I've never known TV without the Teenage Primetime Soap, and seeing how the genre has evolved since the days of 90210 has always been interesting to me.
Gossip Girl is a practically perfect example of the genre. The kids of prettier, richer and more screwed up than any kids you actually knew in High School. The problems are absurd of course, but the emotion behind them is real. When you're 16 and 17 your world does largely begin and end with your social circle (Notice I didn't say friends, because to be honest half the time on Gossip Girl the leads aren't friends with each other.) The adult's story lines are swiped right from Josh Scwartz's other highly successful teen drama...but guess what? They worked there too! The real revelation of this series is Leighton Meister as Blair. The only character flawlessly preserved from the pages of Cecily Von Zeisliger's book series, Meister is beautiful, cold and at times neurotic. The rest of the cast is good. Penn Badgley and Blake Lively are oddly beautiful together and their chemistry as Dan and Serena is wonderful. Ed Westwick pulls off Chuck Bass's evil scheming well, he is the guy you love to hate. Little Taylor Mumson is perfect as Little Jenny Humphrey, a character I feel much improved from her literary incarnation.
Yeah, it's not exactly high art, but honestly? It does it's job, it's slick and shiny and wish fulfilling. And the clothes are fantastic.
Gossip Girl is a practically perfect example of the genre. The kids of prettier, richer and more screwed up than any kids you actually knew in High School. The problems are absurd of course, but the emotion behind them is real. When you're 16 and 17 your world does largely begin and end with your social circle (Notice I didn't say friends, because to be honest half the time on Gossip Girl the leads aren't friends with each other.) The adult's story lines are swiped right from Josh Scwartz's other highly successful teen drama...but guess what? They worked there too! The real revelation of this series is Leighton Meister as Blair. The only character flawlessly preserved from the pages of Cecily Von Zeisliger's book series, Meister is beautiful, cold and at times neurotic. The rest of the cast is good. Penn Badgley and Blake Lively are oddly beautiful together and their chemistry as Dan and Serena is wonderful. Ed Westwick pulls off Chuck Bass's evil scheming well, he is the guy you love to hate. Little Taylor Mumson is perfect as Little Jenny Humphrey, a character I feel much improved from her literary incarnation.
Yeah, it's not exactly high art, but honestly? It does it's job, it's slick and shiny and wish fulfilling. And the clothes are fantastic.