Gossip Girl:
Well, you can't watch Gossip Girl without thinking about The O.C. At least I can't. But, to be fair, I can't do much of anything without thinking about The O.C. sooner or later. That's how much I love The O.C. Which means that any show gunning to be a replacement for my Newpsies is going to have a tough sell with me.
That said, Gossip Girl made a pretty valiant effort. There were, of course, some things I didn't like about it. Nate, for one. My sister nailed it when she said he's "too pretty and too whiny." I don't give a crap that he's "trapped" in his relationship with Blair. As far as I can tell, he deserves no better.
Blair also didn't do much for me. I wasn't initially impressed with Serena, but she grew on me. I thought Chuck was funny in a Cliff/Dick Casablancas/Cappie kind of way at first, but, no, that kid's just creepy. Somebody needs to learn that "no" means no.
Another complaint is that, in the pilot episode at least, Gossip Girl is not as funny as The O.C. was. Although technically the pilot of The O.C. wasn't all that hilarious either, with the exception of Seth Cohen, who turned the world upside down. Which leads me to...
Dan (I like Penn, his real name, better) is clearly the Seth of this show. He's the outsider who is not included in the cool crowd. The problem here is that I can't figure out why. Seth was not cut from the same clothe as the popular water polo players; he was obviously completely different and didn't fit in. But other than the fact that he's apparently not as wealthy as everyone else, Dan seems pretty much in line with the rest of the GG bunch. He's not all that weird and he's freaking gorgeous! The pay off of Serena possibly falling for Dan is a little cheapened if he's so obviously hot, isn't it?
Not that I'm complaining too much about Penn's hotness. I don't complain when someone who looks like a blend of Andy Roddick and James Franco appears on my TV screen. Or next to me in the line at Target. Or in a passing car. Or in my living room. Or anywhere.
Now, not surprisingly, a lot of what I liked about Gossip Girl reminded me of what I liked about The O.C. There was a party and a fight after all. That's one Josh Schwartz formula that goes a long way toward creating awesome television.
Another Josh Schwartz theme that surfaced in this episode was the recurring "main character staring out of the window of a moving vehicle" motif. I've documented well how much I love the scenes of Ryan in the car coming to Newport and Ryan in the car leaving Newport which bookended The O.C. pilot episode (and reoccurred in the Season 1 finale). That motif work just as well in GG with Serena nervously arriving on the train and then contentedly riding home in the cab. Josh Schwartz, I love the way you put together a pilot.
And, finally, Kristen Bell is a master of the voice over. Nobody can do snarky better than KB. Gossip Girl signs off, "You know you love me," and, yes, I really, really do.
Other random thoughts:
- I can't believe Serena's last name is van der Woodsen. That's such a mouthful.
- I wonder what the deal with Dan and Jenny's mom is. And I totally saw it coming that Rufus and Serena's mom used to date. I guess they're the Kirsten and Jimmy of Gossip Girl. I'm a little confused about the logistics of it all though. If I understood correctly, she cheated on him with Trent Ressner from Nine Inch Nails, so that was early to mid '90s probably. And Rufus still had time to marry someone else and have a kid who's about 17 now? I'm confused.
- These kids do know how to rock a school uniform. Teen Vogue would be proud.
- I guess child celebrities aren't the only ones who can get served in bars despite being underage.
- Nate's dad is a classy guy, what with whoring out his son to score a lucrative business deal and all...
- It looks like all the moms on this show are various forms of Julie Cooper.
- I'd feel so much better about life in general if The CW didn't use that Pussy Cat Doll as their spokesperson. It just drags up old, upsetting memories.
- Sometimes in life, it helps to be a good text messager.
Dan: "Save some trees, have a blog."
Dan: "What? When Prince Charming found Cinderella's glass slipper no one accused him of having a foot fetish! ...No, she doesn't know me, nobody knows me! "
Dan: "You'd really go out with some guy you don't know? "
Serena: "Well, you can't be worse than the guys I do know."
Dan: "This is a date? Oh, well maybe I should have worn my loafers then."
I know I'm probably reading too much into this, but the pilot made me think that Gossip Girl could totally be Chuck. At the end, he threatenly told Serena, "I know everything!" which is exactly what Gossip Girl likes to say. Hmm...
My Premiere Score: 7.5 / 10
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