Gossip Girl
Posted on Sat, Sep. 15, 2007
BY GLENN GARVIN
Blake Lively stars as newly reformed social butterfly Serena.
The CW, channel 39
Time slot: 9-10 p.m.
Premiere: Sept. 26
Rating: ***
What's up: The social butterflies at a prep school in Manhattan's Upper East Side pull one another's wings off in this cross-generational soap based on the books by Cecily von Ziegesar. The big battle is between Serena -- once the school's It Girl, now returning after a sudden and an unexplained absence of many months -- and her former lieutenant Blair, now the top dogette. But practically everybody (including the parents) is poised to plunge a designer dagger into somebody else's back in this madly competitive swirl of social and sexual musical chairs. There are so many players you need a score card, which in this case is provided by a secretive but ubiquitous blogger known only as Gossip Girl, who seems to know everybody's next move even before they do.
Cast: Blake Lively (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as the reformed party princess Serena; Leighton Meester (Entourage) as the wary and vengeful Blair; Penn Badgley (John Tucker Must Die) and Taylor Momsen (Underdog) as middle-class brother and sister Dan and Jenny, who can't break into the clique; former models Nicole Fiscella and Nan Zhang as Blair's goons Isabel and Katy. Gossip Girl herself is never seen, but her voice belongs to Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars).
The scoop: If this sounds a little bit like an East Coast version of The O.C., it's because both shows were created by producer Josh Schwartz. He's painting the same picture on a different canvas: kids moving too fast, parents too preoccupied or morally crippled to help, all of it observed by outsiders desperate to make it in a rich kid's world. Clichés, certainly, but Schwartz spins them so creatively, with characters so engaging (or mustache-twirlingly villainous) that the show is irresistible.
Secret stuff: Between takes, Nan Zhang, who plays that nasty little Katy, attends Johns Hopkins. ''I studied ophthalmology and neuroscience research, and later I focused on photoreceptor retinal damage and ear protection,'' she says. ''Just after the pilot wrapped, I was also working on stem cell research, hematopoietic stem cells. So it's definitely a whole different genre.'' Nah, The CW's got it covered -- The Search for the Next Hematopoietic Stem Cell debuts at mid-season, with Paris and Nicole hosting.
Join the discussion
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Not a registered user? It's Free!
Register here. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
