We are at a end point. The season is finished—and not exactly with a bang. Can Gossip Girl even exist outside of high school? Do we anticipate more? Even TONY’s weekly recappers are a little spent. Everyone’s wiser, apparently.
Josh: so, dearest of recappers: were long-awaited conflicts finally resolved for you? or was it just “get on with it already, people”? (how’s that for a leading question?)
Amy: ha! well, on the one hand, i am happy that chuck and blair finally made nice and all. but still, there were some annoying issues.
J: like the fact that gossip girl’s identity wasn’t actually revealed?
A: that didn’t bother me.
J: or maybe that the whole madoff plotline was forgotten about?
A: oh right. no. what did bother me was the whole after-school-special schlock of “you’re all gossip girl! i brought you together! mwahaha” thing they pulled.
J: i really hated that.
A: that made me angry. it was a cheap trick, allowing them to continue into college.
J: speaking of, do you remember being able to request your college roommate?
A: definitely not. maybe that was another convenient plot point that they didn’t invest a ton of thought in.
J: i think you’re on to something there. but, some good moments. first: nelly, drunk at the party. such a profoundly bad dancer.
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See? Andrew McCarthy! It's so ’80s!
You would think that the penultimate episode of a TV show’s season would be something compelling; something that makes you so excited for the finale, with cliffhangers and loose ends and other juicy tidbits. Sadly, for Gossip Girl, this was not to be: last night’s episode was essentially a non-episode, given that most of it was devoted to a spin-off that will never happen. From the looks of it, that’s probably for the best. As the season plods to its conclusion, we grow ever wearier of its tropes (especially Josh; man, is he pissed off).
Josh: so when do you want to chat?
Amy: whenever. i’m pretty free.
J: like free…now?
A: sure.
J: i can already tell how beyond stoked you were about this episode.
A: it just felt weird, didn’t it? like watching a funeral. Read more »
You too can pretend you're on Gossip Girl.
As if you weren’t already irked by the throngs of Serena-channeling teens sipping mocktails at the bar of Gilt, brace yourself for the busloads of tourists that shall descend on the Palace Hotel beginning this Friday, May 1, when On Location Tours launches its new “Gossip Girl Sites” tour.
The three-and-a-half-hour sightseeing expedition covers GG filming locations including the Constance Billard School for Girls/St. Jude School for Boys (the combined facades of the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights and the Upper East Side’s Synod of Bishops) and Blair Waldorf’s Fifth Avenue building.
In case you weren’t aware, we came up with our own totally awesome (and free!) Gossip Girl–themed walk, which also hits the Palace and Henri Bendel. And though you don’t have to shell out $38 (really $40, with the $2 ticket fee) to be guided by aspiring-actor guides for our iteration, On Location does have the advantage of covering more ground (about 40 spots, it claims) by chauffeuring you around on a coach bus. Not exactly Chuck’s limo, but in our version you’re walking and clearly a Humphrey from Brooklyn.
By now, we’re just used to the show veering wildly from week to week. Death wobbles? Growing pains? Only one thing was clear: Somebody was actually directing these puppets to serious performances. Whit Stillman, are ya slumming?
Amy: a good episode!
Josh: yes? the actual developments tonight were minor: looks like we’ve ourselves a madoff, etc.
A: but a remarkably dramatic episode.
J: much better directed.
A: definitely.
J: what exactly is it?
A: the drama was actually interesting.
J: it’s like an adult was put in charge. but not rufus.
A: right! poor rufus, getting duped by the shady tobacco heir.
J: i so knew that guy was a wrong one.
A: it was pretty obvious. Read more »
What once tasted like Cristal (or at least Vitamin Water) is beginning to scour the tongue like Manischewitz. Even the return of Wallace Shawn, much prayed for by my coaddict/enabler Amy, proves a false hope. Someone’s got a lot of atoning to do.
Josh: i sense you’re not 100% pleased.
Amy: i mean, it was okay.
J: speak to me.
A: fume. i am so sick of the scheming. like, blair, what the eff? why is she pursuing nate so aggressively? i don’t get it. i also don’t get how these kids can just transfer emotions like they’re nothing: wasn’t nate just all over vanessa? or are we supposed to believe that months have passed in gossip girl land?
J: breathe. that’s just it: they haven’t. it’s like serena and the spanish-marriage guy: it makes your head spin.
A: yeah. i just…i don’t know. it’s like, at this point, i’m watching to see what happens with chuck bass, and for the occasional funny one-liner.
J: it sounds like we have gone around the bend on GG.
A: i think what bothers me so much is the whole contrived nature of everything.
J: are you perhaps referring to the seder—sorry: “the Passover supper” (for the goyim). my whole apartment cringed at those jokes.
A: “Baruch Ata…Ay Dios Mio!”
J: i was so afraid you’d type that.
A: hahahaha Read more »
The season is winding down, and I’m still not convinced that it’s going to get better. Sure, they’re hinting at baby drama with the as-yet-unseen Humphrey/Van Der Woodsen lovechild, and Serena is maybe going back to her wild-child ways, but if we have to sit through more Nate-Blair coupling to get there, it’s almost not even worth it. What we need are better plotlines, less ridiculous relationship drama (Chuck and Vanessa? really?), and for the love of God, more Wallace Shawn. Please, Gossip Girl writers, bring him back.
Josh: gossip girl is beginning to give me serious whiplash.
Amy: how so?
J: like, one week, it’s blair rubbing up on everything, and the next, jenny doesn’t want a cool party? how is that fun?
A: but she’s being true to herself! which, apparently, is boring. Read more »
You won't like her when she's angry.
All hail Blair Waldorf, for she has resurrected our fading interest in Gossip Girl. Last night’s plotline of Blair-goes-bad was the best they’ve done in ages, and not just because Leighton Meester is hard-core vamping it up (only one of us is really taken with that, truthfully). Finally, we’re getting some interesting character development and a plot that may actually last longer than an episode. It’s all because of Blair, and we are grateful. Oh, but GG writers? No one wants to hear about parents having sex, and that includes Rufus and Lily. Gross. We discuss our favorite screwed-up lady, plus a flash of anger and Polish cursing from Dorota, below.…
Josh: “welcome to the next 30 years.”
Amy: i swear, if anyone had said that to me at 18 about any topic at all, i would have vomited.
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As sexy socialite Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, Kelly Rutherford is no stranger to melodrama. But last December, her personal life took a soap-opera-like turn when she filed for divorce from the father of her stylishly named two-year-old, Hermès…while still carrying his unborn child. Acrimony, accusations and tabloid tales ensued, but the actor quickly realized that wasn’t for her. These days she’s at peace—both with her soon-to-be ex and the environment, as she embraces green living. The Manhattan mom chatted with Time Out Kids about her new healthy lifestyle, divorce while pregnant and whether she’ll revisit Melrose Place.
Read the interview at Time Out Kids
Dorota, we love you so.
Gossip Girl is back! Though we are reluctant to say that it’s better than ever. Seriously, after a month off, this is the episode we get? Quite frankly, I was more impressed by Blair’s outfits and Nate’s use of the word “ass-hat” than I was by any of the plot points. (Sorry, Charles Isherwood; even your cameo was kind of meh.) We discuss the merits of the episode (Rufus Humphrey, surprisingly, is one of them) and Josh’s desire for a city full of Blair-clones below.…
Josh: so.
Amy: OMG?
J: kind of.
A: only kind of?
J: yale is not for blair, and she doesn’t have a safety. that’s profound news.
A: have you been watching the promos at all?
J: no. what am i missing?
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TONIGHT: Gossip Girl (8pm on the CW)
Which plot below summarizes tonight’s returning Gossip Girl, and which are merely the fondest fantasies of TONY’s GG bloggers Josh and Amy?
(A) Blair is held back a year so the show can stay in high school.
(B) Blair becomes a slut and hooks up with both Nate and Chuck. Dan and the teacher he’s banging have scandal and drama and maybe a surprise pregnancy.
(C) School-play time! It’s High School Musical meets The Age of Innocence. Blair marries a Polish count.
The real plot is (C). Or is it?
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Want to win some Battlestar Galactica swag? Our contest ends today!
Daily Intel reports that Gossip Girl will, in fact, be returning for a third season on the CW next year. Um. Yay. As my faithful coblogger Josh and I have previously discussed, the idea of GG continuing beyond high school is kind of…well…lame. Do we really need to see what happens to these kids after high school? Doesn’t anyone remember Saved by the Bell: The College Years?!? The other problem: once you remove the show from New York City (and they would have to—Blair Waldorf would never settle for the New School or NYU), it loses its essence. Part of the fun of watching—aside from, y’know, the catfights and the bitchery—is seeing landmarks and not-quite-so-famous spots on the show (lunch on the steps of the Met!). Do I really care about leafy Ivy League campuses, or wherever Chuck would end up? Not so much. Can’t they just give Dorota a spin-off, already?
(Photo credit: Timothy White / The CW (C) 2007 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)
Photo: The CW
We return, after a week’s hiatus (what’s with all the breaks, CW?), to a show we hardly recognize. No, wait. We do recognize it.
Josh: are you really to enter an alternative reality with masks and red curtains?
Amy: my life is vaguely kubrickian without me even knowing why.
J: honestly, even though eyes wide chuck was the dreamlike half of last night’s episode, it wasn’t nearly as nightmarish as what happened to blair.
A: but it’s hard to for me muster sympathy for someone who’s so determined to win at any cost.
J: seriously: how stupid is girlfriend behaving?
A: nelly yuki: total turncoat.
J: let’s start from the top. Read more »
Oh, readers. We apologize for missing last week’s post—you see, Josh was on a “lost weekend” in a Thai opium den, while I was brooding over my latest failed short story in a coffeehouse in Brooklyn.… Okay, no, not really. Really, we were just busy—and totally flummoxed by last week’s episode, which, peculiarly, was pretty boring. I know, I know—the dead son revelation, Chuck losing Bass Industries because of his wee little cocaine-and-hookers habit, Serena and Dan hooking up even though they’re sorta kinda related—it was still boring. And then we get to this week, which was just creepy. What the hell is going on here?
Josh: so let’s begin: dorota in a yale sweater.
Amy: SO GOOD! i also loved that blair and her two dads cooed over the dog for, like, a minute, and then he’s dorota’s responsibility, which is so apropros.
J: are these the typical yale rituals? a baby bulldog?
A: i didn’t go to an ivy league school so i don’t know! Read more »
They’ve composed beats about Olafur Eliasson and Tracy Letts; now, Chicago-based comedy team Southern Mothers gets a little lowbrow with their latest nerd-rap tribute to the best show ever. I think my favorite part is when they incorporate the lyrics to Lincoln Hawk’s “Everytime” (a ’90s classic, dontcha know) into the rap. (Thanks to Daily Intel for sharing this bit of brilliance.)
And so, after what feels like a spell of the cruelest non-celeb-rehab in weeks (no new episode for virtually a month!), we return to our weekly fix. Immediately, we are thrown into a world of incest, opium dens, hash joints in the principal’s office, demeaning shoe-wiping rituals, incest and incest.
Josh: weren’t u saying “omg omg omg” after this one?
Amy: really dark.
J: like, almost-not-prime-time dark.
A: i really enjoyed it.
J: easily the most sophisticated episode to date.
A: well, the guy who plays our new villain, jack bass, was on dexter, so blame him. Read more »
Last night, Josh and I spent a very Gossip Girl-esque night at a bar, where we so missed the episode. Many hours (and Advil) later, I got a chance to catch up on it. While Josh sleeps his evening off, I have some thoughts.…
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After a weeklong hiatus, the Best Show Ever returned last night…and we’re feeling kind of meh about the whole thing. Seriously, did anything interesting happen until the last 30 seconds? Nope. Though if those last 30 seconds are any indication, shit’s about to get crazy on the Upper East Side. But in the meantime, we have last night, which was just one blah subplot after another (you know it’s bad when a Blair-Chuck face-off isn’t even full of good juicy drama). Read on for possible plot spoilers and unfettered Jenny-hate…
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One of us is fresh from a prestigious Gossip Girl panel. The other is back from vacation. Both are feeling a little blah. But In sickness or health, we hear the call and must blog about it.
Josh: so neither snot nor shine will keep you from weighing in.
Amy: yeah. bad cold.
J: got any medicine?
A: i’m just going to ride it out. more exhausted than anything else. how was your vacay?
J: too short. meanwhile, look at us talking about everything except GG. why did last night suck so much?
A: i kind of loved it and kind of hated it all in one.
J: the episode felt like it was written by dan: too nice, too many happy endings and too many serious conversations. what is there to love?
A: well, i’m glad that jenny is no longer a sad little hobo. the symbolic removing of the makeup.
J: and the crazy hair. but didn’t you want her to push that emancipation thing a little further?
A: i really didn’t.
J: BUT MOM! Read more »
So pretty much nobody on Gossip Girl is having a great week: Dan has to choose between his conscience and success (guess which won—also, was that actually a New York editor?), Jenny is still on a path to becoming the Poor Little Fashionista Match Girl, Chuck’s dad hates him (boo!) then loves him (yay!), and Serena’s arty boy doesn’t want to settle down (also, he’s boring). Meanwhile, we’re just happy that one of cinema’s greatest character actors is making a pretty sweet cameo.
Also, a reminder of sorts: The Ultimate Gossip Girl Summit takes place Sat 15. While it is sold out, you could pull a Blair and try to scheme your way in. I’m not saying it’ll work, but if you’re desperate.… (Or you could come to the third panel, on Dec 13, which I’ll also be at. No rest for the GG-obsessed!)
Amy: so. two words: wallace. shawn.
Josh: two words: what a fucking amazing actor, thank god.
A: he’s so good!
J: inconceivable!
A: i have never seen that movie, btw.
J: and yet you know the joke. what does that say?
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Let others "vote" in some "election" we keep hearing about. We had serious viewing to do. And thinking. For reals. Plus, this week’s recap has a very special guest star. Read on. Apparently, the Gossip Girl army just keeps growing.
Josh: Is now good?
Amy: totally
J: because "this body is open for business."
A: there’s so much to cover!
J: let us simply start with: awesome. i think i actually texted you when that teen started to slut out.
A: you did. clearly, blair was dealing with a mini-her.
J: it was like my ideal storyline coming true.
A: this strand requires some serious explication. Read more »
