Gossip Girl

Cast and characters

Blake Lively plays Serena van der Woodsen, a socialite studying at the Constance Billard School for Girls and later at Columbia University, who is romantically involved with Dan throughout the series. Leighton Meester plays Blair Waldorf, the queen bee of Constance Billard and later a student at New York University, whose "frenemy" relationship with Serena is a constant theme; she is romantically involved with Chuck. Penn Badgley plays Dan Humphrey, an outcast scholarship student at St. Jude's School for Boys and later New York University, an aspiring fiction writer whose romantic relationship with Serena is a constant theme.

Chace Crawford plays Nate Archibald, a legacy student at St. Jude's who is romantically involved with numerous characters including Blair and Serena. Taylor Momsen plays Jenny Humphrey (seasons 1–4; guest, season 6), a Constance Billard student and Dan's younger sister who aspires to be a fashion designer and uses underhanded tactics to gain social status. Ed Westwick plays Chuck Bass, a promiscuous wealthy legacy student at St. Jude's who is romantically involved with Blair throughout the series.

Casting

Kelly Rutherford plays Lily van der Woodsen, Serena and Eric's socialite mother and former photographer, whose primary romantic relationships are with Bart Bass and Rufus Humphrey. Matthew Settle plays Rufus Humphrey, Dan and Jenny's father, a former musician for the one-hit wonder rock band Lincoln Hawk who owns an art gallery in Brooklyn and shares a complicated romantic history with Lily. Jessica Szohr plays Vanessa Abrams (seasons 1–4; guest, season 6), Dan's childhood best friend who later attends New York University and aspires to be a filmmaker.

Main

Kaylee DeFer plays Ivy Dickens (seasons 5–6; recurring, season 4), a con-artist introduced to the Van der Woodsens as their cousin Charlie Rhodes. Kristen Bell provides uncredited narration in every episode and appears as herself in the series finale. Connor Paolo plays Eric van der Woodsen, Serena's younger brother recovering from an attempted suicide.

Production

The Gossip Girl novel series by Cecily von Ziegesar was originally supposed to be adapted into a film starring Lindsay Lohan with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. When that film project did not get off the ground, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz took over to create a television series. By October 2006, Schwartz was working on the pilot, saying he was skeptical of the series and did not want to repeat The O.C., noting the books were smart and the characters worldly.

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. Schwartz and Savage served as executive producers throughout the series, joined by Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein of Alloy Entertainment. John Stephens, a Gilmore Girls co-producer who had worked with Schwartz and Savage on The O.C., was hired as an executive producer.

Joshua Safran started as a writer/consulting producer before becoming co-executive producer and later executive producer; he left after the fifth season to become showrunner of NBC's Smash. 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 music. Eric Daman, who had assisted Patricia Field on Sex and the City, led the costume department.

Reception

Gossip Girl was a ratings hit in its early seasons and received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, but became known for using negative critical reviews in its marketing. The series won numerous accolades, including 18 Teen Choice Awards. It gained a large cult following, influenced other teen dramas, and spawned several international television adaptations.