottest restaurant in the city and private wait service.  The show did not seem too unrealistic, maybe aside from the colleges that the students attended and how these schools were portrayed.  Nevertheless, the script was very well written in my opinion, and the writers did an amazing job of creating each of the characters to be unique and independent yet interconnected.  The character development of many of the characters was also very interesting to see, as some characters redeem themselves from major failures and shortcomings, and others begin to get on your nerves (cue Jenny Humphrey and even Serena, who just gets to be slightly annoying, in my opinion).  But the writers never wrote a dry episode and made sure that each story-line is even better than the last.

As for the acting, this show features many very famous actors and actresses, such as Blake Lively (The Age of Adeline, Green Lantern, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and more), Chace Crawford (What to Expect When You’re Expecting, The Covenant), and Penn Badgley (Easy A, John Tucker Must Die, and the hit TV show You).  The acting skills of the cast are tremendous, as all of them are experienced and talented in their own right.  Additionally, various famous actors came on the show for cameos or smaller recurring roles, such as Hillary Duff, Sebastian Stan, Elizabeth Hurley, and Tyra Banks.  The casting team made sure to get the top actors and actresses for these parts, and they succeeded tremendously; each actor was almost perfectly suited for their part, making the show all the more better.

Despite the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 84% (which is actually pretty high, considering that Rotten Tomatoes typically has fairly harsh ratings of most shows and movies), I would have to give this show a 95% rate of approval.  While there were times when the characters were so unbelievably annoying, that was the point and part of the plot, so it was technically written very well!  As someone who loved 90210, this is almost a New York City version, with the same type of love-triangles and death scandals and family drama.  If you’re in need of a new drama show to binge, I would definitely recommend trying out Gossip Girl.