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·GOSSIP GIRL·

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Category:	Entertainment and Arts
Created:	May 25, 2008
Type:	Public
Members:	102
Owner:	Karïn
Language:	English
Country:	United States of America

Gossip Girl is an American television teen drama based on the popular novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with se , drugs, jealousy, and other teenage issues. Featuring an ensemble cast, the series begins by introducing Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and best friend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), as well as Blair's boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) and Nate's best friend Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick). Other characters in the show include Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), who become involved in the lives of the main characters despite being less inclined to merge with the upper-east-side crowd. The series is narrated by a seemingly omniscient character, "Gossip Girl" (voiced by Kristen Bell), who runs a blog about her fellow Upper East Siders — consequently stirring the plot and creating potential rivalries in this exclusive and vicious circle of friends.[1]

The show was developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who also serve as executive producers alongside Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein.[2] It is produced by Warner Bros. Television, College Hill Productions and Alloy Entertainment.

The series first aired on September 18, 2007 in Canada on CTV before premiering in the U.S. a day later on September 19, 2007 on The CW, following America's Next Top Model.[1][3] The premiere episode also became available on the iTunes Store as a free download on September 14, 2007, four days before the series' debut. The show received the first full season order of 22 episodes of the 2007/2008 television season of the five major broadcast networks when The CW picked it up in October 2007.[4]

Gossip Girl returned on Monday, April 21, 2008, with five new episodes to follow.[5] The CW announced on March 3, 2008 that Gossip Girl would return for a second season consisting of 24 episodes.[6]

CASTING

Featuring nine regular speaking roles, the majority of the ensemble cast were assembled from February to April 2007. Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were the first two actresses to be chosen in February for the lead roles of Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf respectively.[20] Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford , Kelly Rutherford and Florencia Lozano also auditioned successfully and landed roles in the series in March.[21][22][23] Actors for the roles of Chuck Bass and Rufus Humphrey were found in April when Ed Westwick and Matthew Settle were cast.[24] As rumors 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.[25] Further additions to the cast included Jessica Szohr who joined the show in September 2007 as Dan's childhood best friend, Vanessa Abrams.[26] A more recent addition to the cast to play the role of bratty Georgina Sparks, rival of Serena and Blair, is Michelle Trachtenberg.[27]

MAIN CHARACTERS

Narrated through the eyes of the omniscient yet unseen character called "Gossip Girl" (voiced by Kristen Bell), this inconspicuous person runs a popular gossip commentary blog which holds the attention of all major characters on the show as she brings up-to-the-minute talk about the Upper East Side social scene. Blake Lively portrays Serena van der Woodsen, the former It girl who, a time before the show's beginning, had suddenly left Manhattan for a boarding school of her own accord for reasons unknown until the end of the first season, thereby straining relations with her best friend, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester).

Although Blair was hurt by her best friend's departure, she relishes in her new position as the Queen Bee in their circle of friends, along with her boyfriend, Nate Archibald, though blissfully unaware of Nate's involvement in Serena's sudden departure. All is not well in Blair's household however-- her father left her mother for a male model Roman (who did work for Eleanor Waldorf), further straining Blair and her mother's already tense relationship. Furthermore, Blair has struggled and continues to struggle with Bulimia Nervosa.

Nate is conflicted about life and struggles with pressure from his parents to attend (Dartmouth College). Additionally, his father has a crippling cocaine addiction as his mother remains in denial about the cracks forming in their perfect world. Nate also feels trapped in his relationship with Blair Waldorf, as he is in love with Serena and slept with her directly before she left.

Fueling his Nate's demons is his childhood friend, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick). Cynical and morally bankrupt, Chuck walks on the wild side of life and is not above abusing others to service his own needs. However, Chuck does retain a soft spot for his best friend Nate, and Blair, who is herself, just as manipulative as Chuck. Predictably, later in the season Chuck falls hard for Blair, his best friend's, girlfriend.

When Serena returns from her self-imposed exile (as first reported by "Gossip Girl"), she finds herself excluded from her old crowd after her former betrayals come to light but she soon finds an ally in Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), an outsider in her privileged world. Thrust into a society where their financial and social status do not match that of their contemporaries by their former rock star father turned art gallery owner, Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle), Dan and his younger sister Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) struggle to find a niche in their new environment. Rufus is struggling to reconcile with his estranged wife and also has a secret history with Serena's mother, socialite Lillian van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), who was once a groupie. Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr), a former guest, is Dan's best friend, who just so happens to be in love with him was added as a main cast member after the end of the writers' strike and became Nate Archibald's new love interest