The Gossip Girl book series was originally supposed to be adapted into a film starring Lindsay Lohan with head Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. When the film project did not get off the ground, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz took over the project to create a television series. As of October 2006, Schwartz was working on the pilot. He said, "I was very skeptical. I don't want to do The O.C. NYC. But I thought the books were smart. The characters are worldly in a way that Orange County kids aren't." The characteristics for each character in the pilot were based on the first Gossip Girl book. In January 2007, the show was given the green light by The CW.
Featuring nine regular speaking roles, the majority of the ensemble cast was assembled from February to April 2007. Leighton Meester and Blake Lively–who started auditioning in December 2006 –were the first two actresses to be chosen in February for the lead roles of Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, respectively. Penn Badgley, who had previously worked with Stephanie Savage on The Mountain, Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford, Kelly Rutherford, and Connor Paolo also auditioned successfully and landed roles in the series in March, as did Florencia Lozano who appeared only in the pilot, and was later replaced by Margaret Colin. Badgley at first turned down the part of Dan, as did Lively—who planned to attend college—for the role of Serena. Actors for the roles of Chuck Bass and Rufus Humphrey were found in April when British actor Ed Westwick, and Matthew Settle were cast. Westwick first read for the role of Nate but was then asked to try Chuck. As rumors swirled about the impending cancellation of Veronica Mars, it was revealed at The CW's 2007 upfronts on May 17, 2007, that Kristen Bell had narrated the pilot, thus making her the title character of another show on the network. Of the casting, Bell said:
In mid-2008, executives of VitaminWater approached The CW for a placement deal. During the second season, the drinks were mentioned several times in dialogues. The partnership helped pay the costs of shooting on location in the Hamptons. An HP TouchPad was prominently displayed in an episode of the sixth season. According to OneNewsNow.com, other sponsors have included Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, Target and Johnson & Johnson, which allowed the series to earn $28.2 million in advertising revenue in 2007.
Gossip Girl initially received positive reviews. Due to the show's pedigree as an adaptation of The New York Times best-selling 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. Though the pilot was the recipient of many positive reviews from publications such as Variety, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe, other reviewers described it as a guilty pleasure rather than an hour's worth of must-watch television. Metacritic gave it a score of 59, based on the reviews of 40 different publications.
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 seasons from September 19, 2007, to December 17, 2012.
A hairstylist for the show compared media interest in Lively's hair to that for Jennifer Aniston's "The Rachel". In 2008, The New York Times reported the show has had a profound impact on retail, saying Gossip Girl is probably "the first [show] to have been conceived, in part, as a fashion marketing vehicle". While it has had middling success in terms of ratings, it "may well be the biggest influence in the youth culture market", said a trendspotter. However, for Maheen Humayun of The Tempest, the show emphasized toxic cultural traits, like rape culture, that "messed up a whole generation." According to Zoe Fox of Mashable, the show popularized social media networks and mobile communication, becoming "a pioneer in its use of mobile". In 2008, New York Magazine named the series as "Best Show Ever". In 2009, Rolling Stone named the series as "TV's Hottest Show".
The Christian Parents Television Council has shown particular criticism of the series, especially with its "OMFG" ad campaign from April 2008. It also named the episode "Victor/Victrola" the worst television program of the week in which the episode originally was broadcast. Quotes from the Parents Television Council review, as well as negative quotes from the San Diego Union-Tribune, New York Post and the Boston Herald, were used on various advertisements for the second season. The Hartford Courant chronicled a variety of negative responses to the ads. The ads included quotes like "Every Parent's Nightmare", "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate" and "A Nasty Piece of Work" in what appears to be an effort to continue the "rebellious teen" style of the show.
The first soundtrack of the TV series, OMFGG – Original Music Featured On Gossip Girl, No. 1 was released digitally on September 2, 2008, and in stores on October 28, 2008.
Gossip Girl was very influential on fashion for teenage and young adult women. The show was intended in part as a way for fashion companies to market their products. Some brands paid a fee, and the show's Web site provided referral links so viewers could purchase items they saw on television. In 2009, Anna Sui created a line inspired by Gossip Girl. Daman, who based his costumes on what Manhattan private-school students wore, , said that by the sixth season the show was "getting one-of-a-kind couture from Paris", because "they wanted their wares on Blake Lively".
The fourth season premiered on September 13, 2010, with the first two episodes filmed in Paris. New York Magazine revealed several locations shot at the French University, La Sorbonne in the Latin District (or Quartier Latin) of Paris on July 5. Other locations include the Musée d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the Gare du Nord, Avenue Montaigne. and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Columbia University became the primary filming location for the first few episodes of the season following the Paris story arc.
At the conclusion of the fourth season, Momsen, who went on an indefinite hiatus during the season while retaining regular billing, and Jessica Szohr both left the show. Throughout the series' run, Connor Paolo consistently declined to elevate his recurring role of Eric van der Woodsen to regular status, citing personal reasons for his decision. After becoming a regular on the ABC series Revenge, Paolo confirmed his departure from Gossip Girl in August 2011.
On September 16, 2011, it was announced that Warner Bros. and label Romeo & Juliet Couture had partnered to create Gossip Girl's official clothing line inspired by lead characters Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf. The launch of the fashion line took place on September 26, 2011, the same day as the premiere of the fifth season.
The fifth season premiered on September 26, 2011, with the first two episodes filmed in Los Angeles, California.
Gossip Girl aired on The CW on Mondays. In addition to the television broadcast of the show, episodes of Gossip Girl have also been released on the Internet. In October 2011, The CW signed a deal allowing all Gossip Girl episodes to be streamed on Netflix. The same month, the network signed a deal with Hulu. Both CWTV.com and Hulu streamed episodes for free, but only the five most recent installments were available for viewing. All seasons of Gossip Girl are also available through the iTunes Store and Amazon Video where each episode can be purchased separately or in complete season sets.
The series was the 5th most-binged TV series on Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) Services; derived from NPD's VideoWatch Digital, consumer tracker based on data from 313,866 SVOD TV transactions across 26,176 SVOD subscribers that were completed between January 2012 and January 2013.
On January 26, 2012, in honor of the series' 100th episode, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the set and proclaimed the date Gossip Girl Day, citing the show's cultural influence and impact on the economy of the city. "Gossip Girl has made New York a central character. While Gossip Girl is drawing fans in with its plot twists, the show also attracts many of them to visit New York, contributing to our incredible 50.5 million visitors last year. In fact, the economic impact of Gossip Girl and other television shows and films that are made in New York really can be felt directly in all five boroughs. The 100th episode of Gossip Girl is a real landmark, and I want to congratulate the show's cast and crew," he stated.
On March 5, 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. International Television and Metan Development Group would produce a Chinese teen drama series called China Girl inspired by Gossip Girl. Production was set to start in June 2012 with the show airing in November. The show was to follow the lives of students at a university instead of a high school. No news of the actual broadcast followed.
The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and fellow writer Stephanie Savage served as the show's executive producers throughout the series' run, followed by Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein of Alloy Entertainment, who were assigned in aiding the adaptation of the novels into the series. Following the success of Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls co-producer, John Stephens was approached by Schwartz and Savage, having previously worked with him on The O.C., and hired him as an executive producer. Joshua Safran, who started as a writer/consulting producer before becoming co-executive producer, was later added as an executive producer. On April 24, 2012, it was announced that he would leave the show at the end of the fifth season to be the new showrunner of NBC's now-cancelled musical series Smash. To fill in Safran's void, co-executive producer Sara Goodman was promoted to executive producer for the sixth season. Alexandra Patsavas who worked with Schwartz on The O.C. was in charge of the music. Eric Daman was at the head of the costume department; he previously had assisted Patricia Field on Sex and the City.
The success of Gossip Girl led to many adaptations outside the United States. The series received numerous award nominations and won 18 Teen Choice Awards. The CW officially renewed Gossip Girl for a sixth and final season on May 11, 2012. The final season, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered on October 8, 2012, and ended on December 17, 2012.
On July 25, 2012, Style Network announced that it had acquired the off-network rights to Gossip Girl and started airing repeats of the show on August 15, 2012.
A Mexican version of the series was produced by Mexican producer Pedro Torres as Gossip Girl: Acapulco. The show stars Sofía Sisniega, Oka Giner, Jon Ecker, Vadhir Derbez, Diego Amozurrutia, and Macarena Achaga. Filming of the Mexican adaptation began in January 2013 and the series aired on July 5, 2013, on Televisa. The show also aired in the United States on Univision in 2014. It was not renewed for a second season.
Another version of Gossip Girl aired in Thailand on Channel 3 beginning July 16, 2015, dubbed as Gossip Girl: Thailand.
A Chinese version of Gossip Girl aired on October 27, 2017, titled The Gossip Girl.
The series' characters attend the Upper East Side prep school Constance Billard, as did the characters of the original series. Executive producer Joshua Safran said that: "It’s just a new look at this particular society in New York", while Josh Schwartz confirmed the new series would be a continuation rather than a reboot, despite no plot continuation. Leighton Meester, the actress who played Blair Waldorf, confirmed on Good Morning America that she would not be a part of the sequel. When asked, Meester answered, "I was not asked to be on it, so no." Chace Crawford also confirmed that he had not been asked to be a part of the sequel; however, he noted he would be open to making an appearance. In November 2019, it was announced Kristen Bell would be returning as the voice of Gossip Girl in the new series.
An Indonesian adaptation of the show known as Gossip Girl Indonesia, has been announced during the launch of GoPlay, a video-on-demand service by the country's popular ridesharing app, Gojek, with Nia Dinata as its showrunner, premiered on the platform on February 14, 2020.
On January 1, 2021, Gossip Girl moved from Netflix to WarnerMedia's streaming service HBO Max. WarnerMedia is the parent company of the series' production company, Warner Bros. Television.
A standalone sequel series – also titled Gossip Girl and headed by original executive producers Schwartz, Savage and Safran – premiered July 8, 2021, on HBO Max. While set in a shared universe and with Kristen Bell as narrator, this series focuses on a different cast of characters from a different perspective, having no relation with the original series. The series received an initial 10-episode order, picking up nine years after the original Gossip Girl site went dark, as a new generation of private school teens are introduced to the watchful eye of Gossip Girl; the new series' plot had no connection to the original's.