Gossip Girl premieres on The CW tonight.
But the cast celebrated the series opening at a party last night. Here are a couple pictures from it:
Gossip Girl Boys: Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Penn Badgley.
Gossip Girl Parents: Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle.
Ken Tucker is a respected television critic for Entertainment Weekly.
Here’s how he reviewed Gossip Girl:
Gossip Girl is The O.C. with ADD, The Hills as an asphalt jungle. In adapting the best-selling book series, the O.C. brain trust - producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage - has given Gossip speediness and grit. The books worm inside the social circles of a Manhattan private school, giving off a dank musk, but the TV version is bright and energetically jittery.
The show is structured around the ”Gossip Girl” blog, whose author is a voice-over (Kristen Bell, crossing her Veronica Mars character with Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City — she’s breezy and WASPish).
The initial hookups and breakups mostly involve Blake Lively’s Serena van der Woodsen, who in the premiere is returning to the catfight fray after a boarding-school stay. Among the many eruptions of jealousy and status-seeking, Serena and Blair (Leighton Meester) both covet Nate (Chace Crawford).
I’ll play geezer worrywart and wonder whether young viewers really need a show in which teens swill martinis, talk breezily of recreational Viagra, and use ”tap that ass” as a term of fond feeling. And Schwartz and Savage might have fared better had they just built their own show from the ground up:
The Gossip books have been around since 2002 — a generation in the young-adult publishing trade. The GG brand may have peaked. Whatever. The cast is as good as the pilot script, and I may not be its target demo, but I admire its fleet pace and sly craft.
It’s unclear at the moment if this is a permanent cast addition or not - but Jessica Szohr is joining Gossip Girl in the role of Vanessa.
She’ll portray Dan’s (Penn Badgley) childhood best friend who moved away from home and returns to New York with a major crush on her former close pal. Unfortunately, she arrives home at a bad time because Dan is falling for Serena.
Szohr’s previous TV credits include CSI and What About Brian.
Not everyone is familiar with Blake Lively.
But after the Gossip Girl season premiere tonight, this should change. Below, the young actress talks about landing the role of a lifetime…
IGN TV: We always hear that it’s a nightmare process to get a lead on a network series. What was it like for you for Gossip Girl?
Blake Lively: Well, you’ll have to ask the people behind the scenes. For me, it was great! [Laughs] I never was interested in doing television, just because it’s a very big commitment and you have to be really passionate about the project you’re going to take on, because you’re signing on for six years of your life; six of maybe the most important years of your life, at the age I’m at right now. So I wasn’t looking to do shows.
Anybody that called me [about TV], I said “No way.” And Josh [Schwartz] called me, and he was very persistent! At one point, after we had met and everything, he said to me “You know, I wrote this show for you.” He said “You have to do this. I will not do this with anyone else!” And that meant the world to me. But before I met with him, I was a little hesitant. I’d heard about the series of books, but I didn’t know, really, what it was about. I sat down with him and Stephanie [Savage], and they’re so passionate about their work.
They’re not just some big jaded studio executive that signs his name on something and goes off to the Hamptons, you know?
He’s so involved in every single thing that he does, and Stephanie too. They want the top quality people. They’ve already done The O.C., which set a generation. And now they just want to raise the standards. They’ve learned from their mistakes - they were talking about that - and their success. So they’re involved in everything from the people they cast, to the clothes we wear. Every outfit we wear they approve of; every backdrop of every scene we’re a part of; the way one hair flies away from me eye, they’re a part of.
It’s so great to have people that involved and that passionate about it, and that’s the reason I wanted to do it, and luckily, we were able to work it out.
IGN TV: How much can you relate to her lifestyle? Does it connect at all to what you saw in high school?
Lively: No, not at all. She’s practically royalty, you know? The money that she’s been surrounded by… But you know, people, whether they’re very rich or poverty stricken, teens go through trials and tribulations and dramas, whenever you’re finding out who you are. There are struggles.
People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won’t be talked about. They point out flaws in other people to make them feel good about themselves. I think at any age or any social class that’s present. So as far as that, I can relate to her, but her lifestyle, no way.
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
The show might be called Gossip Girl - but one guy has received a great deal of media attention leading into the premiere: Chace Crawford.
He recently spoke to TeenTelevision.com about the gig…
TeenTelevision: How did you come to the project?
Chace: I had a meeting back in January with my television agent and she was like ‘oh, there’s a big script. Josh Schwartz has adapted this’. I read it and thought ‘oh, typical teen stuff but it’s Josh Schwartz. It’s probably going to be a good project’.
TeenTelevision: Was it tough competition for the part?
Chace: The casting process was pretty rigorous. I probably went back like six or seven times. I knew that I was probably in the mix after the first one but sort of winning over Les Moonves (top CBS exec) was another story and I ended up reading with Leighton Meester who had just gotten cast. I think I was third so it was pretty rigorous.
TeenTelevision: Had Les seen your work in The Covenant or anything?
Chace: I don’t know. Maybe he hadn’t. I’m still not sure. I’m pretty new to all of this basically. I’ve only been doing it for like three years so I don’t have a reel or anything. But, they had some good scenes (to audition with). I think ended up doing most of the scenes for everybody when it was all said and done but it’s good.
They need to make sure you’re the right one. It was a learning process going through all that and Leighton was fantastic when I got to read with her and when I met her and the rest of the cast, I knew it could be something good.
TeenTelevision: Were you auditioning for other shows at the same time?
Chace: I was. I really came into it wanting to knock pilot season out of the park and I got really focused and I got test deals for a show called Gravity on The CW which fell through and another show on NBC called Zip but we talked to Josh and he said ‘you’re one of the front runners’ and so we kind of said no to the other ones and focused on this one and it was a good gamble I guess.
It ended up working out. But it was a good problem to have you could say but it was a good pilot season; my third one and by far my best one.
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
The Winnipeg Sun recently ran a feature on Ed Westwick. How did the paper describe this Gossip Girl hunk? Let’s take a look…
If anyone ever looked like the prototypical arrogant rich kid, it’s Ed Westwick.
Seriously, the 20-year-old English actor seems to have been made for the role of Chuck Bass in the new youth-oriented series Gossip Girl, which debuts tonight on CTV and tomorrow on CW, which is the show’s American network of origin.
Imagine Saturday Night Live alumnus Jimmy Fallon crossed with Eddie Munster, and Westwick’s snooty, leering, evil mug should come to mind.
Not that Westwick himself is snooty, leering or evil. But his character on Gossip Girl is all three of those things.
“So how dark do I go? Wow, I don’t know,” Westwick said when asked about where the despised Chuck is headed. “That’s something that will be revealed.
“It certainly seems that Chuck is very dark in the first instance. But as the story develops and as more episodes come out, we will see different sides, I’m sure. The complexity of the human personality is that we’re not all just one-sided.”
The main story of the show pits young hotties Blake Lively (Serena) and Leighton Meester (Blair) against each other, with Chuck aligning himself with Blair and her crueller tendencies.
“The bad guy and the bad girl add an interesting dynamic to the cast and to the characterization of the whole show,” said Westwick, who trained at the National Youth Theatre in London, England, and still resides near that city.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Here’s an interview with Leighton Meester, courtesy of IGN. The Gossip Girl star talks about marketing her new show, as well as the attitude of her character…
IGN TV: How has it been doing all the promotion for the show? I’ve seen you guys all over the place this summer.
Leighton Meester: At first I thought “Wow, this will be fun and easy!” And I’m telling you, it’s work! But I can talk about the show for days and days, because I love it.
IGN TV: Based on first impressions your character will probably be seen by most as the bitchy girl, but how would you describe her to people?
Meester: I think that at first glance, or maybe even second or third glance, she definitely is that quintessential bitch. She’s got a feisty side. She’s really demanding and in control and sassy, and you do kind of hate her. But then you get to know her and you get to see how vulnerable, and really kind of scared and young she is, and you can actually start to relate to her.
She’s not all good, she’s not all bad; none of the characters on the show are really either/or. And so the more you get to know her the more you love to hate her. [Laughs]
IGN TV: Were you a fan of The O.C.?
Meester: I’m a fan of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage! They are miracle workers. They know what’s up. I think every element of the script is what drew me to the project. I think the dialogue and the way that they talk and how they describe the characters…
I think that it was probably helpful for Josh and Stephanie because they’re this whole series of books out there that have a long life of description and happenings that manifest in wonderful scandals on the page. So to put that in the script I think is great, because the characters on the show have something to draw from, from reading the books.
IGN TV: Were you familiar with the books the show is based on before you got the part?
Meester: Not before, I was not. And I think that it could be a generation thing, not that my generation is that far [removed]. But I think now I don’t want to get too deep into the series. I don’t want to spoil it and I don’t want to be disappointed, because I know they’re not going to follow it directly, which I don’t think they should. But I think they’re going to follow it closely enough that reading about the character and really getting to know her on the page is much more beneficial than just seeing it as something in a script.
IGN TV: The show is great to look at. How is it shooting in New York?
Meester: I wouldn’t have it any other way. If it’s up to me, we will always shoot in New York. I know that there’s a lot of shows that don’t, and that’s cool, but this is such an important element to the show that you couldn’t shoot it anywhere else. And the fact that we’re not just on a lot; we’re not in a studio the whole time. We’re in the streets of Manhattan, which is where these kids really do hang out and go.
They may be biased sources, but Gossip Girl stars Chace Crawford and Penn Badgley (pictured here in character, as Dan Humphrey) are psyched about the premiere of their new show.
“I love the pilot I was really impressed with everything I mean there’s not a dud aspect of the show. All the actors are phenomenal the show looks unbelievable and sound’s great. The soundtrack is excellent,” Crawford said.
Because Gossip Girl is based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s book, many of the show’s cast members feel pressure to live up to the expectations of the popular novel series. Fortunately, the guidance of Schwartz has made it easier for the cast to identify with the teen drama.
“He’s such a normal cool guy. Josh [Schwartz] is so fun to hangout with. He’s so relaxed and down to earth but he’s hugely successful… He’s the creator of The O.C. and he really knows what he’s doing so it’s really interesting to watch the dynamic on set and how he runs it because he comes from such a pedigree,” Badgley said.
“I think the show is gonna stand out well on its own,” Crawford added.
They may play rivals on Gossip Girl, but Blake Lively and Leighton Meester appear to get along when the cameras stop rolling.
Here’s a shot of the actresses in between takes, followed by another of Blake and a cute, furry friend:
Come to Gossip Girl for the sex appeal of its actors.
Stay for the music.
Chop Shop Music owner Alexandra Patsavas - who was the music supervisor for The OC and currently does the same for Grey’s Anatomy - is sending this basic message.
As with other shows on the CW, music will feature heavily into the lives and plot lines of the main characters on Gossip Girl. For instance, promos for the show feature Fergie’s “Glamorous” and Aqualung’s “Something to Believe In.”
Patsavas says these two acts are representative of the show’s music.
“What The OC did for indie rock, we’d like Gossip Girl to do for pop,” she says.
The pilot episode spotlights music by Rihanna, the Mooney Suzuki, Hanson, Amy Winehouse, Angels & Airwaves and others.
“I’m relying on old favorites while exploring current pop music,” Patsavas says. “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. So, there will be that music, too.”
In addition to licensed tracks, the show features the sounds of production team the Transcenders, who composed the show’s overall music, including the theme song.
