Premiere Date and Time: Wednesday, September 19, 9pm
Network: The CW
Time Slot Competition: Private Practice,
Criminal Minds,
Bionic Woman,
Kitchen Nightmares
Cast: Blake Lively,
Leighton Meester,
Penn Badgley,
Chace Crawford,
Taylor Momsen,
Ed Westwick,
Kelly Rutherford,
Matthew Settle, Connor Paolo,
Kristen Bell
From Josh Schwartz, the creator of
The O.C., comes another primetime teen soap portraying the lives of the rich and glamorous as part of the CW's Wednesday night lineup. Set in Manhattan's swanky Upper East Side,
Gossip Girl centers on notorious party girl Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), her rival and ex-BFF Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and the rest of the posse at their exclusive prep school.
A year ago, Serena left New York abruptly to go away to boarding school, and just as suddenly, she is back. The crew she left behind, Blair included, learn of her return through the blog of the eponymous and veritably omniscient Gossip Girl (voiced by Kristen Bell, providing another CW show to watch for all those mourning the loss of
Veronica Mars), a blogger whose true identity is unknown but who everybody relies upon to get the latest scoop. Serena's sudden return may have something to do with her younger brother Eric (Connor Paolo).
Blair, for her part, is not thrilled to see Serena back. During Serena's absence, Blair, who seemingly has the perfect life, enjoyed being in the spotlight at school, and she has no intention of going back to living in Serena's shadow. Not only that, Blair has to fight to keep and hold the attention of her boyfriend Nate (Chace Crawford).
Much like its Californian predecessor,
Gossip Girl also explores relationships that cross class boundaries. Inhabiting the fringes of the glamorous prep school cliques are Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), who has long pined for Serena, and his younger sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen), who has long pined to be included by the exclusive. They are the middle-class kids of aging rocker Rufus (Matthew Settle). A chance encounter brings Dan together with the girl of his dreams, while Jenny works to bridge the gap between herself and the ultra-popular, no matter the cost. Adding to the complicated web of relationships, Rufus has a history with Serena's mother Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), a socialite who hides her past as a rock groupie.
Gossip Girl promises to bring as much of the same over-the-top, boozy, glitzy fun that
The O.C. brought. There are complicated social alliances, tensions between the haves and the have-nots, and fancy parties ending in fisticuffs. It will be trashy and not terribly original, sure, but it could be so trashy, it's great.
Get all the scoop and features on the Fall 2007 new and returning shows at BuddyTV's Fall TV Guide >>
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV
(Photo courtesy of The CW)