by Anony Mili

Created on: January 18, 2009

HOW MUCH GOSSIP CAN YOU HANDLE TODAY?

I started watching Gossip Girl during 2008 on the recommendation of a (male) colleague. I had never heard of the Gossip Girl books prior to this, probably because they're not especially aimed at my people in my age group. I think they're probably more targeted at people in their mid to late teens and people in their 20s. Whichever age group Gossip Girl is aimed at, it doesn't stop me (someone who hasn't been a teenager for over 20 years) from watching and enjoying this show.

Although the show started airing in 2007, I never saw an episode until early 2008 and got so hooked on it that I was rather wound up about the famous 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike which meant I had to wait for ages to find out what happened next...

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Basically the show is mostly about a group of teenagers aged around 14-18 who attend a rather elite high school, St Jude's, which is based in New York's Upper East Side. Gossip Girl is a narrator, who is unseen during season 1 and so far in season 2, I can't comment on future seasons as to whether or not this "invisible" character is shown, who starts off each episode with a summary of what went before and ends each episode with a summary of the lessons that could be learned from the episode or some witty remarks about the characters. The character of Gossip Girl is someone who is sent "gossip" via text message and then the news is forwarded on to practically everyone at the school often much to the embarrassment of the subject of the gossip.

The show's main characters include:

Serena van der Woodsen (played by Blake Lively) is a glamorous blonde who returns from a seemingly self-imposed exile at the start of season 1. Her character comes across as someone who has done a lot of soul-searching during her exile and has gained maturity and personally I find her to be one of the more likeable characters in this season. Serena's character is linked to alcohol and she has some history of drug abuse (although not in this season).

Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester) is the daughter of a famous but aging fashion designer whose husband left her for another man! Blair is quite prim and proper and it seems status is extremely important to her, more so than anything else in life. She is portrayed as a bit of a virginal princess type who also is Queen B to a group of girls at school who have a gang mentality but really are just a bunch of snooty girls who like to think they're above everyone

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