Gossip Girl: Discussion Thread

[Sylph]

It's Stephanie Savage, the show-killer. Is Josh involved in this show any more at all? I wish his Athens (especially) and Alphabet City got produced, but alas. BTW, from several sources I've heard the guy's a total jerk.

[JackPeyton]

it was tonights episode. i wouldnt say he liked it. sadly, again they really should take a page from the books and just go there.

Carter has done wonders for Serena. This show has never gotten Serena right since the pilot, IMHO, until this season started.

Blair is exactly where she should be. After high school ends the queen bees lives are over because thats all they are. the bitch who everyone secretly hates but acts like they love because its what everyone else does. thats all she has ever been. i love that she cant let go of high school. nobody cares about who you were in high school in the real world.

this show has awful characters. nate is such a underdeveloped character. but i like dan, sort of. lol. i mean, hes got some depth and some character and thats saying more than most male characters on any CW show. so....

gosh, MT is awful. Ive hated her since Pete & Pete. She is just a really bad actress. I really want to love the role of Georgina, but i feel MT makes all the worst choices when playing the role. Willa Holland woulda been perfect - but girls got some issues so... lol.

[JackPeyton]

but SS ran season 4 solo didnt she? of the oc i mean.. because whoever ran that show during season 4 managed to turn it back into a great teen primetime drama after the awfulness of the entire second and third season along with half the first.

[Sylph]

Remind me - what happened in season 4?

[Sylph]

Season 4 was Josh, I believe. And half of the first, complete second and third was Stephanie.

He managed to save it in the end.

[JackPeyton]

no marissa - thankfully.

ryan/taylor. more so ryan as an interesting dude and taylor herself was very interesting and complex.

summer finding herself, losing herself, merging her new self and old self.

seth still being seth, thankfully, because if it aint broke dont fix it.

idk, all of his shows seem to suck a lot, then get good, then suck again, much like Josh Whedon shows (except Angel was at its best when he was away from it)

[Sylph]

Yup. I remember.

That's 'cause he's half-involved or not at all. I mean, The O.C. had such potential, but even when at its best, something was missing. I guess he can just cook an interesting premise, first couple of episodes, but then again - there's a million writers who can do the exact same thing. It's planning and keeping momentum that's much more relevant.

[DRW50]

I think the problem with Josh Schwartz and with all the other media darling producers/writers/creators is too much hype. I think that TV would be a lot richer if people weren't proclaimed geniuses so early on. Not only does it inflate ego, but also sets up expectations that they, especially Whedon, struggle to match.

So we have a brief kiss between two men, not even a kiss, really, before Blair walks up to Chuck and feigns shock.

I mean it's better than the old Melrose way (or the new Y&R way) of only showing the shocked reaction of the third party, but it's not really worth putting in promos, is it? It's sort of like a half step up from the times Kerr Smith managed to chastely buss another guy for a half second.

At least give some tongue if you're going to get a promo.

[Cat]

Of all the actors on GG, I think Edward Westwick would totally go for that. Not because I buy the "OMG, he and Chace Crawford share an apartment! They must be gay!" rumors, but because EW strikes me as the kind of actor who would totally give 110% to a plot-twist that (in the context of the show) is slightly left-field.

Absolutely agree. Although I do think Joss Whedon is a genius --imaginatively and in terms of emotional storytelling. When he collaborates with a writer like David Greenwalt, the result is magic. I also love Whedon's attention to his female characters. The problem with him has tended to be Whedon as a showrunner, and his inability to convince networks to show his labyrinth-plotted dramas in the correct order!

As for Josh Schwartz, let's not forget that he was incredibly young when The OC was greenlit.

I also think that The OC's pilot was such an amazing piece of work in of itself that the rest of the show was always going to have a hard time living up to it. McG made it very cinematic, with strong images (Marissa passed out on her driveway and Ryan picking her up and carrying her; or when he looked back and saw her standing alone and awkward as he was being driven off) in place of the usual dialogue inherent in TV dramas. This also helped to mask some of Mischa Barton's non-acting. I just remember being blown away by the pilot, the first time for a non-cable network. It felt like a movie, by turns gritty and luxe.

After that, they piled on the overdone and self-conscious dialogue. The show started becoming a self-parody, with Marissa waiting for guys to save her, Ryan being all strong and silent, everybody commenting on Ryan being strong and silent, Summer playing up the Valley Girl thing, Seth never shutting up, oy vey Sandy with the Brooklyn witticisms. Some things I loved and I'm glad they developed ideas and characters (especially Melinda Clarke!). But the pilot let the actors do their thing and it was perfection.

Also, the actor who played Ryan's brother who attacked Marissa in Season 2? He was amazing. I'll never understand why the show let him go. Same goes for Cam Gigandet.

[DRW50]

Whedon as a showrunner does seem to be a problem. So is the theme of his shows. They tend to become very sour after a few years. "Angel" basically marginalized and sucked the life out of Gunn and Wesley so we could see endless variations of how awesome Fred was supposed to be. That left a much more empty show, made even worse by ill-fated ideas such as taking the life out of Cordelia, bringing in Angel's awful son. I heard the last season was better but I couldn't really get past the third and fourth. And "Buffy" became went from being a fun yet dramatic, energetic show about making hard choices to get what you need to, "Life sucks! We'll wink at you and throw out one-liners, but remember, we're very depressed, because life is worthless." Who really wants to see that for, like, the last 4 seasons? Not to mention that of the major cast, the only one I think was able to pull that type of material off was Allyson Hannigan, who I think ended up carrying the show on her back for the last few years.

Yeah, I think that having your show take itself seriously yet constantly be self-conscious and try to be clever tends to be a mistake. I think that's one of the big problems with OLTL right now. It's a depressing sitcom.

They also had such a rough second season, which is never a good idea. I think almost shows that do well or have long runs had great or at least very watchable second seasons. I think they took their eyes off the ball too early -- believing the hype.

I have to admit that when I did watch, Seth did get on my nerves. A lot. Mischa Barton was dull, but then, I don't know why they made her the lead.

[JackPeyton]

I agree, the kiss shoulda been more, however i think the main reason they put it so heavy into promo's is because of the book.

didnt EW play gay on Californication?

[UKBoi]

This show has totally lost its focus this season. It just doesnt work with the characters out of high school. If this was on another network and they could play more with the adult stories, then it would rock, but it just strikes me as one big, long, PG-13 version of Cruel Intentions and not even Blair Waldorf can keep me watching anymore. Josh Schwartz strikes again with a killer first season and then a downhill decline from then on....

[Sylph]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i5262a3b026dcf1714e8f09c6e3368b79

[JackPeyton]

IMHO this is the best season GG has ever had.

Nate's early romance with Joanna Garcia was sweet, but filler up until his current story with still being in love with Serena who has now fallen for his cousin Tripp whojust found out his wife set that fake thing up that Nate took the fall for. I loved the use of history between nate and serena in the bar, esp when he told her about telling jenny he was in love with her thinking jenny was serena because of the mask. I cant wait to see where this goes.

Serena, wow what a change this season and all for the better. the daddy issues, the page 6 queen, the bad relationship with carter, getting a job and skipping school, finding herself, tripp & nate? great stuff.

Jenny accepting that shes becoming queen and losing herself in the process is also good.

Finally we go there with Vanessa & Dan! Jesus! How great was that threesome?! I liked how it set up this angle of Dan finally realizing he liked Vanessa but only as Vanessa had finally gave up and started to move on. Hilary Duff actually fit in well here.

Chuck is still awesome, as always, and he and blair are good.. but Blair... damn. what a pathetic person. she needs to grow up. its such a good case of being everything in highschool and being unable to accept nobody cares about who you were in highschool. hate her, love the story.

[CassieFan]

For now, I find this season completely boring.

Vanessa just needs to go. The most irritating character on GG ever.