There was something uniquely special about Gossip Girl while it aired between 2007 and 2012. Blake Lively was the star of the show as Serena van der Woodsen, a troubled teenage girl looking for redemption. Leighton Meester played Blair Waldorf, the resident mean girl who was a bit too spoiled for her own good. Penn Badgley shone as Dan Humphrey, the outsider who literally wrote himself into the storylines of Manhattan’s elite. The show is so good, it even got its own reboot of the same name in 2021.
While we’re sad that the original storyline is over, there are plenty of shows similar to Gossip Girl for you to watch if keeping up with excessively wealthy and exceptionally beautiful people is your thing. Here are 10 that you can turn to after finishing another binge of your favorite Upper East Side drama.
Pretty Little Liars
It’s a given that Pretty Little Liars would land on a list of shows that are being compared to Gossip Girl. In all seriousness, Pretty Little Liars probably wouldn’t exist at its level of popularity had it not followed in Gossip Girl’s footsteps. Both shows include a cyberstalker who sends threatening messages filled with malicious rumors via text message. Both are filled with scandal after scandal throughout the halls of their respective high schools. There are a lot of similarities between these two shows, but PLL definitely wins the award for most twisted.
90210
Between 2008 and 2013, the rebooted version of 90210 that aired on television focused on the glamorous lives of Beverly Hills’ most privileged high school students. The major difference between 90210 and Gossip Girl is the cities where are the shows are based. 90210 takes place in a beautiful California beach town while Gossip Girl takes place on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The wealthy teenagers in both shows live edgy lives that go against the grain of what’s considered “average.”
The Carrie Diaries
Although The Carrie Diaries only ran for two short seasons, the drama still deserves all the clout in the world. It’s a prequel to Sex and the City, following the life of a young Carrie Bradshaw. Her circumstances in the 1980s were just as interesting as her life as an adult even though she hadn’t met Mr. Big just yet. It’s safe to say that high school Carrie Bradshaw can easily be compared to Gossip Girl characters like Serena and Jenny Humphrey.
Skins (U.K.)
There are two versions of Skins: the one filmed in the U.K. and the one filmed in the U.S. For now, we’re going to reference the U.K. version. There’s something admittedly hyper-sexual about this show, which is why it’s easily comparable to Gossip Girl. Teenagers doing things they shouldn’t be doing with each other is how almost every episode goes for both of these shows. Oftentimes, the off-limits things the characters do are of the most sexual nature. The use of illegal substances is also prevalent in both. Ah, messy teenagers.
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries might be a sci-fi show filled with fantasy creatures like vampires and witches, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its place when being compared to Gossip Girl. The reason these shows bear somewhat of an intriguing likeness is that both of them are dark and relationship-oriented. Nina Dobrev is the star of TVD, and over the course of the show, she deals with a messy love triangle between two hunky vampires who both love her, which should ring some bells. There are plenty of love triangles to go around in Gossip Girl, too.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Teen pregnancy was never one of the major topics Gossip Girl touched on, but it is one of the biggest storylines to take place in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Even though these shows have wildly different main focuses, they are still similar for plenty of reasons. The dynamic of the mean girl bullying the introverted girl occurs in both. There’s also the dorky guy doing his best to impress a girl who is way out of his league happening in both as well.
Riverdale
If Riverdale wasn’t mentioned on a list of shows comparable to Gossip Girl, would this list even be complete? The CW show stars Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes, and KJ Apa in the leading roles. Both Riverdale and Gossip Girl are exceptionally dark shows that cover some heavy-hitting subject matter. Are you looking to see teenagers going through some serious emotional trauma? Well, both of these shows provide that. Riverdale is based on a series of comic books from the 1940s and even though the comics are lighthearted and fun, the show is the polar opposite of that.
Cruel Summer
Gossip Girl isn’t nearly as chilling or thrilling as Cruel Summer, but the shows are still comparable regardless. In both of them, the main characters are living lives shrouded in secrecy. Cruel Summer depicts a teenage girl taking over the life of another young girl who’s been kidnapped by a pedophile. The main character’s obviously got a lot of secrets to hide. In Gossip Girl, the main characters are hiding a bounty of secrets, from thinking they accidentally killed someone to hooking up with their professors on campus. There are moments in both shows that will make your jaw drop, and Cruel Summer boasted one of the more eye-popping finales of 2021.
Greek
One of the biggest differences between Gossip Girl and Greek is that Gossip Girl focuses on a group of high school students while Greek focuses on a group of college students. Other than that, the shows ring true with plenty of similarities. The relationship drama that goes down in Greek is all too familiar when we think about what we’ve already witnessed in Gossip Girl. Love triangles, scandalous moments of infidelity, and bitter heartbreaks are included in both of these shows.
Dare Me
There might not be any cheerleaders in Gossip Girl since the teens attend Ivy League prep schools, but that doesn’t mean the show isn’t heavily similar to Dare Me. Dare Me focuses on a group of super rebellious and strikingly beautiful cheerleaders. The teens in Dare Me like to rustle some feathers by getting into trouble whenever they can. Fans who have watched episodes of the original Gossip Girl know just how many times the main characters got themselves into bouts of trouble from their many moments of wild rebellion.
You can watch the original Gossip Girl on Netflix now. XOXO.
