Imagine this: teenage prep school
socialites sipping martinis in a hotel bar,
carrying Chanel clutches and wearing
Jimmy Choos to English class, and smoking
pot during a leisurely public walk in
Central Park-is there a world where
these glamorous and unusual things are
a complete social norm?
Welcome to the fabulous world of
“Gossip Girl,” where nothing is as it
seems.
More than a year ago, the CW aired its
pilot episode of “Gossip Girl,” a drama
based on the best-selling novels by
Cecily von Ziegesar.
The show is about mega-rich kids on Manhattan’s
posh Upper East Side.
Nicknamed the East Coast counterpart of Fox’s
hit show “The OC,” “Gossip Girl,” it may come as
no surprise, is produced and co-written by Josh
Schwartz, the creator of “The OC.”
Because of the large following from the book
series, the show was already set to have a huge fan
base right out of the gate, and although the plot
isn’t identical to that of the books, the basic principles
are still in sync.
The ambiguous “Gossip Girl”(Kristen Bell) is an
anonymous blogger who writes the daily dish
about the scandals that run the lives of these trust
fund kids, namely the show’s leading “frenemies,”
Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Serena van
der Woodson (Blake Lively.)
While the show’s main draw is the glitz and
glamour of its characters’ lifestyles, it is brought
back down to Earth with the addition of the
Humphreys, a middle-class family living in
Brooklyn with Rufus (Matthew Settle), a washedup
’90s rocker for a father, and two children, Dan
(Penn Badgley) and Jenny (Taylor Momsen).
They serve as the stereotypical blue-collar outcasts
at their Manhattan prep school filled with
powerful elitists and heiresses.
After the show’s successful first season, what’s
next for the CW’s cult hit?
The second season, which premiered on Sept. 1,
has taken off.
The show is tentatively set in the Hamptons, with
even more scandal and captivating storylines that
keep fans tuning in week after week.
So far this season, we’ve watched as Nate began
sleeping with an older married woman, Blair unexpectedly
began and later ended a relationship with
a British royal, Serena and Dan get back together
just to break up yet again, and Chuck comes to the
rescue of the Archibald family, whose bank
accounts have been frozen due to the charges of
embezzlement and fraud against Nate’s father,
“The Captain,” who fled the country.
Whew!
That’s only a brief summary of the drama thus
far, but don’t worry – if you haven’t been keeping
up on this year’s juicy season, some of the episodes
can be viewed for free on the CW’s website, or purchased
on iTunes.
Knowing the show’s history, it can only get better
from here. You’re sure to love it.