They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but everyone knows, there’s no beating the original. The Gossip Girl reboot which aired on HBO Max in 2021, has been cancelled, and I don’t mean online.
“Gossip Girl” premiered on HBO Max on July 8th 2021 to mixed reviews, it had a lot of fans of the original series feom 2012 shall we say slightly annoyed that the beloved TV seried was being rebooted. After all, why fix what’s not broken? However the show went on to break the record for the most-watched HBO Max original series over its launch weekend and the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on December 1st, 2022.
Nearly a decade after the conclusion of the original series, a new cast of Manhattan private schoolers takes the lead under the watchful eye of Gossip Girl, the show demonstrating how much social media – and the landscape of New York City itself – has changed in the intervening years. “Gossip Girl” features more adult content than the original on The CW, owing to the relaxed standards of the HBO Max streaming service. The series is also more diverse, with non-white leads and LGBT characters. The story starts when the students return to school after the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of worn-out teachers create an Instagram account as the omniscient and anonymous “Gossip Girl” to take back power from their teenaged tormentors.
“We are very grateful to showrunner/executive producer Joshua Safran, and executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard,” HBO Max said in a statement. “Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl, we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience.”
“Gossip Girl”’s cancellation is not believed to be a financial decision but a result of the show not being able to break out in the way HBO Max’s revival of another hit young adult series, Pretty Little Liars, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has done, for instance. The show never could live up to the elite drama of the OG Gossip Girl, there are even times in the show when characters mention they want drama like Serena and Blair.
Season 2 saw the addition of a familiar face from the original show, which brought forward the question, could we possibly see more old “Gossip Girl” characters? The season 2 finale of “Gossip Girl” (2021) will serve as the show’s series finale.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max,” said Executive producer Joshua Safran in a message to fans Thursday morning. “Thank you for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo”
The series is narrated by Kristen Bell, who reprised her role as the voice of Gossip Girl, an anonymous and omniscient blogger. The series features an ensemble cast led by Jordan Alexander, Whitney Peak, Tavi Gevinson, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zión Moreno, Savannah Lee Smith, and Grace Duah.
The series is executive produced by original series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, along with Safran, who was an executive producer on the first series and who also serves as showrunner.
Don’t worry Upper East Siders, if there’s one thing you should learn from all of this, it’s that, there’s no getting rid of me, not really.
Xoxo, Gossip Girl
Fangirl and Writer with a huge passion for entertainment.
