Wunderkind Josh Schwartz really took television by storm this season with his sudsy primetime drama about Manhattan’s upper crust, Gossip Girl. Oft compared to Schwartz’s other teen soap, The O.C., Gossip Girl outshines its Californian predecessor in so many ways, mainly on the strength of its highly talented supporting cast. But what makes Gossip Girl a truly unique show is that it lends itself so well to real world of celebrity gossip blogs.
The Gossip Girl of the show, voiced by the inimitably snarky Kristen Bell, is a super-secret blogger who dishes about the scandalous goings-on of the Upper East Side teen set. It’s kind of like a fictional, electronic version of Page Six, except way cooler. In fact, in the episode “All About My Brother,” Isabel Coates snits, “I am so glad that Gossip Girl finally got her balls back. She was so turning into the new Page Six.”
I don’t usually care about celebrity gossip – it’s so hard to keep track of which actor is dating whom because that kind of news seems to change every hour – but with Gossip Girl, it’s sometimes hard not to get involved. Are Blake Lively and Leighton Meester frenemies in real life just as they are on the show? Is it true that Blake and Penn Badgley are really in a relationship, or is the whole thing just a CW publicity stunt? Is Chace Crawford gay, or isn’t he??
Well, it really doesn’t matter whether any of the gossip is true or not, does it? The fact that there are rumors and gossip surrounding these stars affords us the same kind of voyeuristic pleasure that we take when we watch the episodes, only we’re not limited to Monday nights at 8pm. We get to peak into their lives all week long, usually while furtively taking breaks at work. If a lot of the gossip were manufactured by the CW to create buzz – I’m not saying that it is or it isn’t – it’s quite possibly the most brilliant form of guerilla marketing.
In other Gossip Girl news, Star Magazine recently reported that Nicole Richie will have an appearance as a guest star on the show. The details are as yet sketchy, but an insider close to Richie told Star, “Nicole’s life has settled down a bit after having her daughter Harlow, she’s eager to get back to work. She’s keen on pursuing an acting career and she loves Gossip Girl.”
I’ll withhold judgment about what I think of Nicole Richie appearing on my beloved show until more details are revealed, but I’m not terribly worried. Paris Hilton guest-starred on both The O.C. and Veronica Mars and didn’t manage to ruin these shows, so hopefully, Nicole Richie won’t either.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: Star Magazine
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
