INTERESTING FACTS
Gossip Girl airs Wed. @ 9:00 on The CW.
Gossip Girl first aired on September 18th 2007 in Canada on CTV before premiering in the U.S. a day later, September 19th, on its original network The CW.
The premiere episode became available on the iTunes Store as a free download on September 14th 2007.
Gossip Girl was the first The CW of the season to get had a full season of episodes ordered (22).
Due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, Gossip Girl will only have 13 of 22 episodes completed for the 2007-08 season.
The show is based on the New York Times bestselling novel series by Cecily von Ziegesar. The author is also involved in the shows writing.
The Constance Billard School for Girls is based on The Nightingale-Bamford School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Cecily von Ziegesar, the author of the books, in which the series is based on, attended this prestigious school.
Gossip Girl was originally intended to be adapted into a film by Warner Bros. with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino set to write the screenplay, Roger Kumble set to direct and actress Lindsay Lohan attached to star.
The development of the show started on August 2006 and the pilot was given the green light on January 2007.
The show had an early pick-up with 13 episodes ordered on May 15th 2007.
The show is filmed entirely in New York City with scenes being shot in and around the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The music selection is credited to Alexandra Patsavas, who explains, "I'm relying on old favorites while exploring current pop music. And since the show revolves primarily around high school students in New York, we'll definitely be using some New York-based bands. But these kids listen to the radio, too."
The music in Gossip Girl includes tracks by Fergie, Aqualung, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse, Angels & Airwaves, Hanson, the Mooney Suzuki, Sum 41, Valeria and Aria and Elioth Smith.
Gossip Girl currently airs on FOX8, CTV, the Warner Channel, Zee Café, ITV2 and VT4 in Australia, Canada, India, Latin America, the United Kingdom and Belgium respectively. It will also air on Star World in Asia in 2008.
The first actresses to chosen were Blake Lively and Leighton Meester on February 2007. While, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Penn Badgley, Kelly Rutherford and Florencia Lozano landed their roles in March. Ed Westwick and Matthew Settle were the last, being chosen in April.
Jessica Szohr joined the show in September 2007 playing Dan's childhood friend Vanessa.
Kristin Dunst was announced to be the narrator on May 2007, which makes her the title character of a second show of The CW network.
Aaron Rose and Cyrus Rose, original characters from the novels, will be included in the series.
Eleanor Waldorf was played by Florencia Lozano in the pilot episode, but afterwards by Margaret Colin.
The show was considered to be one of the more anticipated new shows of the 2007-2008 television season according to an August 2007 survey by OTX.
The pilot has positive reviews from Variety, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe and others, but it has also been described as a guilty pleasure rather than an hour's worth of must-watch.
The pilot episode stars with Serena on the train on her way back home, the book started with Blair and her friends talking.