Gossip Girl (TV Series 2021–2023) Poster

(2021–2023)

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4/10
HBO, since when does the CW beat you?
arod_8511 July 2021
This show is terrible. I mean it's HBO. You expect a certain kind of caliber when a show is on HBO vs The CW. Somehow, the original Gossip Girls show on basic cable from the early 2000's might I add, still manages to blow this one out of the water. I wasn't the greatest fan of the original, but it did have some interestingly flawed characters and had a decent storyline. This one tries to be a bit more risqué adding in some sex scenes and f bombs, but it fails in every way possible. It's boring, they revealed "Gossip Girl" far too early so they already ruined the mystery and potential shock value. I agree with another reviewer that the characters, with the exception of maybe Zoya, are unattractive and fail to captivate. I like that they added some people of color, but none of these characters are believable (not because of their race). Storyline is already stupid and the acting is horrible. Way worse than CW horrible. I don't see this show lasting long. Super surprised, and disappointed, in HBO.
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4/10
Why
vitordrios18 March 2022
New gossip girl simply does not want to gossip? She simply takes orders and plays along with what the people want. Characters are bad and have no soul. It's a clear copy of Elite but in minors' version.

HBO needs to choose what they want, you either do a total kids' show or a 18+ one. They try to do both, threesomes and sexy plots with poor sex scenes and kids' conversarions.. everything is just bad overall why.
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5/10
The Good and The Bad
CyclopsKnowsBest248 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"Gossip Girl" 2021 is a reboot/sequel series to the original and popular "Gossip Girl" (2007) tv show. The original show followed two main characters Serena (Blake Lively) and Blair (Leighton Meester) whose glamorous lives and scandalous secrets were the focus of an anonymous blogger named "Gossip Girl" whose identity was not revealed until the end of the series finale. The original "Gossip Girl" show was famous for it's glamorous focus on the Upper East Side New York, beautiful fashions, cinematography, and of course absurd soap-like drama involving it's 6 main characters (Serena, Blair, Dan, Chuck, Jenny, and Nate) and some recurring side characters.

Fast forward to 2021, and "Gossip Girl" (still narrated by the iconic voice of Kristen Bell) has decided to comeback and teach a new set of students in the Upper East Side "a lesson" after being away too long. This new Gossip Girl has a different more "vindictive" tone and doesn't seem as fascinated with the new students lives as she seems more intent on taking them down.

Unlike the original series where the biggest question "who is Gossip Girl?" wasn't answered until the finale, the new series does something unique where Gossip Girl's identity is revealed right at the beginning of the show. We learn that the teachers at Constance St. Jude's are the one's who decide to resurrect Gossip Girl to keep the kids "in line" and also help secure their jobs at the school (after a teacher gets fired because of the students). The students of course are unaware of who the identity of Gossip Girl is (at least at this time), and at first think it is a prank until secrets start to come out via Gossip Girl's Instagram.

The new show focuses on two new main characters: Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander) and Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak) who happen to be half-sisters reuniting secretly at the beginning of the show. Their relationship seems to be a similar to Serena/Blair's friendship from the previous show, where they seem to go back and forth as to whether they are friends or not, and have a lot of power play/drama revolving around them. Also, Zoya seems to be somewhat of a mix of Dan Humphrey's (played by Penn Badgley in the original show) character where she is new to the world of the Upper East Side and trying to find her place as an outsider.

These two characters so far are the most interesting of the new students, while sadly the other characters seem to fall to the wayside or not have great development. Thomas Doherty's character is very charismatic and has a similar vibe to Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), and seems to have potential to be an interesting character going forward. Otto (played by Eli Brown) doesn't seem to be much else than a "love interest" for our main two leads to fight over, and could easily become this shows Nate (Chace Crawford), which most older Gossip Girl fans know is not a fun character to watch or care about.

As for other side character's, Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind) is visual striking in her looks (a similar, but toned down look/style to Blair Waldorf), but seems very uninteresting and her only motivation so far seems to be having a threesome with her boyfriend, Aki (played by Evan Mock) and Thomas Doherty's character. If this is supposed to be her "big secret" it seems like something Gossip Girl and the world could care less about (and even her boyfriend seems aware of her fantasy and plays along with it). As for Zion Moreno and Savannah Lee Smith, they seem to be similar to Blair's "minions" from the original show (this time they are minions for Julien), but are given more screentime despite not having interesting character arcs/developments so far (their main trait seems to be "mean girls").

Overall the show seems to have too many characters that take away from the drama rather than contribute to it. I personally would have cut out at least Audrey and Aki's characters as they seem to be very useless to the overall plot/drama, and have not come across as interesting characters to watch.

As for the shows transition to modern day, I think there are hits and misses. For the positives I think the show is right that Instagram is a huge/popular platform as of this day and age, and one Gossip Girl would most likely use. It will be interesting going forward to see how Instagram is used both by characters like Julien (who seems to be a commentary on Influencers) for social clout, and Gossip Girl for "cancel culture."

As for the misses, I think the show comes off a little too idealistic with it's view of diversity in a high class wealthy institution like the Upper East Side, and it's commentary for how those types of students would react to the world around them.

While I do think the characters of Julien and Zoya are interesting and overall well casted, I think the whole cast is too "diverse" for where they are (at least the students). I have a hard time believing that the majority of students of wealthy families on the "Upper East Side" would not be mostly white rich snobs. This seems like it would be great modern day commentary for a newcomer like Zoya who is black coming to an almost "all white" privileged school and not feeling like she fits in, and how her half-sister Julien (who has been in that system her whole life) changes herself to fit that mold and isn't her "authentic" self. I hope the show will have some commentary on that in the future, but so far there has been no mention of it.

It would also be cool to see how the characters "put on shows" to be liked/accepted by society or get caught by "cancel culture"/Gossip Girl and have to give out apologies that are forced/change their image or risk losing their reputation.

Also, some dialogue in the show was on the cringey side and seemed out of touch for how teenagers would actually talk. One example that comes to mind was when Doherty's character teased Audrey of being monogamous/married at age 16 and she responded "don't straight shame me." Lines like that and similar seemed like someone who scrolls twitter all day and thinks that is how people really talk in person.

Overall the new Gossip Girl seems like it's off to a semi-rough start, but if it adjusts some of its kinks and focuses on good storylines/interesting characters (and has fun with it) there is potential there. It will be interesting to see where the show goes, especially with the identity of Gossip Girl being known to the audience, and if that will bring about serious consequences if the students find out (or better the REAL Gossip Girl comes back).
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1/10
Your Lockdown Stale Banana Bread
ManavMehtaReviews3 August 2021
Well well well Hey there Upper Yeast Siders.

Gossip Girl here.

Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of New Yorks Elite Oh Audrey have you no flair? Trying and failing miserably to be Blair?

Julien Oh Julien. A wannabe Obie contessa whereas you are just a Budget Vanessa.

A Serena stand in cast without giving much thought? That would be the wooden face Zoya Lott.

No-one will cry Wolfe over the poor man's Bass without any sass.

Luna And Monet are fillers that need their own fillers. Pun intended

they say imitation is the best form of flattery. But what do you do when everything falls flat?

You don't need cancel culture to cancel something that never truly began.

XOXO Loyal GG Lover.
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3/10
If you have nothing else to do
carolrmag16 October 2021
Not being a super fan, I did watch the original so it is hard not to make comparisons. So I will begin with that:
  • Original characters were more likeable (even the "mean" ones) and had more depth
  • Plot of the original much more interesting. E.g.: the secrecy of the GG made things a lot more engaging
  • Fashion also much better on first run
  • The new GG is creepy
All in all, the show by itself can be a meach passing your time if you have nothing at all to do.
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Truly Horrible
mirzasaadullahbaig13 July 2021
I just finished the pilot episode and come straight here to see if I am the only one who is feeling so annoyed or there are others.. No surprise almost everyone here is left high and dry.. What are they thinking? I can understand they have tried to be inclusive of black community but atleast they could have found better faces or more likeable characters.. We are used to watching Sarena and Blair.. there is no one near to them in this reboot.. Rivalry between siblings.. oh it couldn't get any more lame..
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6/10
Has Potential, here's why.
dgalle-8076222 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Gossip Girl Reboot Review

Good morning upper East Siders, Gossip Girl is back and she has definitely stirred things up again. Not so much referring to the actual plot of the story but more in our minds, the viewers' that is. There are many things different about the new Gossip Girl. I wouldn't say she is newer and better, actually, I definitely would not say that. I would say that she is intriguing however and there's something that has kept me watching for the past 3 weeks. I've read bad, I mean, BAD reviews about the series and don't get me wrong, I painfully agree, NONETHELESS... there are many ways in which the show makes me relive the old Gossip Girl and not just in a overall type of way. Key details. I mean, key and actually FUN details that make me happy inside and wonder if it could be. Here are my thoughts on the new and, ahem... NOT YET improved, Gossip Girl.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Let's start with the bad news first. I can not get over the fact that Gossip Girl was created in front of us. I refuse to accept this. This I believe is the biggest turnoff for this show. Yes, the original gossip girl MESSED UP when they made Dan GG, YES, 100%. Whenever I rewatch the series I have to skip all the Dan scenes toward the end of the show because it's a disgrace, YES. I GET IT. But I am very VERY disappointed that this new group of people didn't use this as an opportunity. Instead, it seems that they were so scared to mess it up that they decided to play it safe. Have the audience know who GG is right from the start. UGHHHH. "Big mistake, huge." GG should be mysterious. She should be kept a secret because then we feel connected to the characters. We feel their frustration, we wonder what they wonder, we suspect of everyone as they do but in this case we are let down with a story that just doesn't seem to even begin to fill OGG ( Original Gossip Girl)'s shoes. On top of the disgrace of giving it up on the first episode, I am not pleased with who GG is. A teacher. Blah. Again, maybe if they had waited until the end of at least season one to reveal GG, maybe this teacher would have been a good choice. Right now it just seems like an effort to involve an older audience?? Maybe? I'm not sure why they would involve these teachers so much. They are not appealing to the story. Not to mention that I am in complete disbelief that they redid the classic Serena on the train scene with this teacher. Such a dishonor to S. Shame on them. OGG was poised, determined, confident, never scared. Now we got a scared, fragile teacher as our villain who were supposed to love? I just can't buy it. NO.

But as I said, the show has kept me watching so let me go over the good news. Although the acting could use some improvement, I have to say, the characters are pretty good. The actual teenagers I mean. I see them and I see a reflection of our old cast. But not mirror identical; I see bits and pieces of each of our OGG cast members intertwined into these new characters. Let's begin with the most obvious.

Max. Chuck Bass. This character has the essence of Chuck all over and the actor is NAILING IT. I wouldn't say he is identical Bass though. I love that he is open in every way. I think this is exactly how Chuck was in the OGG but TV wasn't able to show it back then. Chuck did admit to kissing guys after all, right? Anyway. What I also like about Max's character is that he has 2 loving parents. Poor Chuck had the worst life ever with his dead not dead mom and his dead not dead dad. Super confusing and hardcore. Max has 2 fathers, who support his lifestyle. WIN. WIN. Yes.

Next we have Obie. Besides the fact that I don't like his name at all, this is a character that I can see myself liking. He gives me Nate/Dan vibes. It's like this is what Dan Humphrey would be if he was the prince of New York. He is the 2 good guys of the OGG cast combined. He has the pretty boy, rich boy, yet humble soul of Nathaniel Archibald and has the wit, anti-classist, and hopeless romantic Dan attitude (prior to Dan becoming a d*** of course). I have high hopes for this character. He is the knight in shining armor that every good show should have. I look forward to his ups and downs and eventual success. Yes.

Next we have Zoya. Little Zoya. Little J. This is another one that we may think is a replica. She's not from the upper East side, she's younger, immediate rival to the queen, has great style and has been baptized by GG with the tile "little Z." How much more proof do we need? It's little J! This character is another one that I'd like to think has more to her than meets the eye. I think that they gave her a little of that Vanessa -essence being how smart and real she can be. I do think that they may take her down the same path of our once Beloved Brooklyn family. I hope this show practiced caution though. It is sad to see how characters that had so much to offer like Dan and Jenny, ended up being the most hated in the show as well as the ones that proved everyone right. They were low class wanna be insiders that everyone thought they were. Sad. Let's hope Little Z is able to stand on her own and keep true to herself. Hopeful yes.

Ak. Definitely Nate. But, not just Nate. I would also like to throw in Eric in there. Not just because of the fact that he's also into boys but the fact that he's the advice giver, the wise one. I like this character. The actor is freaking cute, the hair is perfect and the heart seems pure. I like that this character seems simple. What you see is what you get. Besides his internal struggles of course. Simple, supportive. Yes!

Juliet. Juliet is a combination of Serena and Blair. Period. She's popular, she's the queen, but she's not into monarchy. She's Blair when she has to and Serena when she has to. I think she has the potential of being the best of both worlds. I don't think we've seen enough of her to determine how great or not she will be, but I do like that I see both S and B in her. I applaud that she seems to at least be more mature than our OGG gals but of course I love that she's not afraid to totally mess things up Blair style. Double yes.

Finally, my favorite character of all, Audrey. I would have said Max was my favorite if it wasn't for the fact that I absolutely ADORE Blair Waldorf and I can bet one of my cat's 9 lives that Audrey is a tribute to the great queen B. First, can we all agree there is a definite resemblance? Please don't tell me I'm the only one that sees it. It's there. The lips, the cheekbones, the way she speaks, facial expressions. It's there. Blair vibes FOR SURE. And! If that is not enough, her name is Audrey! Freaking Audrey. Blair was obsessed with Audrey Hepburn!!! Ugh yes!!!!! I love this and I want to send a huge virtual hug to the writers for doing this. It cannot be a coincidence. I LOVE IT. The fact that this girl is also in a broken relationship like our B was in OGG Is also a clue. For a second there I thought Max and Audrey were the next Chuck and Blair but I like what they did with the love triangle. I would definitely have shipped a Chuck-Blair-Nate threesome had I been given the opportunity but I guess the times were not ready for that. I also love that Audrey is more level headed than B. It seems that they distributed Blair's more toxic traits between the new minions, Luna and Monet. So, Audrey, DEFINITELY yes.

I could go on. Georgina is somewhere in that mix as well but I need to watch more episodes to determine. All in all, the show could do more. It did however, do enough for me to be intrigued. Despite their right off the bat slap in the face failures, there are various possible successes in the making. I sincerely appreciate that they did a Dan-type move by combining characters (remember when Dan combined Nate and Eric in his book and explained to us that many writes do this?) *Insert smiling with tear emoji* I am loving the subtle tributes. All I know is that they better fix the GG plot QUICK because i don't know how much more I can take of this teacher thing. I have hopes though. Hopes that they will make it worth my while.

Xoxo,

D.
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1/10
Teachers gossiping about teens? Awful
catalinacapurro15 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Is no one going to talk about teacher (adults) are talisman pics of almost naked kids and gossiping about teenagers? That's just messed up... awful tv show.
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10/10
I LIKED THIS REBOOT
lucas-macedo8 July 2021
I'm really excited to see what more the series has to offer, I feel it started off well.
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7/10
Way better than I thought it would be
Larsii9029 October 2021
I'm only two episodes in, but I'm surprised at all the negative reviews here. The original Gossip Girl is absolutely iconic and one of the most influential teen shows of all time. No reboot can ever top that.

BUT, I actually thought this modern take on it was really good. You can see parts of the original characters spread across all the new characters, while they're also doing something new. The way they also solved the identity of Gossip Girl is completely new and I actually really liked it. I wouldn't want a new round of «who's gossip girl??» every season, we all know how that turned out last time...

You can also tell that there is a certain quality level with the HBO stamp on it, which it needed to be anywhere near as good as the OG Gossip Girl. They kept a very similar tone and visual style as the original, but I would say the original was wittier and did rely more on dark comedy. So that's maybe one thing I would like to see more of. Blair for example was really funny, and I'm not seing that part in this reboot.

Watch is as its own show and don't compare it to the original, and you might enjoy it. I'm 31 and I swore to never start a teen show again (because I should be watching adult stuff and I get so addicted), but I guess I fell off the wagon with this one.
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3/10
Dull and uninspired
Dash998 July 2021
The OG isn't fantastic writing or anything but it had a great sense of what it was a trashy soapy drama. This one takes itself too seriously and then tack on the characters which don't have the same charm as Blair/Leighton, Dan/Penn and Chuck it makes for a very dull first episode.

Proof you don't need to remake/reboot everything for the sake of it.
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8/10
Loved the reboot.
meenumandal10 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I actually really liked the reboot. I was not expecting to like Julien's character this much. I actually liked her complex character arc. She is a kind person inside but have to be inkind or quiet to look cool in front of everyone. I think she will be entertaining to watch and I love Thomas. He is very charismatic like he always has been. Though I think teachers being gossip girl is kind of creepy. Isn't this illegal? They took pics of students in compromised condition. That is plain wrong. Wish someone else was GG. Apart from that everything I loved. Xoxo.
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7/10
Interesting
hiunclee8 July 2021
Stye ✅ Color Grading ✅ Soundtrack ✅ Costume ✅ Dark ✅
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1/10
Just cancel this already
yk-763-31489320 July 2021
First off, the cast just didn't have the charisma like in the original. There is really no one to root for or any type of romance you want to see between any of the characters. It's like watching cardboards. I gave this a shot cause I watched Penn Badgley in You first and I loved his performance in it. That led to me watching Gossip Girl, a show I never watched a single episode of when it was on air. So when this reboot came out I was hoping to see same type of drama and an attractive cast with charisma and relationships to root for. This was an AWFUL reboot.
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1/10
Just plain awful!
cakemixed92330 July 2021
Even if you don't compare this to the original GG, this show is just plain awful! This is more juvenile than a CW or a Freeform show. What was HBO thinking? This is NOT something these young actors will want on their resumés. What an embarrassment!
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1/10
Awful
yk-763-31489325 August 2021
I gave this show 3 episodes to give it a chance. What a waste of time. It just lacks the romance & the humor the original series had. Do yourself a favor and don't even attempt to give this a try.
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This is just bad
viktoria-brb3 December 2021
Any story that the try to sell, I just can not buy it. It is so cringey specially when they try to deal with social issues. I guess it would work for some highschoolers because they do it so superficially.

Overall terrible.
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7/10
Watchable
andreitintea8 July 2021
It's pretty good for now. All the losers rating it 1/10 are so boring. Get a life.
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1/10
This series is pure TR4SH!
Legendddd6 February 2022
THERE IS NO PLOT HERE!

The acting is horrible, jordan alexander looks like a crack user, everything is forced, boring, no charisma, no pleasant characters, pretentious the first season had no plot, so you can imagine what the second season will be like! This rubbish will soon be forgotten.
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8/10
Bad
goldenboyxoxo11 July 2021
A lifeless, insipid remake with no charm, bad acting, and terrible writing. Perhaps if it was not titled or associated with a show that is funny, witty, silly, and charming it would be bearable, but it is and the comparison just makes the remake even more atrocious. The new cast is very pretty and the stylist is the same so the clothes r fun but that is the bare minimum I can praise this piece of garbage with. I also take personal offense to anyone who could even entertain pretending this show has anything worth while to offer.

Xoxo fml.
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7/10
Don't misjudge by the reviews !!!
toma26nikolov8 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Advice to all the people who want to watch - don't misjudge by the 6 stars because their most common argument is that it's not like the original one. Reboot does not mean that. Also, there are many interesting characters, plots, twists. The only thing I didn't like 100% is that we know who GG is but I hope it won't be like through the show's run.
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1/10
All show, no substance
kirtanak-6674410 July 2021
The writing on this show is terrible, unnatural, and results in characters that the audience is not invested in watching (excluding the sisters and maybe Otto, the boyfriend). As for the plot, making the teachers "gossip girl" (something that is revealed in the first episode) in order to "take down" the school is a vindictive plotline that frankly seems quite pointless in my opinion. What group of 30 year-olds would create an instagram page to take down a bunch of 16 year-old teens by trying to stir up drama? This is a plotline doomed to fail.

Also if they're gonna cast people in their late twenties to play 17 year-olds, the least the creators can do is make sure they can act.

Overall, this reboot is the definition of all show and no substance.
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10/10
XOXO
juloosaive8 July 2021
I'm here after watching episode one and wow this isn't even fair cause when I heard positions and Kristen Bell started talking I knew I was gonna be in it for the long run lmfao I love this already. I'm already so in love with the characters and diversity we are getting in this remake. It feels just like I'm watching the OG Gossip Girl however It's not boring nor does it seem repetitive or like its copying the original. The only thing I'm not in love with are the teachers and their whole storyline but whatever the main cast makes up for that. Can't wait for episode two!
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7/10
Ups and downs
raven-739229 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I was intrigued by this show seeing as I watched the original GG twice. I wanted to give this show a real chance. Right off the bat The challenge I set for myself was to see what I could relate to the original. "It would be nice to have someone run errands" gave me so much nostalgia! And having Kristen bell be the voice of gossip girl was the best choice! I also think it was a good idea for the the show to chose actors who aren't well known, which is something the original did. Now overall, I thought the show would have been more predictable but it wasn't. GG kept me on my toes and even made me angry when the posts started happening (compatible to the original). The twist on knowing who GG is at the beginning is both refreshing and frustrating because I don't know if I like it or not. I guess that's the pull that will keep me watching. Overall, good first episode.
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2/10
Trash
dncdoreen24 January 2022
The original gossip girl was fun and classy. This is simply trashy. The characters are supposed to be 14-15 years old. It's full of sex, nudity, tons of bisexual activity, drugs, and even talk of using Botox. Is this really what we need to be teaching pre/teens and teens to look up to?
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