"I don't read Gossip Girl. It's for chicks" says one of the show's leading characters (a boy, obviously) at one point in the first episode. It might be an ironic reference to the program's source material, a successful series of books that qualify as "chick lit", hence making the small-screen transition (originally pitched as a movie starring Lindsay Lohan; wonder why...) a potential marketing problem. Then again, having a male writer, not to mention the man who created The O.C., aka Josh Schwartz, as one of the two show-runners (the other one is Stephanie Savage, who also worked on Schwartz's most famous creation) solved that problem elegantly. Whether the series can live long enough remains to be seen (The O.C. started losing steam after just one season), but the first 18 episodes suggest it has a lot to be recommended for.
The series takes its name from the eponymous, mysterious woman who runs a highly popular blog on the Internet, which allows the rich, spoiled teenagers of New York's Upper East Side to know everything about everyone. This all-knowing person remains unseen - all we hear is a voice-over (done by an uncredited Kristen Bell, aka Veronica Mars) that acts as our guide in this world of greed and deception. Her news of the day? Former party queen Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) is back from a self-imposed exile at a boarding school in New England. Her alleged best friend, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), greets her return with unexpected coldness, something that the scheming, horny Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) is happy about since he's aware of a dirty little secret involving Serena and Blair's boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford). In a less glamorous part of town, Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) strive for better friends, which works out pretty well for Dan once he meets Serena (Jenny is stuck with Blair, unfortunately). And why shouldn't he be that lucky? After all, his dad Rufus (Matthew Settle) appears to have a past with Serena's mother Lily (Kelly Rutherford).
Following the example set by The O.C. and taking things up several notches, Gossip Girl is an opulent slide-show of teen drama clichés, all depicted with a gleeful self-awareness that gives the show its true narrative meat: the plotting is basic at best (we've seen this stuff a million times before) but like the equally smart (and a tad superior) Desperate Housewives, the soap opera aspects are handled with a postmodern mixture of seriousness and irony. And let's face it, it's just too damn much fun watching those obscenely wealthy youngsters hatching conspiracies against each other.
The other key ingredient (aside from a killer soundtrack, that is) is casting: none of the main young actors were well known prior to appearing on the show (something that applies to most teen dramas), a fact which helps when it comes to seeing them as those people and not, say, some former child star doing a self-parody (perhaps the Lindsay Lohan idea was best left in a corner, then). Also, just like in The O.C. and pretty much any good teen-centric series of the last decade, the adult thespians (mainly two: Settle and Rutherford) do more than just sit in the background. Besides, Rutherford's casting isn't merely a good choice, it's also a cunning nod to her most famous TV role, that as Megan Lewis in Melrose Place. And of course, Bell's uncredited voice is perfect.
What may have looked like just another teen show at first is actually a pretty smart achievement, and for a good reason: it knows about its conceptual weaknesses and makes fun of them in a loving way. The American television way.
The series takes its name from the eponymous, mysterious woman who runs a highly popular blog on the Internet, which allows the rich, spoiled teenagers of New York's Upper East Side to know everything about everyone. This all-knowing person remains unseen - all we hear is a voice-over (done by an uncredited Kristen Bell, aka Veronica Mars) that acts as our guide in this world of greed and deception. Her news of the day? Former party queen Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) is back from a self-imposed exile at a boarding school in New England. Her alleged best friend, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), greets her return with unexpected coldness, something that the scheming, horny Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) is happy about since he's aware of a dirty little secret involving Serena and Blair's boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford). In a less glamorous part of town, Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) strive for better friends, which works out pretty well for Dan once he meets Serena (Jenny is stuck with Blair, unfortunately). And why shouldn't he be that lucky? After all, his dad Rufus (Matthew Settle) appears to have a past with Serena's mother Lily (Kelly Rutherford).
Following the example set by The O.C. and taking things up several notches, Gossip Girl is an opulent slide-show of teen drama clichés, all depicted with a gleeful self-awareness that gives the show its true narrative meat: the plotting is basic at best (we've seen this stuff a million times before) but like the equally smart (and a tad superior) Desperate Housewives, the soap opera aspects are handled with a postmodern mixture of seriousness and irony. And let's face it, it's just too damn much fun watching those obscenely wealthy youngsters hatching conspiracies against each other.
The other key ingredient (aside from a killer soundtrack, that is) is casting: none of the main young actors were well known prior to appearing on the show (something that applies to most teen dramas), a fact which helps when it comes to seeing them as those people and not, say, some former child star doing a self-parody (perhaps the Lindsay Lohan idea was best left in a corner, then). Also, just like in The O.C. and pretty much any good teen-centric series of the last decade, the adult thespians (mainly two: Settle and Rutherford) do more than just sit in the background. Besides, Rutherford's casting isn't merely a good choice, it's also a cunning nod to her most famous TV role, that as Megan Lewis in Melrose Place. And of course, Bell's uncredited voice is perfect.
What may have looked like just another teen show at first is actually a pretty smart achievement, and for a good reason: it knows about its conceptual weaknesses and makes fun of them in a loving way. The American television way.