The first season of the American
teen drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
television series ''
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. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...
'' premiered on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
on September 19, 2007, and concluded on May 19, 2008, consisting of 18 episodes. Based on the
novel series of the same name by
Cecily von Ziegesar
Cecily Brooke von Ziegesar ( ; born June 27, 1970) is an American author best known for the young adult ''Gossip Girl'' series of novels.
Early life and education
Cecily von Ziegesar was born in New York City into a German noble family. She i ...
, the series was developed for television by
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
and
Stephanie Savage
Stephanie Savage (born 1969) is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer. Savage is best known for developing The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl (TV series), Gossip Girl'' (2007) from the Gossip Girl (novel series), novel series, and ...
. It tells the story of
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena Celia van der Woodsen is the fictional character and the protagonist in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrato ...
's return to
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
following her mysterious disappearance to boarding school in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, while being watched by gossip website Gossip Girl.
The first 13 episodes of ''Gossip Girl'' aired in the United States on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on The CW, a
terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
. With the exception of the 12th episode "School Lies", the first 13 episodes aired on the
CTV Television Network
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...
in Canada one day prior to their US airdate. Following the
100-day writers strike, the remainder of the season aired on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. The season was released on DVD as a five-disc box set under the title of ''Gossip Girl: The Complete First Season'' on August 19, 2008, by
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
. The
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
was made available as a free download to registered users of the US
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
prior to its premiere on television. Subsequent episodes became available to purchase following their original airing.
Plot
The return of "
it girl
An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging.
The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...
"
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena Celia van der Woodsen is the fictional character and the protagonist in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrato ...
(
Blake Lively
Blake Ellender Lively ( Brown; born August 25, 1987) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively, and made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She starred as Brid ...
) to the Upper East Side serves as the first season's focal point. Shrouded in mystery and scandal, Serena's disappearance and sudden return are announced by the omniscient blogger Gossip Girl. The news reaches Blair Waldorf (
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...
) whose life is torn apart when the secret behind Serena's leaving is revealed: Serena was seduced by Nate Archibald (
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford (born July 18, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012), and of The Deep in Amazon Prime Video original series ...
), the Golden Boy of the Upper East Side and Blair's boyfriend, the night she left town. Nate announces his feelings for Serena a number of times and a series of battles ensue between the former Queen Bee Serena and her heir, Blair. However, the rift resolves in reconciliation between the two and temporary peace follows. Meanwhile, siblings Dan (
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series ''You'' (2018†...
) and Jenny Humphrey (
Taylor Momsen
Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and Jen ...
), Brooklyn residents, are attracted by the opulent wealth of their classmates. Young Jenny becomes a cunning protégée to Blair while Dan enters a relationship with Serena. It is revealed that their relationship resembles the one between Dan's father Rufus (
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle (born September 17, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' and Rufus Humphrey on the CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Settl ...
) and Serena's mother Lily (
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford (born November 6, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Generations'' (1989–1991), as Megan Lewis on the Fox primetime soap opera ''Mel ...
) in their youth.
As a subplot, Blair and Nate suffer problems in their relationship when the dangerously seductive Chuck Bass (
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chil ...
) conquers Blair's fragile heart. The manipulative Georgina Sparks (
Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. Trachtenberg began her career at age three, appearing in a number of commercials, films, and television series as a child. Her starring role on the Nickelodeon tel ...
) arrives, creating a lot of trouble and revealing the real reason behind Serena's disappearance: a death Serena thought she was responsible for. When Georgina arrives on the Upper East Side she poses as a naive woman named Sarah in order to destroy Serena's newfound happiness. She succeeds in exposing Serena's deep-hidden secrets, taking Dan away from her and outing Serena's brother as gay. At the same time, Blair falls for Chuck, but as a price they both lose Nate. Not able to withstand the vulnerability a love relationship demands, Chuck leaves Blair.
In the midst of all these events, Dan greets Vanessa Abrams (
Jessica Szohr
Jessica Karen Szohr (;) is an American actress. She started her screen career appearing on television shows such as ''My Wife and Kids'' (2003), '' Joan of Arcadia'' (2004), ''What About Brian'' (2007) and ''CSI: Miami'' (2007). She gained recogn ...
) back to his life. Vanessa is a childhood friend of his and an outsider herself. She threatens his feelings for Serena, until he realizes the real love he has for her. At the end of the season, the Upper East Siders team up to banish Georgina from New York. Serena then leaves with Nate to
the Hamptons
The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...
, while Chuck abandons a heartbroken Blair. Dan reconciles with Vanessa and returns to his old life in Brooklyn. A disgraced Jenny departs Blair's clique and earns an internship as a fashion designer in a company owned by Blair's mother.
Cast and characters
Main cast
*
Blake Lively
Blake Ellender Lively ( Brown; born August 25, 1987) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively, and made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She starred as Brid ...
as
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena Celia van der Woodsen is the fictional character and the protagonist in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrato ...
*
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...
as
Blair Waldorf
Blair Cornelia Waldorf (married name Bass) is one of the main characters of ''Gossip Girl'', introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing as the lead in the television adaptation; she also appears in the comic adaptation. Descri ...
*
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series ''You'' (2018†...
as
Dan Humphrey
Daniel Randolph Humphrey is a fictional character in the bestselling Gossip Girl (novel series), ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. He is one of the central male characters in ''Gossip Girl'', where he is portrayed by Penn Badgley. Dan Humphrey is th ...
*
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford (born July 18, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012), and of The Deep in Amazon Prime Video original series ...
as
Nate Archibald
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings ...
*
Taylor Momsen
Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and Jen ...
as
Jenny Humphrey
Jennifer Tallulah Humphrey is one of the characters in both the ''Gossip Girl'' and '' The It Girl'' series of novels by Cecily von Ziegesar. She is portrayed by Taylor Momsen in the ''Gossip Girl'' television adaptation on The CW.
Novel series ...
*
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chil ...
as
Chuck Bass
Charles Bartholomew Bass is a fictional character in the novel and television series ''Gossip Girl''. In the TV series, he is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary antagonist in the original book series, the TV serie ...
*
Jessica Szohr
Jessica Karen Szohr (;) is an American actress. She started her screen career appearing on television shows such as ''My Wife and Kids'' (2003), '' Joan of Arcadia'' (2004), ''What About Brian'' (2007) and ''CSI: Miami'' (2007). She gained recogn ...
as
Vanessa Abrams
Vanessa Abrams is a fictional character in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. She is portrayed by Jessica Szohr in the television adaptation. Vanessa was introduced on the first season as a recurring character, but became a series regular after a ...
*
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford (born November 6, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Generations'' (1989–1991), as Megan Lewis on the Fox primetime soap opera ''Mel ...
as
Lily van der Woodsen
The following is a list of characters for The CW teen television drama series, ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and its standalone sequel series of the same name (2021–present). The series is based on the popular book series of the same name writt ...
*
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle (born September 17, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' and Rufus Humphrey on the CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Settl ...
as
Rufus Humphrey
The following is a list of characters for The CW teen television drama series, ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and its standalone sequel series of the same name (2021–present). The series is based on the popular book series of the same name writt ...
*
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
as
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. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...
(uncredited)
Recurring cast
*
Sam Robards
Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''.
Early life and education
Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...
as Howard Archibald
*
Connor Paolo
Connor Paolo (born July 11, 1990) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Eric van der Woodsen on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' and Declan Porter on the ABC drama series ''Revenge''. He has also appeared in two Oliver S ...
as
Eric van der Woodsen
Eric van der Woodsen (spelled Erik in the novels) is a fictional character from the book series ''Gossip Girl'' and the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Connor Paolo.
Novel series
Erik is described as similar to ev ...
*
Nicole Fiscella
Nicole Fiscella (born September 15, 1979) is an American actress and model, best known for her role as Isabel Coates on The CW's teen drama television series ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Nicole Fiscella was born on September 15, 1979, at the ...
as Isabel Coates
*
Nan Zhang as Kati Farkas
*
Zuzanna Szadkowski
Zuzanna Szadkowski (; born October 22, 1978) is a Polish-American actress known for her role as Dorota Kishlovsky on CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''. Szadkowski also appeared on ''The Knick'', ''Girls'', '' Search Party'', ''The Good Wife'' ...
as Dorota Kishlovsky
*
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in ''RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
as Bart Bass
*
Margaret Colin
Margaret Colin (born May 26, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Margo Hughes on ''As the World Turns'' and as Eleanor Waldorf-Rose on ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Margaret Colin was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and w ...
as Eleanor Waldorf
*
Michelle Hurd
Michelle Hurd (born December 21, 1966) is an American actress best known for her work in television. She first received recognition for portraying Monique Jeffries in the police procedural series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–20 ...
as Laurel
*
Jill Flint
Jill Flint is an American television and film actress, best known for her role of Jill Casey in the USA Network TV series '' Royal Pains'', and as the popular character Lana Delaney on CBS' award-winning series ''The Good Wife''. She also plays ...
as Bex Simon
*
Francie Swift
Francie Swift is an American actress best known for her role as Cynthia in ''Thoroughbreds'' and her recurring roles as Haylie Grimes on '' Outsiders'' and Anne Vanderbilt Archibald on ''Gossip Girl''.
Life and career
Swift was born in Amarill ...
as Anne Archibald
*
Susan Misner
Susan Misner (; born February 8, 1971) is an American actress and dancer. She has appeared in a number of TV series as a guest star, as well as several recurring roles.
Career
Misner portrayed Grace Davidson on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to ...
as Alison Humphrey
*
Amanda Setton
Amanda Setton (born December 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role as Penelope Shafai on The CW's teen drama ''Gossip Girl'' (2008–2012), for her role as Kimberly Andrews on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live ...
as Penelope Shafai
*
Dreama Walker
Dreama Elyse Walker (born June 20, 1986) is an American actress. She is known for her supporting role in the series ''Gossip Girl'', her lead role in the film '' Compliance'' (2012), and her lead roles in two short-lived television series, the c ...
as Hazel Williams
Guest cast
*
Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan (born August 13, 1982) is a Romanian-American actor. He gained recognition for his role as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise beginning with the film '' Captain America: The First Ave ...
as Carter Baizen
*
John Shea
John Victor Shea III ( ; born April 14, 1949) is an American actor, film producer and stage director. His career began on Broadway theatre, Broadway where he starred in ''Yentl (play), Yentl,'' subsequently winning his first major award, the 1975 ...
as Harold Waldorf
*
Caroline Lagerfelt
Caroline Eugenie Lagerfelt (born September 23, 1947) is a Paris-born American actress, long based in the United States, recognized for her roles on ''Sweet Magnolias'', ''Gossip Girl'', '' Six Degrees', Dirty Sexy Money', Nash Bridges'' and ' ...
as CeCe Rhodes
*
William Abadie as Roman
*
Linda Emond
Linda may refer to:
As a name
* Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named)
* Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer
* Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...
as Headmistress Queller
*
Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. Trachtenberg began her career at age three, appearing in a number of commercials, films, and television series as a child. Her starring role on the Nickelodeon tel ...
as
Georgina Sparks
Georgina Sparks is a fictional character in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and a recurring character on the television series of the same name, in which she is portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg.
While the novel series portrays her as a har ...
*
Yin Chang
Yin Chang (born April 23, 1989) is an American actress, known for her lead role as Mei Kwan in the 2011 film ''Prom'' and her recurring role as Nelly Yuki on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''. Chang has made guest appearances on the te ...
as Nelly Yuki
* Jesse Swenson as Asher Hornsby
Episodes
Casting
The initial season had nine major roles receive star
billing.
Blake Lively
Blake Ellender Lively ( Brown; born August 25, 1987) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively, and made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She starred as Brid ...
portrayed initial protagonist
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena Celia van der Woodsen is the fictional character and the protagonist in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrato ...
, a former
it girl
An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging.
The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...
of the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
, who returns from a mysterious stay at a boarding school in Connecticut,
with
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford (born November 6, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Generations'' (1989–1991), as Megan Lewis on the Fox primetime soap opera ''Mel ...
playing her mother
Lily
''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...
, a multiple-divorced socialite.
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...
played
Queen Bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...
, and the show's eventual protagonist,
Blair Waldorf
Blair Cornelia Waldorf (married name Bass) is one of the main characters of ''Gossip Girl'', introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing as the lead in the television adaptation; she also appears in the comic adaptation. Descri ...
, who is less than happy to see her best friend return.
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series ''You'' (2018†...
acted as middle-class outsider
Dan Humphrey
Daniel Randolph Humphrey is a fictional character in the bestselling Gossip Girl (novel series), ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. He is one of the central male characters in ''Gossip Girl'', where he is portrayed by Penn Badgley. Dan Humphrey is th ...
,
with
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle (born September 17, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' and Rufus Humphrey on the CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Settl ...
playing his father
Rufus
Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include:
Given name
Politicians
* Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician
* Rufus Al ...
, former rock star turned art dealer, and
Taylor Momsen
Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and Jen ...
portraying his sister,
Jenny
Jenny may refer to:
* Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people
* Jenny (surname), a family name
Animals
* Jenny (donkey), a female donkey
* Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...
, a freshman looking to fit in with the
elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
crowd at Constance Billiard.
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford (born July 18, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012), and of The Deep in Amazon Prime Video original series ...
portrayed Blair's boyfriend
Nate Archibald
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings ...
, who has a thing for Serena.
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chil ...
played a womanizing player and 'bad boy'
Chuck Bass
Charles Bartholomew Bass is a fictional character in the novel and television series ''Gossip Girl''. In the TV series, he is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary antagonist in the original book series, the TV serie ...
.
Originally only a guest star,
Jessica Szohr
Jessica Karen Szohr (;) is an American actress. She started her screen career appearing on television shows such as ''My Wife and Kids'' (2003), '' Joan of Arcadia'' (2004), ''What About Brian'' (2007) and ''CSI: Miami'' (2007). She gained recogn ...
starred as Dan's childhood best friend,
Vanessa Abrams
Vanessa Abrams is a fictional character in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. She is portrayed by Jessica Szohr in the television adaptation. Vanessa was introduced on the first season as a recurring character, but became a series regular after a ...
. Szohr gained a contract to the main cast list in the fourteenth episode.
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
voiced "Gossip Girl", whose gossip commentary blog is widely visited by the youths of the Upper East Side social scene.
Numerous supporting characters were given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline, including
Connor Paolo
Connor Paolo (born July 11, 1990) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Eric van der Woodsen on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' and Declan Porter on the ABC drama series ''Revenge''. He has also appeared in two Oliver S ...
who portrayed Serena's brother,
Eric van der Woodsen
Eric van der Woodsen (spelled Erik in the novels) is a fictional character from the book series ''Gossip Girl'' and the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Connor Paolo.
Novel series
Erik is described as similar to ev ...
, who had been placed into a rehab center following a suicide attempt.
Margaret Colin
Margaret Colin (born May 26, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Margo Hughes on ''As the World Turns'' and as Eleanor Waldorf-Rose on ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Margaret Colin was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and w ...
acted as Blair's mother,
Eleanor Waldorf, a fashion designer. Colin took over from
Florencia Lozano
Florencia Lozano (born December 16, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Téa Delgado on the daytime series ''One Life to Live''.
Lozano has guest-starred in several primetime television shows, as well as films.
Early life
Florencia Lo ...
who played the role in the pilot episode.
Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. Trachtenberg began her career at age three, appearing in a number of commercials, films, and television series as a child. Her starring role on the Nickelodeon tel ...
acts as
Georgina Sparks
Georgina Sparks is a fictional character in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and a recurring character on the television series of the same name, in which she is portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg.
While the novel series portrays her as a har ...
, a girl from Serena's past who returns after escaping rehab in Utah.
Sam Robards
Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''.
Early life and education
Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...
and
Francie Swift
Francie Swift is an American actress best known for her role as Cynthia in ''Thoroughbreds'' and her recurring roles as Haylie Grimes on '' Outsiders'' and Anne Vanderbilt Archibald on ''Gossip Girl''.
Life and career
Swift was born in Amarill ...
portrayed Nate's parents
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
and
Anne Archibald
Anne Murray Archibald is a Canadian astronomer known for her observations of pulsars and as one of the developers of SciPy, a scientific programming library for the Python programming language. She is a senior lecturer in astronomy at Newcastl ...
.
Nicole Fiscella
Nicole Fiscella (born September 15, 1979) is an American actress and model, best known for her role as Isabel Coates on The CW's teen drama television series ''Gossip Girl''.
Early life
Nicole Fiscella was born on September 15, 1979, at the ...
and
Nan Zhang acted as Blair's loyal sidekicks
Isabel Coates and
Kati Farkas. Zhang left the series to study neuroscience at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
with Serena explaining that Kati and her family had moved to Israel. Kati was replaced with the character of Nelly Yuki played by Yin Chang. Zhang would return to the show in season 4. Other members of Blair's clique include
Amanda Setton
Amanda Setton (born December 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role as Penelope Shafai on The CW's teen drama ''Gossip Girl'' (2008–2012), for her role as Kimberly Andrews on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live ...
as
Penelope Shafai,
Dreama Walker
Dreama Elyse Walker (born June 20, 1986) is an American actress. She is known for her supporting role in the series ''Gossip Girl'', her lead role in the film '' Compliance'' (2012), and her lead roles in two short-lived television series, the c ...
as
Hazel Williams and Emma Demar as
Elise Wells.
Other guest stars in recurring roles include Zuzanna Szadkowski as Blair's maid
Dorota Kishlovsky,
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in ''RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
as Chuck's father and billionaire
Bart Bass
The following is a list of characters for The CW teen television drama series, ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and its standalone sequel series of the same name (2021–present). The series is based on the popular book series of the same name writt ...
,
Susie Misner as Rufus' estranged wife
Alison Humphrey and
John Shea
John Victor Shea III ( ; born April 14, 1949) is an American actor, film producer and stage director. His career began on Broadway theatre, Broadway where he starred in ''Yentl (play), Yentl,'' subsequently winning his first major award, the 1975 ...
as Blair's father
Harold Waldorf, with
William Abadie as his partner
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
.
Crew
The season was produced by
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
,
Alloy Entertainment
Alloy Entertainment (formerly Daniel Weiss Associates and 17th Street Productions) is a book packaging and television production unit of Warner Bros. Television Studios. It produces books, television series, and feature films.
Alloy Entertainment ...
and College Hill Pictures. The executive producers were creators
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
and
Stephanie Savage
Stephanie Savage (born 1969) is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer. Savage is best known for developing The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl (TV series), Gossip Girl'' (2007) from the Gossip Girl (novel series), novel series, and ...
with Bob Levy and
Leslie Morgenstein
Leslie Morgenstein is the president and chief executive of Alloy Entertainment. He has been credited with facilitating the adaptation of a number of book titles into television series. Examples include ''Gossip Girl'', ''The Vampire Diaries'', ''P ...
. K.J. Steinberg and
Felicia D. Henderson
Felicia D. Henderson (born April 18, 1961) is an American television producer, screenwriter, comic books writer and a director of music videos and television episodes. She has worked on '' Moesha'', '' Sister, Sister'', ''Soul Food'', and ''Fri ...
served as co-executive producers. Producers include
Joe Lazarov
Joe Lazarov is an American television director and Television producer, producer.
He began his professional career working as production assistant on television commercials. In 1987, he worked as a post-production supervisor on the series ''North ...
and Jessica Queller. The season was produced by Amy Kaufman. Jonathan C. Brody served as co-producer with Joshua Safran as consulting producer.
The staff writers were Schwartz, Savage, Henderson, Safran, Lenn K. Rosenfeld, Queller, Steinberg and Paul Sciarrotta. The regular directors throughout the season were
Mark Piznarski
Mark Piznarski is an American film director, television director and television producer.
He has directed episodes from a number of television series, including, amongst others, ''Veronica Mars'', ''Gossip Girl'', '' 90210'', ''NYPD Blue'', '' ...
,
J. Miller Tobin
John Miller Tobin (born January 13, 1961) is an American television director and producer. As a director, Tobin has worked on the television series '' Oz'', '' The Agency'', ''Numb3rs'', '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', ''Supernatu ...
,
Patrick Norris
Patrick R. Norris is an American television director.
His directing credits include ''Chuck'', '' Friday Night Lights'', ''Gossip Girl'', ''The Vampire Diaries'', ''Hidden Palms'', ''Related'', ''Bones'', '' North Shore'', ''The Division'', ''T ...
,
Norman Buckley
Norman L. Buckley (born November 25, 1955) is an American television director best known for his work on ''The O.C.'', ''Chuck'', ''Gossip Girl'', ''Pretty Little Liars'' and '' The Fosters''.
Early life
Buckley was born on Loring Air Force Ba ...
,
Tony Wharmby
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
and
Michael Fields
Michael David Fields is an American film and television director.
He has directed episodes of ''Veronica Mars'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', ''Third Watch'', ''Gossip Girl'', '' Homicide: Life on the ...
.
Reception
Due to the show's pedigree as an adaptation of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestselling novel series, the show was considered to be one of the more anticipated new shows of the 2007-2008 television season. An August 2007 survey by OTX, a global media research and consulting firm, placed the show on the list of top ten new shows that viewers were aware of. The pilot episode of the season gained 3.50 million viewers on its original airing,
having previously been available as a free download on the American iTunes store. As the season progressed, ratings dropped with 2.48 million viewers tuning into the second episode.
The eleventh episode marked a season low with only 1.81 million viewers tuning into watch the episode.
The show was moved from Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. to its new timeslot Mondays at 8:00 p.m following the end on the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike where the final five episodes of the season were aired. Ratings increased for the season finale, with 3.00 million viewers tuning into the episode.
''Gossip Girls
digital video recorder
A digital video recorder (DVR) is an electronic device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card, SSD or other local or networked mass storage device. The term includes set-top boxes with direct to d ...
ratings were high, increasing the show's profitability and the show had also been in the top five of iTunes sales.
Author
Cecily von Ziegesar
Cecily Brooke von Ziegesar ( ; born June 27, 1970) is an American author best known for the young adult ''Gossip Girl'' series of novels.
Early life and education
Cecily von Ziegesar was born in New York City into a German noble family. She i ...
has expressed support for the show, noting that all of her major plot points were present in the pilot. The
second episode
"Second Episode" is the second episode of the HBO television series ''The New Pope''. The episode was directed by series creator Paolo Sorrentino and was written by Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contrarello, and Stefano Bises.
The episode takes place ...
in which the characters are shown to be attending a brunch gained some approval from ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine, stating that "there's no such thing as 'lunch' on the weekends", "that kids actually do venture outside of their neighborhoods" (since
The New York Palace Hotel
Lotte New York Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue. It was originally developed between 1977 and 1980 by Harry Helmsley. The hotel consists o ...
is in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
), and "saying you live in
Williamsburg makes much more sense... for real-estate emotional conflict", as well as the fact
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
is played "in every situation." ''Gossip Girl'' was designated the "Best. Show. Ever." in April 2008 by ''New York'' magazine. Other positive reviews came from publications ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' and the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''. John Maynard of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' felt that creator Josh Schwartz "turns it up a notch" from his former series ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
'', and cited Dan (Penn Badgley) as a standout character.
Tim Goodman of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' praised the show for its use of "Gossip Girl"'s blog as a new media element noting "there's a chance to tell a story where the Greek chorus essentially has a blog."
The show has come under criticism for containing scenes too risqué for its teen audience. The
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers t ...
(PTC) has shown particular criticism of the series, especially with its "
OMFG" ad campaign used towards the end of the season in April 2008. It also named the episode "Victor, Victrola" the worst television program of the week in which the episode originally was broadcast. The Parents Council's negative comments include it being "the most-watched show among girls 12-17 and glamorizes casual sex and drug use among teens.
nd thatstorylines have featured a would-be teen rapist, threesome among teens, and teenage girls having sex with adults." Scott D. Pierce of the ''Deseret Morning News'' noted that the show is milder than a lot of what's shown on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, but still warned parents of several scenes in the pilot. He said it includes "among other things, a teenage girl climbing on top of a boy and removing his clothes; drunken teens having sex; teens smoking pot; teens drinking in bars, in a limo and at a party; a teen boy getting amorous with a girl who fights him off; and that same teen boy essentially attempting to rape a freshman girl who is supposed to be, what, 14?".
The series has also been criticized for having less-than believable storylines, and has been described as a guilty pleasure rather than an hour's worth of must-watch television.
DVD release
The DVD release of season one was released by
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
in the United States on August 19, 2008, after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including a downloadable audiobook,
deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
s, and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
References
External links
* List o
''Gossip Girl'' season 1 episodeson
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gossip Girl (Season 1)
2007 American television seasons
2008 American television seasons