Gossip Girl, The award-winning TV drama which ran for six seasons (2007-12) is returning to TV as a reboot. That’s right, the show, based on the award-winning book by Cecily von Ziegesar, is coming back to TV! Recently, the show was taken off of Netflix and moved to HBO Max, another streaming service. This was due to Warner Bros. wanting back its license for the show. The reboot was announced last year, and this could be another reason why the teen drama is being removed. Production of the reboot started on November 2, 2020, and is planned to debut sometime in 2021. The reboot will feature many new cast members, but cast members from the original seasons will also be featured, including Kristen Bell, who provided the voice-over of the original gossip girl. So get ready, Upper East Siders, for some brand new episodes!

The show, popular with teens, centers around five characters in New York City. “In Gossip Girl, five different characters go on with their fancy Upper East Side lives while Gossip Girl [an anonymous blogger] makes drama and posts it online,” said eighth grader Bella Marx, a fan of the show. “I liked all the drama in the show. I also really like the characters…I honestly feel attached to them,” she said. “My absolute favorite gossip girl character is Blair Waldorf! She’s so confident and I love her personality.” 

Blair Waldorf, played in the original show by Leighton Meester, is a well-liked character who is loyal, popular, clever, and confident, but also sly, scheming, and manipulative. She lives with her fashion designer mother, Eleanor Waldorf, on the Upper East Side, and has a great sense of style.

Blair is also the favorite of fellow eighth grader Virginia McGrail.  “Her style is so classic and timeless,” said McGrail. “Some other characters are Dan and his sister, Jenny. They are the outsiders because they live in Brooklyn and aren’t as rich. They add diversity to the show and keep the audience engaged because they are not the most liked characters.”  

Another eighth grader, Wilhelmina D’Loughy, agrees with McGrail. “At first Blair is the mean rich girl, but at the end you see that she is good on the inside, too, and how she cares about her friends, not only herself,” she said. “In the show, other characters like Serena, Nate, Chuck, and Dan also make up the drama and story,” said D’Loughy.

Marx is particularly thrilled for the reboot. 

“I am very excited for the Gossip Girl reboot because I absolutely love the show and I can’t wait to see how HBO Max changes it and potentially makes it better!” she said. 

“I am excited about the Gossip Girl reboot because of the new perspective on their society,” said McGrail. “I really liked how exciting the show was. Their lives were always so exciting and never dull. I think what makes the show entertaining is the amount of drama in each episode.”

However, not all fans of the original show are so sure.

“I am excited for the Gossip Girl reboot because I like the plot of the show,” said seventh grader Cassidy Walsh. “I liked the characters and all the drama in the original seasons of Gossip Girl, but I still don’t think that the reboot will be as good as the original seasons.”

So from Queen B of the Upper East Side to drama packed episodes, Gossip Girl fans are excited and intrigued about the reboot. Well Upper East Siders, that’s it for now. While there is no firm release date for the new series, look for it to hit HBO Max sometime this year.