Gossip Girl: Pilot

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 9PM ON THE CW

From the second The O.C. aired its' first episode Josh Schwartz became one of my favorite creators on television. Now, he's come out with a new show "Gossip Girl" on The CW (as well as "Chuck" on NBC). So no matter what I thought of the promo's I had to check this show out if for nothing more than the simple fact that Josh gave me 4 seasons of fun with that other show (The O.C.).

Basically the show follows the lives of New York City's elite youth and to a small extent a couple of their parents. We see their social lives and soon, their school lives, as they unfold in massive amounts of money driven, popularity driven drama that only the rich could be involved in. It's "Cruel Intentions" five years later plus a couple likable characters. The pilot didn't offer too much in the way of quality writing or quality television even though it was somewhat enjoyable. This is definitely not an Emmy winner (at least not so far) and definitely not what you should be watching if you only want stellar creativity and writing. But as a guilty pleasure it's pretty good.

I do have to point something out, and feel free to disagree, but Blake Lively (Serena) reminds me of a young Kate Hudson. She has the blond hair and a kind face plus the smile is almost identical. Her acting was also by far the best of the entire cast. She brought some genuine emotion and struggle to her character whereas many of the other actors seemed to be trying entirely too hard and it just didn't work (a.k.a. Chuck [Ed Westwick]).

As for what this show is lacking, the main thing is a purpose. The obvious answer would be that its about the lives of our main characters and how their positions in New York City influence their behavior in addition to the mystery of who Gossip Girl is and how she gets all her information. Unfortunately this isn't enough. This is basically the background but the show needs more. With The O.C., Josh gave us Ryan who gave us the main storyline to begin the show - a gifted boy caught up in the messed up lives of his family comes to live with the warm and giving Cohens in Newport. But Gossip Girl touches upon a storyline we can grab onto with Serena coming home because her little brother tried to commit suicide yet fails to give us any more or follow through on it. Down the road I'm sure it'll be a focus but when you have a pilot you need to establish a purpose from the very beginning; this the showed failed to do. Granted the show is based off a book but Josh failed to translate a purpose to the pilot.

Now if you're a HUGE fan of this show, which many of you are already, you know that many websites already know who plays the voice of Gossip Girl (and I'm assuming will play her on the show as well when she's revealed). I will do my absolute best not to post the actresses name for those of you who want to be surprised but if you'd like to know e-mail me anytime or leave a comment asking me.

The bright spot of the show was the acting of Blake Lively (Serena) and actually Penn Bagley (Dan). Their chemistry was pretty decent and the storyline developing between them looks to be very interesting. I can see Dan being Serena's anchor in the turmoil that is her life; bringing them closer every episode. The best moment's involved the two of them on the screen together. Now Leighton Meester (Blair) was decent but she wasn't really nailing the facial expressions and seemed a bit too mechanical. She definitely has a lot of potential though. The friendship (or lack thereof) between Blair and Serena is interesting to watch. They seem to genuinely care for each other but at the same time Blair can't get over her own ego long enough to be happy for how her friend has changed her life. With the revelation about Serena and Nate I doubt things will change for a long time.

I'm not sure why Dan's Dad and Serena's Mom needed to be connected for this show to work but it was a bit of a shock actually. I really didn't see that one coming but I wonder how that will play out and how it will touch upon all their lives.

So as a guilty pleasure I give this one thumb up for now. I'll have to see how the next few episodes go before I make a final decision on this one. As always, tell me what you think.