Lobo (TV series)

Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl title card
Developed by	Josh Schwartz Stephanie Savage
Starring	Blake Lively Leighton Meester Penn Badgley Chace Crawford Taylor Momsen Ed Westwick Jessica Szohr Kelly Rutherford Matthew Settle
Narrated by	Kristen Bell
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Josh Schwartz Stephanie Savage Bob Levy Leslie Morgenstein John Stephens
Original release
Network	The CW (USA) A (Canada) FOX8 (AUS)
Release	September 19, 2007 – present

Gossip Girl is an American television teen drama inspired by the popular novel series of the same name, written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl satirizes and revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York City's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, jealousy, and other teenage issues.

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. 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 18 episodes of the 2007/2008 television season of the five major broadcast networks when The CW picked it up in October 2007.

Gossip Girl returned on Monday, April 21, 2008, with five new episodes to follow. The CW announced on March 3, 2008 that Gossip Girl would return for a second season consisting of 24 episodes. In Canada, CTV will send the series down to the relaunched A-Channel for the second season, Sundays at 8:00 p.m. E/P.

The second season premiered September 1, 2008 on The CW, A And sometime In Janurary In Australia

Production

Conception

The project was originally intended to be adapted into a film by Warner Bros. with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino set to write the screenplay and actress Lindsay Lohan attached to star as Blair Waldorf and pop singer Britney Spears to portray Serena van der Woodsen; the film never went into production and was ultimately shelved. Later, the series was set again to be re-adapted, but for a TV series for FOX rather than a movie. This project was again cancelled. The novel series was then again reconsidered for adaptation for television on The CW by Alloy Entertainment. Development of the show began in August 2006 when The CW gave it a put pilot commitment, with Josh Schwartz on board to create and executive produce. In January 2007, the network gave the greenlight for the pilot order and it was confirmed that Schwartz's fellow scribe on The O.C., Stephanie Savage, had co-written it with him. Mark Piznarski (Veronica Mars) directed the first two hours of the series. The network gave the series an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order on May 15, 2007.

Music

Alexandra Patsavas, the noted music supervisor on Tru Calling, Supernatural, Shark, and more notably The O.C and Grey's Anatomy which both spanned multiple commercially successful soundtracks, will also be credited for the selection of music used on Gossip Girl. In contrast to her consistent use of independent music and alternative artists on those two shows, Patsavas will be incorporating current Top 40 hits on the series explaining, "I'm relying on old favorites while exploring current pop music. And since the show revolves primarily around high school students in New York, we'll definitely be using some New York-based bands. But these kids listen to the radio, too."

Broadcasting history

Originally scheduled to air on September 26, 2007, the premiere was moved up a week earlier as announced during the 2007 Television Critics Association summer press tour. As a result of this, the previously planned two-hour ninth season premiere of America's Next Top Model was edited to one hour. The pilot was provided as a free download at the iTunes Store on September 14, 2007. The first season of Gossip Girl made its television debut on CTV in Canada on September 18, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. whilst The CW, the original broadcast network of the show, aired the pilot a day later at 9:00 p.m. E/P. In Australia, Gossip girl premiered on the subscription channel FOX8 on December 4, 2007 at 8:30pm, and on the timeshift channel at 10:30pm.

The Writers Strike caused the series to be pulled off the air from the months of January to April. During the strike The CW re-aired the first 13 episodes hopefully leading up to the return of the series. After the strike ended, it was later announced that the series would return April 21, 2008, with five new episodes.

Spinoff

In June 2008 rumors surfaced about a possible spin-off based around the character Jenny Humphrey, based on the book series The It Girl, but Josh Schwartz denied the claims, saying that there was nothing in development.

Cast and characters

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. Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford, Kelly Rutherford, Connor Paolo and Florencia Lozano also auditioned successfully and landed roles in the series in March. Actors for the roles of Chuck Bass and Rufus Humphrey were found in April when Ed Westwick and Matthew Settle were cast. 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. Further additions to the cast included Jessica Szohr who joined the show in September 2007 as Vanessa Abrams.

Characters

Main article: Characters of Gossip Girl

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 opulent, elite Upper East Side social scene. Leighton Meester portrays Blair Waldorf, the Queen Bee that has a strained relationship with her best friend Serena van der Woodsen (played by Blake Lively). Serena is the former It girl that suspiciously left Manhattan for a self imposed stint at boarding school before the beginning of the first season.

Although Blair was hurt by her best friend's departure, she relishes her new position as the Queen Bee in their circle of friends, along with her boyfriend, Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), though she is 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 worked for Eleanor Waldorf), further straining Blair and her mother's already tense relationship.

Nate leads an angst-filled 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 problems 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 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 for Blair, who is just as manipulative as Chuck. Later in the season, Chuck realizes he has romantic feelings for Blair.

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 peers 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, and is secretly in love with him. She was added as a main cast member after the end of the writers' strike and became Nate Archibald's new love interest. Vanessa also appears in season 2 as Nate's love interest.

Actor	Character	Main Cast Season	Recurring Cast Seasons
Leighton Meester	Blair Waldorf	1, 2	NA
Blake Lively	Serena van der Woodsen	1, 2	NA
Penn Badgley	Dan Humphrey	1, 2	NA
Chace Crawford	Nate Archibald	1, 2	NA
Taylor Momsen	Jenny Humphrey	1, 2	NA
Ed Westwick	Chuck Bass	1, 2	NA
Jessica Szohr	Vanessa Abrams	1, 2	1*
Kelly Rutherford	Lily van der Woodsen	1, 2	NA
Matthew Settle	Rufus Humphrey	1, 2	NA
Kristen Bell	Gossip Girl	1, 2	NA (uncredited)

* = Was moved from guest star to main cast member midseason.

Supporting characters

The show is also awash with secondary characters such as Isabel Coates (played by Nicole Fiscella) and Kati Farkas (Nan Zhang). The loyal deputies of Blair, Isabel and Kati are nonetheless in awe of Serena. During the second part of the first season, other members of their clan were introduced: Elise Wells (Emma Demar), Hazel (Dreama Walker), Penelope (Amanda Setton), while Nan Zhang left the show. Blair sabotages her over-achieving academic rival, Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang), and quickly becomes the mean queen again after using her minions to enforce the plot against Nelly Yuki. Later on, Nelly Yuki joins the clan without realizing what Blair did to her. Other important recurring characters in the series are Eleanor Waldorf (played by Florencia Lozano in the pilot episode, then by Margaret Colin afterward), Blair's fashion designer mother; Howie "The Captain" Archibald (Sam Robards), Nate's strict father (who also has a cocaine addiction); Serena's troubled younger brother, Eric van der Woodsen (Connor Paolo), whose problems finally incite her to come home; and Bart Bass (Robert John Burke), Chuck's father. During the second part of the first season, former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg was cast as Georgina Sparks, a ghost from Serena's troubled party past. Creator Josh Schwartz gave Willa Holland, who had previously worked with him at The O.C., a at-least-3-episode stint in Season 2 of Gossip Girl in which Holland will play Agnes, a 16-year-old model working for Eleanor Waldorf. She is to create havoc with Taylor Momsen's character Jenny Humphrey.

Season synopsis

Further information: List of Gossip Girl episodes

Season 1

The first season of Gossip Girl made its official debut on CTV in Canada on September 18, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. while The CW, the original broadcast network of the show, aired the pilot a day later on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. eastern/8:00 p.m. central. Serena, not welcomed by her best friend Blair Waldorf who has assumed the queen bee position in the Constance Billard junior class, comes back from her mysterious disappearance to boarding school in Connecticut. Meanwhile, Blair and Nate Archibald's relationship goes sour after he admitted he had sex with Serena, which was witnessed by Chuck Bass. Meanwhile, Dan Humphrey (who goes to same school, St. Jude's, with Chuck and Nate) returns to Williamsburg, Brooklyn together with his sister Jenny who is accepted by Blair as one of her associates. Dan asks Serena for a date after a chance encounter, only to save Jenny who was being molested by Chuck at a party hosted by Blair. Blair and Serena's relationship take a turn for the worse when Blair reveals that Serena had a nonexistent drug disorder; in reality, it is Serena's brother Eric who tried to commit suicide and is the one inside an institution. Serena's reaction to Blair's revelation impresses Dan and decides to pursue her once more while Eric's revelation to Blair causes the reconciliation between the two best friends. Dan's father Rufus (who was the frontman of the fictional band Lincoln Hawk) and Serena's mother Lily, who was a groupie during the 1990s, rekindle their past relationship.

Serena and Dan's relationship grow fonder despite the arrival of Dan's friend Vanessa Abrams, who backs off after seeing the couple. Meanwhile, Blair and Nate's relationship takes a bad turn when Blair finds out Nate still has feelings for Serena. This eventually caused her to break up with him and pursue a secret relationship with Chuck. Nate tried to get back to Blair, with his parents' prodding to help them in their business deal with the Waldorfs but in the end remains steadfast in ending their relationship. Jenny, while being used by Blair, drags her mother Alison (guest star Susan Misner) back to Brooklyn to make her parents patch up their differences, while Rufus and Lily's relationship is kept under wraps.

Blair finally breaks up with Chuck when he caused a scene at the debutante ball. This causes Blair and Nate to hook up again, but with Chuck blackmailing her, she then avoids Nate. Meanwhile, Lily accepts Chuck's father Bart's (marriage proposal, which causes her to end her relationship with Rufus, with persuasion from Serena who'd rather have Chuck as her stepbrother than Dan. Alison and Rufus fail to patch up their differences and Alison leaves for the Hudson after Christmas. Seeking to end the blackmailing, Blair orders Chuck to stop but this causes him to reveal her affairs with two men to Gossip Girl. Nate refuses to believe it but after Jenny overheard Dan and Serena talking about it, she tells Nate what she heard, causing Nate to break up with Blair. It also causes Blair to lose her queen bee position and she almost flees for France, if not for Serena urging her to stay.

After spring break, Blair successfully sabotages her academic rival, Nelly Yuki, in order to increase her chance of acceptance to Yale University. Furthermore, she battles Jenny for the queen bee position, with Blair ultimately winning after she exposed Jenny's boyfriend Asher as a homosexual, but not before having Eric's permission, who was the one seen making out with Asher. An unusual pairing begins once Nate and Vanessa start hanging out and becoming friends. Meanwhile, Serena then has to deal with the arrival of her friend Georgina Sparks (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg) who is determined to expose Serena's big secret - that she caused someone to die. Not wanting Dan to know anything about this, she lied about sleeping with someone else, which causes Dan to promptly break up with her. After telling Blair, Nate and Chuck what happened and talking to the dead person's parents, Serena felt relieved and is ready to confront Georgina when she finds out that Georgina, taking the pseudonym Sarah, has swept Dan off his feet, and is trying to sleep with him because she wants to hurt Serena. Meanwhile, Nate informs Blair of his relationship with Vanessa, and Rufus and Lily made out after a Lincoln Hawk concert, reigniting their relationship a day before her wedding with Bart. Dan finds out "Sarah" is really Georgina, prompting Georgina to come up with a clever lie to mask the truth about her past. "Sarah" uses this lie to make herself seem vulnerable to Dan. This partially works in the sense that Georgina spends the night with Dan (in which Serena catches her coming out of his bedroom in the morning), however Dan later confirms that he and Georgina did not sleep together. Serena tells Dan the truth about everything, and he calls upon the help of Blair so they can destroy Georgina for good. They call her parents in, giving them the idea to send her to boot camp, and Georgina is presumably gone from the show.

It is revealed that Rufus and Lily had sex the night before her wedding, prompting her to have to make a decision between him and Chuck's father. Rufus surprises Lily in the brides chamber and offers to call off the wedding. Lily tells Rufus she loves him and then walks down the aisle to marry Bart. Her heart doesn't really seem to be in it though and Rufus seems sad so there are questions of if they really will end their relationship for good.

Because of "Sarah", Serena confronts her own feelings and decides that she doesn't care if Dan did sleep with Georgina, she still wanted to give their relationship a try, however Dan cannot get over Serena's lies and ultimately decides to break up with her.

Meanwhile, Nate's dad is better after going to rehab and is thought to win his court case, unfortunately, Chuck catches Nate's father doing a deal and tells Nate who then confronts his father, only to find out that while his father is sober, it is unlikely he will win in court and so bought a fake passport to leave the country and the U.S. government's sentence. Deciding that he has no time for a girlfriend in his life, Nate break his budding relationship with Vanessa and the two agree to remain friends. Chuck shows loyalty to Nate by telling him about his father, which ultimately rekindles their friendship. Chuck continues his "rekindling" streak by confessing how he really feels to Blair prompting them to get back together.

The finale showed segments of the summer which implied that Chuck and Blair are still going strong and are planning to vacation in Tuscany for the summer but things don't go according to plan. Chuck's father tells him he would be a changed man by the time summer ends, but are interrupted after Lily introduces her interior decorator Amelia (played by Lydia Hearst). After a fear of no longer being a single man, Chuck throws out the flower bouquet he bought for Blair, taking out a single rose and giving it to Amelia. Meanwhile, Blair who is waiting at the airport meets a man who is to board a plane and the two introduce each other. Soon she receives a text from Chuck and realizes that he isn't going to make it and boards the plane with the mysterious man. Toward the ending, scenes are shown having Nate and Serena hanging out, as were Vanessa and Dan.

Season 1 ends with episode eighteen, "Much 'I Do' About Nothing."

Webseries: Tales from the Upper East Side

On August 4, 2008, the first Gossip Girl web series, "Tales from the Upper East Side," debuted. The series of online-only animated videos introduces a mystery involving one of the secondary characters (Isabel, Penelope, Hazel and Elise) as a scandal arises in Manhattan. Part one, "Sinning in the Rain," premiered Monday, August 4th 2008, with new episodes being released on subsequent Mondays.

The series span from spring break to Asher's party. In the first episode Kati and Is decide to video chat after Kati reveals she is going back to Israel, then the girls get a message from Gossip Girl, showing a girl making out with two guys. The second episode deals with the girls being in the Aspen, while Jenny has found a cute teacher, the girls go to a sauna when the Gossip Girl reveals a 3rd make-out. Is reveals she was videochatting heavily with Kati when the scandal happened while the girls are shocked by the lesbian innuendo. She then slips and breaks her arm. In the third episode, the girls are working for the SAT when Gossip Girl reveals a 4th make-out. Penelope reveals she was stalking Nate during the scandal. The day of Asher's party, in the 4th episode, Gossip Girl reveals a 5th make-out. Elise reveals she was taking care of Penelope's laundry, leaving Hazel as the obvious culprit. Nelly Yuki tells the girls that she is in Central Park. When they get there, Hazel states she won't hide anymore, she is in love and the 5 guys (two baseball players, a trumpettist, a freshman and a man in the library) are one and the same. Disappointed all the girls go back to what they were doing when the scandal happened.

Episodes

01. Sinning in the Rain (August 4th)

02. Snow Country for No Men (August 11th)

03. The Test Years of Our Lives (August 17th)

04. Verti-ho (August 25th)

Season 2

The first episode of the second season is set in the Hamptons and is titled "Summer, Kind of Wonderful," a take from the John Hughes' film "Some Kind of Wonderful." The premiere aired on the CW on September 1st with 3.4 million viewers, an impressive number for The CW network. Season 2 is set to have 24 episodes in all.

It was also announced that The O.C. alum Willa Holland will be reteaming up with Josh Schwartz and will star in three or more episodes of Season 2, playing Agnes, a 16-year-old model working for Eleanor Waldorf. Her character is set to create havoc for Jenny Humphrey. John Patrick Amedori has also been cast as Aaron Rose, Serena van der Woodsen's new love interest.

Another character that will be added during the second season premiere is Catherine Mason, played by Mädchen Amick. She is an older woman who seduces Nate. She is married and begins having an affair with Nate over the summer, while they are spending time in the Hamptons, on summer vacation. She is the step mother of Blair Waldorf's new love interest, Marcus (guest star Patrick Heusinger). Even though Blair is now with Marcus, a rich English Lord, Chuck regrets losing her over the summer, and tries to win her heart back. He becomes friends with Marcus in order to get to Blair. And despite Chuck having love problems, Serena and Dan decide to get back together, however, Serena wants to keep it a secret, eventually, however, everyone finds out via Gossip Girl.

During a city-wide blackout Blair "mistakenly" comes close to having sex with Chuck to fulfill her needs, in which Marcus is depriving her of. Once the lights come back on, Marcus walks in on Blair and Chuck. He proceeds to punch Chuck, and storm out of the room. Blair quickly follows saying that he is the one she wants, and not Chuck. Marcus accuses her of only wanting his title, however, he wants her as well. Blair then asks him to prove it, and they are seen making out on the stairs of Blair's home.

Meanwhile, during the blackout, Serena and Dan were stuck in an elevator, on their way to Blair's party. There, they are forced to discuss the reasons they broke up in the first place. They decide that they are unable to continue their relationship, and break up, once again. Nate is still secretly involved with Catherine but has a hard time juggling his tryst with her and renewing his relationship with Vanessa. Once Catherine learns of this, she orders Vanessa to steer clear from Nate or she'll go forth with information about Nate's father's whereabouts to the FBI. Vanessa backs off, in order to protect Nate but soon learns that Catherine has been involved with Marcus as well. Instead of going to Nate, she confides in Dan and Blair. Blair composes a plan to blackmail Catherine into paying off Nate's dad's debts but it backfires once Vanessa, out of hurt, reveals to Catherine's husband about her infidelity.

For the first week of their Senior year of school, Dan and Serena avoid each other, until Serena sees Dan talking to the new girl, Amanda (guest star Laura-Leigh). Blair and her minions quickly come to the rescue, inviting Amanda to lunch, and leaving Dan without a lunch buddy for the day. Serena feels wrong about trying to keep Amanda and Dan apart, and heads off to find Dan to apologize. Dan, however, blamed Serena for everything, and leaves.

Serena then thinks that it would be a good idea if the three of them went to the club that night. While there, Dan and Amanda begin talking about poetry. Any time Serena tries to add her input, she is proven wrong in what she says and corrected by one of the two. She then decides to go to the bar, and get a drink. There, Blair's friends bring over a guy whom she takes over to the table with her. By this point, Serena is a bit drunk, and she decides she needs yet another drink, and Amanda had gone to the bathroom. Leaving Dan and the new guy alone. Dan gets up and heads to talk to Serena. Serena informs Dan that she can not just turn off loving him, and him having a new girl the first week of school hurt. Dan then says that maybe they'll be better off not being around each other for awhile, and Serena suggests that Dan and Amanda leave. Before Dan and Amanda can leave, though, Blair's friends throw a 'Nairtini' (a liquid that most likely consists of the hair removal product Nair) into Amanda's hair that causes part of it to fall out. While Serena is not at fault, Dan blames Serena for this and storms out, after sparking her jealous and mean side. It is later revealed that this whole scheme was plotted by Chuck, having hired Amanda and setting up the fake relationship to once again return Serena to her reign as Queen of the school. This sudden shift in Serena's behavior is already evident and brings Blair much chagrin, but delights Chuck in his hopes to knock Blair off of her pedestal once again.

With Fashion week on the horizon, Blair knows she can reclaim her throne by helping her minions get in to Eleanor's show. Soon Blair discovers that not only is Serena on the radar with her new socialite friend Poppy Lifton (guest star Tamara Feldman), but Jenny is the shining star at Eleanor's studio. Jenny has not only changed the seating chart that Blair designed, but she's garnered a lot of attention for her work. Blair soon decides to sabotage the show by sending the models home, (which Jenny saves by having the socialite friends of Poppy and Serena model for the show) and even sends Serena down the runway in a dress that Jenny made. As expected, Eleanor is furious to find Jenny's dress on the runway, but Blair soon realizes Jenny is not the enemy and steps up for her. Eleanor receives rave reviews for Jenny's dress. Serena and Blair have an altercation that can best be described as a "you hold me back, I want to be all that I am," to which Blair is not amused. Tensions are high when Blair sees photographers taking photos of Poppy and Serena while they are leaving the show. A subplot of this episode finds Dan attempting to experience life in Chuck's shoes, which leads him to discover a dark secret about Chuck and Bart's relationship. Lily also unearths that Bart has gone to great lengths to assure nothing from her past can destroy their family, which includes a file on Lily's life before her turn as an Upper East Side mother. Rufus and Jenny are also on the outs, due to Jenny's refusal to attend school. She wants to focus on her talent as a designer, much to Rufus' chagrin.

Reception

U.S. Nielsen ratings

The first episode of the show was watched by 3.65 million viewers, coming in last place in its 9:00 p.m. timeslot on Wednesday nights. Despite this, the show was noted to have held the best audience retention of America's Next Top Model in spite of a decline of 30% in the advertiser-craved 18-49 demographic and in total viewers. The show wasn't able to cling to its viewers in its second outing, however, losing more than half of ANTM's audience and 22% of its own debut numbers in the face of strong competition from other shows such as ABC's Private Practice and NBC's Bionic Woman each of which made impressive debuts that night.

Weekly ratings

Gossip Girl averaged 2.61 million viewers for each new episode of its first season. (Ratings for the Gossip Girl: Revealed special were not factored into the season average.)

#	Episode	Air date	Rating	Share	18–49 (Rating/Share)	Viewers (m)	Rank (#)
1.01	"Pilot"	09-19-2007	2.4	4	1.7/4	3.65	82/96
1.02	"The Wild Brunch"	09-26-2007	1.8	3	1.3/3	2.55	88/97
1.03	Poison Ivy	10-03-2007	1.8	3	1.3/3	2.80	94/102
1.04	Bad News Blair	10-10-2007	1.8	3	1.3/3	2.90	88/97
1.05	Dare Devil	10-17-2007	1.7	3	1.3/3	2.41	92/97
1.06	The Handmaiden's Tale	10-24-2007	1.8	3	1.2/3	2.54	90/97
1.07	Victor, Victrola	11-07-2007	1.8	3	1.2/3	2.51	92/101
1.08	Seventeen Candles	11-14-2007	1.9	3	1.4/4	2.90	89/101
1.09	Blair Waldorf Must Pie!	11-28-2007	2.1	3	1.4/4	2.98	84/98
1.10	Hi, Society	12-05-2007	1.7	3	1.2/3	2.49	91/102
1.11	Roman Holiday	12-19-2007	1.3	2	0.8/2	1.80	TBA
1.12	School Lies	01-02-2008	1.6	2	1.0/2	2.20	82/94
1.13	The Thin Line between Chuck and Nate	01-09-2008	1.7	3	1.1/3	2.34	85/95
Special	"Gossip Girl: Revealed"	01-28-2008	1.2	2	0.9/2	1.72	TBA
1.14	The Blair Bitch Project	04-21-2008	1.8	3	1.3/3	2.44	TBD
1.15	Desperately Seeking Serena	04-28-2008	1.8	3	1.3/3	2.53	88/96
1.16	All About My Brother	05-05-2008	1.6	3	1.0/3	2.11	91/97
1.17	Woman on the Verge	05-12-2008	1.8	3	1.2/3	2.71	84/96
1.18	Much 'I Do' About Nothing	05-19-2008	2.0	3	1.4/4	2.97	69/84
Season 2
2.01	Summer, Kind of Wonderful	09-01-2008	2.3	4	1.7/5	3.38	TBD
2.02	Never Been Marcused	09-08-2008	2.2	4	1.7/5	3.16	TBD
2.03	The Dark Night [2]	09-15-2008	2.5	4	2.0/5	3.73	TBD
2.04	The Ex-Files	09-22-2008	2.3	4	1.6/4	3.35	TBD
2.05	The Serena Also Rises	09-29-2008	2.4	4	1.9/5	3.54	TBD
2.06	New Haven Can Wait	10-13-2008	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD

Seasonal ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of Gossip Girl on The CW:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Wednesday 9:00 P.M. (September 19, 2007–January 9, 2008) Monday 8:00 P.M. (April 21–May 19, 2008)	September 19, 2007	May 19, 2008	2007-2008	196	2.61
2	Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 1-)	September 1, 2008	2009	2008-2009	TBA	3.44

The second season premiere scored 3.38 million viewers and a 1.7/5 among adults 18-49, this made the second season premiere the most rated hour ever in the demo for a Monday night on The CW. On September 15 2008, Gossip Girl pulled in a series high of 3.73 million viewers, it also scored it's highest ever demo ratings with 2.8/6 among 18-34 and 2.0/5 among 18-49 year olds.

iTunes

Before the series officially made its debut on air, the first episode was made available as a free download on iTunes.

With its initial struggle for ratings, CW entertainment's president Dawn Ostroff alluded to the fact that strong sales on iTunes was a deciding factor in the series being picked up for a full season.

Critical response

Gossip Girl received mixed reviews. Due to the show's pedigree as an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel series, the show was considered to be one of the more anticipated new shows of the 2007-2008 television season. An August 2007 survey by OTX, a global media research and consulting firm, placed the show on the list of top ten new shows that viewers were aware of. Though the pilot was the recipient of positive reviews from publications such as Variety, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe, other reviewers described it as a guilty pleasure rather than an hour's worth of must-watch television. Metacritic gave it a score of 54, based on the reviews of 26 different publications. However, author Cecily von Ziegesar has expressed support for the show, noting that all of her major plot points were present in the pilot. The Parents Television Council has shown particular criticism of the series, especially with its "OMFG" ad campaign from April 2008. It also named the episode "Victor/Victrola" the worst television program of the week in which the episode originally was broadcast. These critical reviews are now on new Season 2 advertisements, featuring the San Diego Union-Tribune, Parents Television Council, New York Post and the Boston Herald.

The Hartford Courant chronicled a variety of negative responses to the ads.

As the show continued its first season, the response become considerably more positive - and by the second season critical acclaim was favorable. Metacritic gave the new season an improved score of 71. "Summer's been good to this girl," claimed Entertainment Weekly, who awarded the series its highest grade of "A." The New York Daily News claimed the show had found its footing by stating "It knows exactly what it wants and needs its new hybrid product to be. The hockey fights video of teen romance drama." The Boston Globe called the new season "dishy, farcical and funny."

DVD releases

Complete season	Release dates
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1st	August 19, 2008 [3]	August 18, 2008	TBD

In the Philippines, the DVD is now available for pre-order. A limited edition Gossip Girl notebook will be included in the DVD pre-order.

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient(s)
2008	Winner	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Show Drama
2008			Choice TV Breakout Show
2008			Choice TV Actress Drama	Blake Lively
2008			Choice TV Breakout Female	Blake Lively
2008			Choice TV Breakout Male	Chace Crawford
2008			Choice TV Villain	Ed Westwick
2008	Nominated		Choice TV Actress Drama	Leighton Meester
2008			Choice TV Actor Drama	Chace Crawford
2008				Penn Badgley
2008			Choice TV Breakout Star Female	Leighton Meester
2008				Taylor Momsen
2008			Choice TV Breakout Star Male	Ed Westwick
2008	Nominated	People's Choice Award	Favorite New TV Drama

International distribution

The show airs on CTV in Canada (For season two, CTV will send the series down to the relaunched A), the Warner Channel in Latin America, Pro7 in Germany, ETC Entertainment Central in the Philippines, Zee Café in India, ITV2 in the United Kingdom, FOX8 in Australia, VT4 in Belgium, AXN in Spain and Portugal, Mya in Italy and TVN Siedem in Poland. It will air on 8TV in Malaysia, TV Norge in Norway, MTV3 in Finland,Xtra HOT in Israel, Kanal 5 in Sweden, Stöð 2 in Iceland, TF1 in France, On Style in South Korea, and Trans 7 in Indonesia .

World airings

Country	Date of Premiere	Channel
Australia	December 4, 2007	FOX8 (Pay TV)
Austria	2008/2009	ORF 1
Belgium	July 24, 2008 Episodes 1-6	VIJFtv
Brazil	November 8, 2007	Warner Channel (cable) SBT (free-to-air)
Canada	September 18, 2007	A (Present) CTV (2007-2008)
Denmark	July 2008	Kanal 4
Dominican Republic	November 8, 2007	Warner Channel (cable)
Estonia	September 2008	Kanal 2
Fiji	April 2008	Fiji One
Finland	March 18, 2008	MTV3
France	September 6, 2008	TF1
Germany	Unknown	ProSieben
Greece	September 20, 2008	Star Channel
Guatemala	November 8, 2007	Warner Channel
Hong Kong	Unknown	J2
India	July 20, 2008	Zee Cafe
Indonesia	August 11, 2008	Trans 7
Israel	2008	Xtra HOT
Ireland	Autumn 2008	Channel 6
Italy	January 19, 2008 Autumn 2008	Mya (Pay) Italia 1 (free-to-air)
Latin America	2007	Warner Channel
Malaysia	April 23, 2008	8TV
Mexico	November 8, 2007	Warner Channel
Netherlands	June 3, 2008	NET 5
New Zealand	August 15, 2008	TV2
Norway	January 2, 2008	TVNorge
Philippines	February 12, 2008	ETC (cable) ETC on SBN (free-to-air)
Poland	April 8, 2008	TVN Siedem
Portugal	2007-2008	AXN
Singapore	July 23, 2008 (Season 1) September 8, 2008 (Season 2)	Mio TV Favourites-on-Demand (Season 1) Mio TV Season Pass (Season 2)
South Korea	March 3, 2008	On Style (cable)
South Africa	September 3, 2008	Go
Sweden	January 29, 2008	Kanal 5
Thailand	April 25, 2008	True Series
United Kingdom	March 27, 2008 (Season 1) January 2009 (Season 2)	ITV2
United States	September 19, 2007	The CW
Peru	Unknown	Warner Channel(cable)
Turkey	September 9, 2008	CNBC-e
Iceland	Unknown	Stöð 2
Trinidad and Tobago		Channel TV6
Spain	Unknown	Fox
Ukraine	Unknown	Novyi Kanal

Notes

• In the first season of the TV Series Privileged, episode 4, the character Will Phlips (portrayed by Brian Hallisay) referred to the Baker's family chef Marco (portrayed by Allan Louis) as Gossip Girl when he is having a conversation with Megan Smith (portrayed by Joanna Garcia)

The scene plays as follows: "*phone rings* Will: thats probably the new boyfriend - Megan: who told you that I.. aah.. Marco - Will: The original Gossip Girl"

External links

• Official Site
• Gossip Girl at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Gossip Girl Episodes