Are
you suffering withdrawal symptoms since The O.C. finished?
Have you been pining for a show in which beautiful, hopelessly
rich young things bitch about each other and look for ways to
knife each other in the back? If you answered ‘yes’
to either question, then Gossip Girl is for you.
The show is actually a cut above The O.C.
and similar shows of its ilk, mainly because it makes good use
of some ideas not usually associated with television drama. First
off, a key participant in the show – the eponymous ‘Gossip
Girl’ – remains anonymous. She (or is she a she?)
is the online tag of a gossipy blogger in New York City, with
one finger on the pulse of an exclusive clique of wealthy kids
from the city’s moneyed Upper East Side.
Although these kids are supposedly in school, they
seem to attend very rarely, and spend most of their time at parties
or hanging out in bars, where they never seem to have any trouble
getting a martini. Such are the privileges of wealth in NYC, I
guess.
So with the blogger out of sight, albeit with her
thoughts relayed via voice-over (the voice being provided by Kristen
Bell from Heroes), the main focus of the show is this clique of
privileged kids. At the core of the group is Blair Waldorf (yep,
like the hotel) played by Leighton Meester. Seems Blair was once
besties with Serena van der Woodsen (another great name) played
by actress Blake Lively. However, an incident involving Serena
and Blair’s longtime boyfriend Nate (Chace Crawford) has
seen Serena packed off to boarding school in Connecticut (which,
in Gossip Girl world might as well be, like, Mars). Now Serena
is back and Blair feels her apple cart is tipping over. But it
seems Serena has been chastened by her experience, and has tired
of the ‘scene’. Instead, she finds solace in the arms
of the decidedly not-rich Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgeley). Although
Dan attends the same school as the rich kids, he and his sister
Jenny (Taylor Momsen) are very much outsiders; and are looked
down on by others, including the very nasty Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick).
So the dynamic of the ‘poor’ kids (who
aren’t really that poor) invading the well-heeled world
of the ‘rich’ kids is established. One of the ‘rich’
kids is falling for one of the ‘poor’ kids (Romeo
& Juliet anyone?); and all the while, Gossip Girl
is keeping everyone informed and on their does via her online
postings. At times, it becomes a bit like Cruel Intentions-lite,
but the comparison isn’t an unflattering one.
Although
Gossip Girl isn’t going to win any prizes for either
originality or intellectual depth, this dark little show has enough
going for it to make it worth giving at least a few episodes.
The interaction between the characters is a little confusing at
times, but there’s enough bitchiness to keep things interesting;
and enough hope to keep it from wallowing in the mire of its own
bleakness.
Yes, at times it strays into soap opera territory,
but its scripts are solid enough to ensure it doesn’t remain
there permanently. It should also be noted that the show features
a fair amount of unsavoury teen behaviour, including binge drinking,
smoking joints and shagging your best friend’s boy. As a
result, it’s certainly not suitable fare for under-15s,
or anyone offended by such depictions of debauchery.
Leighton Meester looks to have studied plenty of
teen flicks of the bitchy teen girl sub-genre (think Bring
It On without the cheerleading) for her part as Blair. As
her nemesis Serena, Blake Lively seems a little too old for the
part (although she’s actually only 20); but somehow manages
to pull it off. Of the guys, I must admit I had problems telling
some of them apart, as the casting director seems to gone for
the ‘dark haired jock’ type for every role. Ed Westwick
however is clearly the stand-out as the dangerous and possibly
unhinged Chuck.
As I said, Gossip Girl isn’t going
to win many awards, but in the arid wasteland that is summer programming,
it’s at least a cooling zephyr. I can see this achieving
cult status in the way The O.C. did before it became
overly popular. It won’t be to all tastes, but if you’re
missing shows like Desperate Housewives, it could be
worth a look.
Phil James
To see a clip from Gossip
Girl, click the play button below:
Are
you suffering withdrawal symptoms since The O.C. finished?
Have you been pining for a show in which beautiful, hopelessly
rich young things bitch about each other and look for ways to
knife each other in the back? If you answered ‘yes’
to either question, then Gossip Girl is for you. 
Although
Gossip Girl isn’t going to win any prizes for either
originality or intellectual depth, this dark little show has enough
going for it to make it worth giving at least a few episodes.
The interaction between the characters is a little confusing at
times, but there’s enough bitchiness to keep things interesting;
and enough hope to keep it from wallowing in the mire of its own
bleakness.