July 2008 News Archive (Page 3)

A shrewd investigative eye reveals the following theory about the sexy Gossip Girl ads for Season Two - someone in the CW marketing department spiced up an already-hot show even more by making Blair Waldorf naked!

Compare the advertisement for "A Nasty Piece of Work" with a photo from the episode "School Lies" which aired earlier this year:

Of course, there's also the theory that this is a NEW photo, and Blair is indeed topless (and possibly bottomless as well) with a new man this season.

What do you think, Gossip Girl sleuths? Is that Blair and Nate? Is she skinny-dipping in a new photo or is this photoshop at its best?

Gossip Girl may not get the ratings, but it will sure get people talking. Its newest advertising campaigns will make certain of that.

The show's second season begins September 1, following an August promotion to put viewers... in the proper mood. A very sexy mood.

And in an ironic twist, racy new Gossip Girl ads co-opt language from the very criticism of the show for being too, well, racy.

Alert surfers got a preview last week, when images of coupled-up Gossip Girl characters found their way onto several websites.

For example, Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) appears with her eyes shut dreamily, mouth open, while a "friend" nuzzles her neck.

Strongly suggesting the pair are just getting started, the headline, which quotes The Boston Herald, declares: "Every Parent's Nightmare."

Then there's one featuring the morally bankrupt Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) seductively feeding some girl cherries. "Very Bad For You," indeed.

Follow the jump for more of the new Gossip Girl ads ...

Continue Reading...

Plenty of girls demonstrate handbag brand loyalty.

For Gossip Girl's Blake Lively, that loyalty is to Chanel.

She gives the brand plenty of love, this time toting an eye-catching Chanel patent calfskin/metal bag in blue while filming in the Hamptons.

"I have lots of beautiful handbags," the star who plays Serena van der Woodsen told USA Today. "Chanel is it for me. It's the top of the top."

That being $2,325, at select Chanel boutiques. If you look like Blake, you can even wear it with short shorts!

Gossip Girl's fashionable Leighton Meester and Blake Lively.

At an after-party for a screening of Step Brothers on the roof of the Empire Hotel in New York City, Matthew Settle, who plays the handsome Brooklyn Dad on Gossip Girl, spoke a little bit about his character - and his TV kids.

"Well, Rufus is probably going to run into some trouble with his daughter," he told the New York Observer. "The show is about kids finding their identities, and who they are. She begins to find hers through her designing."

"Jenny is going to have to choose between her trade and her schooling, for which Rufus has sacrificed so much."

Matthew Settle (Rufus Humphrey) is a handsome fella.

As for his male offspring?

"Oh, Dan gets a mentor. Jay McInerney will play him," Matthew Settle said.

McInerney was coincidentally at the Beatrice last night one night earlier this spring, chatting up Gossip Girl creator, Josh Schwartz. Continue Reading...

The CW has lifted its ban on Internet streaming of Gossip Girl.

The network made headlines last spring when it announced it would stop streaming episodes of the hot show on its official site.

At the time, CW executives described it as an experiment.

Turns out the experiment didn't quite work out.

Ratings for the show didn't go up noticeably. And fans protested loudly, even though Gossip Girl was still available for purchase on iTunes.

Now CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff says Gossip Girl will once again be streamed on the network's Web site, as well as other sites.

The show will also be available for purchase online.

The biggest mystery of the CW – other than why it's frickin' called the CW (Country and Western? Chace and Westwick?) – is why it's building much of its fall season around what so far has been one of the least-successful shows on TV.

But according to CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff, who next season will add two new casts of rich teens - 90210 and Privileged - to the network lineup, it's not Gossip Girl that's a problem, but the Nielsens themselves.

"Gossip Girl is one of the great mysteries of the television universe," Ostroff told reporters this weekend.

"We have a show that everybody is talking about. We do research all over the country. We can't go anywhere without having women talk about Gossip Girl."

Still, when the show returned from the writers strike in the spring, it was to an audience of fewer than 2 million viewers.

Best. Show. Ever. We think so. But ratings say the opposite.

Ostroff sees a "disconnect," noting that there's an ad agency, Optimedia, that's created its own super-modern ratings system, one that counts "television, downloads, iTunes, mobile."

Buoyed by the hot Gossip Girl cast and younger viewers, the show is No. 15 on all TV on that list. Whatever that's worth.

"Every viewer must be counted, and no viewer should be left behind," she said.

Hopefully, there will be more of them come September 1. Please, tell your friends about Gossip Girl. They will like it.

She's always fashionable! Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester adds a dash of color to a puff-sleeved gray tweed dress, wearing blue satin heels as she makes her way into a Hollywood bash for Gossip Girl's network, The CW.

We think she always looks pretty darn good. But what do you Gossip Girl fashion critics think of Leighton Meester's outfit: Is it a hit or a miss?

Chace Crawford has a prime seat as he hosts the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge Saturday at the Bridgehampton Polo Club in Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Later that night, the Gossip Girl star celebrated his 23rd birthday with a white-chocolate cake and 200 cupcakes at a barbecue.

On hand to celebrate? Gossip Girl co-stars Penn Badgley and Blake Lively!

Welcome back to the Insider - the Internet's #1 Gossip Girl fan site - and another Gossip Girl Caption Contest, our Friday tradition.

There were plenty of solid replies to choose from this week but we picked karliiboo93 as this week's winner. Congratulations!

Thanks to all for playing the Gossip Girl Caption Contest! The winning entry and all this week's submissions can be seen below ...

Cingular. Raising the bar or stooping down to lower it?

Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford turns 23 today. Woo-hoo!

In honor of the big 2-3, here's a little photo montage of our man Chace. Click to enlarge, and follow the link for our full gallery of Chace Crawford photos!