You know you love it. We are of course talking about all things Gossip Girl. The first incarnation of this series was produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and was based on the popular novel by Cecily von Ziegesar of the same title. It ran on the CW network from 2007 to 2012 for 6 seasons. This popular teen drama launched the careers of Blake Lively who played Serena van der Woodsen, Leighton Meester who played Blair Waldorf, and Penn Badgley who played Dan Humphrey. It permeated teen culture impacting fashion, hairstyles, and future television shows such as Bravo’s reality show NYC Prep. The show’s massive popularity led to the reboot in 2021, with the first season of the HBO reboot made up of 12 episodes. But what about season 2? Before we tackle that, Upper East Siders, let’s take a look at season 1.
The creative team and world of the reboot
The same creative team of Schwartz and Savage are also on board for this version as executive producers. Joshua Safran, a writer and producer on the original, is acting as showrunner for the reboot. Safran took to Twitter to say that some of the themes of the show will evolve. He stated: “No slut shaming. No catfights. Those are not things I believe need to be in this show for it to be fun. Or any show? GG2 is sex positive and our characters use their brains, not their brawn, to take you out!”
Safran stated that the world of the show is the same as the original, just from a different perspective. Audiences recognize Constance Billard prep school, but social media has evolved since 2012, of course. He mused: “I think of [the new show] like the Marvel universe. It’s not a continuation or a sequel. It truly just is looking at a different angle.” The original characters exist and will come into play in the reboot, even if not physically seen on screen.
The cast of new characters
The reboot introduces a new cast of characters who have similar tropes to the original. The character of Zoya Lott, played by Vanessa Abrams, fills the Dan Humphrey outsider role. Audrey Hope, played by Emily Alyn Lind, and Julien Calloway, played by Jordan Alexander, fill the void of female friendship left by Blair and Serena. Max Wolfe, played by Thomas Doherty, gives the audience mad Chuck Bass vibes.
What we know about season 2
Season 1 received some harsh reviews. USA Today stated that: “Gossip Girl should have stayed dead.“ Fans and viewers disagreed with critics breaking the record for the most-watched HBO Max original series over the launch weekend. Although season 1 of the reboot received some negative reviews, audiences can expect a season 2. Season 2 began filming on February 4, 2022, but there is no official release date yet for season 2. The first season contained 12 episodes, so one can assume that season 2 will be about the same. As for the length of the run of the series, Safran has high hopes for a long run like the original. He told Harpers Bazaar: “I definitely would love to keep the show going. I engineered it so that every season is a semester, so that we didn’t get into the problem the first show got into, which was by Season 3, they had to go to college. Which, at the time, I think was the right decision. When you look back, then, of course, you could have stayed at high school longer. If every season is a semester and they’re going to be juniors now, they would go to college in Season 5.”
Time will tell how long audiences get this time. XoXo
