Gossip Girl

**Gossip Girl** is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, it was broadcast on The CW network for six seasons from September 19, 2007, to December 17, 2012.

## Premise

Narrated by the unknown, omniscient blogger **Gossip Girl** (voiced by Kristen Bell), the series revolves around the lives of privileged upper-class adolescents living in Manhattan's Upper East Side (UES).

## Production

### Development

The *Gossip Girl* book series was originally supposed to be adapted into a film starring Lindsay Lohan with head *Gilmore Girls* creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. When the film project did not get off the ground, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz took over the project to create a television series. As of October 2006, Schwartz was working on the pilot. He said, "I was very skeptical. I don't want to do *The O.C. NYC*. But I thought the books were smart. The characters are worldly in a way that Orange County kids aren't." The characteristics for each character in the pilot were based on the first *Gossip Girl* book. In January 2007, the show was given the green light by The CW.

### Production team

*The O.C.* creator Josh Schwartz and fellow writer Stephanie Savage served as the show's executive producers throughout the series' run, followed by Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein of Alloy Entertainment, who were assigned in aiding the adaptation of the novels into the series. Following the success of *Gossip Girl*, *Gilmore Girls* co-producer, John Stephens was approached by Schwartz and Savage, having previously worked with him on *The O.C.*, and hired him as an executive producer. Joshua Safran, who started as a writer/consulting producer before becoming co-executive producer, was later added as an executive producer. On April 24, 2012, it was announced that he would leave the show at the end of the fifth season to be the new showrunner of NBC's now-cancelled musical series *Smash*. To fill in Safran's void, co-executive producer Sara Goodman was promoted to executive producer for the sixth season. Alexandra Patsavas who worked with Schwartz on *The O.C.* was in charge of the music. Eric Daman was at the head of the costume department; he previously had assisted Patricia Field on *Sex and the City*.

## Distribution and release

*Gossip Girl* aired on The CW on Mondays. In addition to the television broadcast of the show, episodes of *Gossip Girl* have also been released on the Internet. In October 2011, The CW signed a deal allowing all *Gossip Girl* episodes to be streamed on Netflix. The same month, the network signed a deal with Hulu. Both CWTV.com and Hulu streamed episodes for free, but only the five most recent installments were available for viewing. All seasons of *Gossip Girl* are also available through the iTunes Store and Amazon Video where each episode can be purchased separately or in complete season sets.

As of 2012, the series was broadcast in 197 countries.

On January 1, 2021, *Gossip Girl* moved from Netflix to parent company WarnerMedia's streaming service HBO Max.

## Cast

### Main

* Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen
* Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf
* Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey
* Ed Westwick as Chuck Bass
* Chace Crawford as Nate Archibald
* Taylor Momsen as Jenny Humphrey
* Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey
* Kelly Rutherford as Lily van der Woodsen
* Kristen Bell as Gossip Girl's voice (*uncredited*)
* Jessica Szohr as Vanessa Abrams