caroline's stuff that doesn't go anywhere else.

fall preview: Gossip Girl

(Before the 2007-08 Fall Season begins, I will try to feature as many new shows as possible. Well, actually, just the ones I really want to see for myself.)



Ever since "Sex and The City" ended a couple of years ago, there have been many attempts at trying to replace it, or at least emulate it to a point where it's unwatchable. There have even been some attempts at trying to make a guy version, but let's just forget that Seth Green ever starred in a vehicle like that one ("Four Kings," maybe a year or so ago. I realize it was a sitcom, but there's just something about people pairing four guys in an apartment in NYC together that makes me think about it). This fall, there's no exception to the rule as we prepare ourselves for "Big Shots," another show I'm excited for. More on that later.

In those attempts, The CW Network has come up with "Gossip Girl," a drama based on the best selling books by Cecily von Ziegesar written specifically for teens. The story follows a group of teen socialites living it up in the big city (New York, of course), and through their chronicles of growing up and such, the book is somehow, naturally, told by an unseen character through a blog. (I suppose if a book like this was written in the 1980s, the unseen character might be the host of a pirated radio show or possibly writing people's business in an underground newsletter. Or written on the girl's bathroom wall, whichever.)

The CW, the token teen drama utopia among all the networks, has picked up this show for its parade of lineage. After seeing the previews, I'm a little bit intrigued. Josh Schwarz (best known for "The O.C.") is one of the producers, and as for that unseen character? It's Kristen Bell, fresh after the dastardly cancellation of my beloved "Veronica Mars." She serves as the narrator, and all I can say is thank goodness they gave her another job--- but I regret that I'll never learn the fate of her best known character.

As for the "Sex and the City" comparison, it's more likely to draw it since it takes place in Manhattan on the Upper East Side and the characters get to wear designer duds. But it's a bit more Melrose than 5th Avenue, since there's bound to be the backstabbing, lies, love, hate, sex... I hope they throw in some comedy to the mix, as I can't take the brunt of a storm all in one sitting.

The question that begs to be asked really is why people should care since teen dramas are as disposable as tampons (eww). Once in a while you'll see a show that'll break through (much like "The O.C." and my all-time favorite, "Dawson's Creek"), and that's because it has elements that are either unlike any show on television or have personas that pretty much make the show what it is. What I'm really hoping to see isn't disposable television, but possibly something that'll be smart and fun, and be added to the list of shows among which haven't been cancelled after an episode or two. I think people are too quick to try and replace shows that have been major mainstays on television, thus drawing comments such as "the next Sex and The City" or "the next Silver Spoons." That's a problem most of the TV execs have: they're trying too hard to replace what they lost. If NBC wasn't so busy trying to make "the next Friends" they would have gotten shows like "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl" a whole lot sooner.

Hopefully "Gossip Girl" won't try to be too much like it's sort-of big sister SATC. I believe The CW hasn't had a standout hit ever since UPN and The WB merged in 2006, and by that I mean a standout hit that isn't a reality show. The one thing I am looking forward to in "Gossip Girl" is how there's going to be an upper class v. outsider element; a crossover going on between both worlds. It's bound to create some fantastic drama, something I've been waiting a long time for. This could be a new legacy show for The CW -- I bet they're counting on it.

Watch the preview here:


Visit: Gossip Girl (official show site), step into the world of gossip girl (the blog)
Final thoughts: Okay, so maybe it's a bit ironic to think of another show as "the next Silver Spoons." Who would DARE replace that show? And how could you ... it's not 1982 anymore, and robots can't pose as a member of the family quite as easily as they used to.

Labels: fall tv preview

posted by caroline @ 10:50 PM