For some of us, it feels as though Gossip Girl has been on for 100 years. “I think my teenage daughter has aged out of it,†a grizzled member of the press corps cracked at Long Island City’s Silvercup Studios this morning. In fact, the show is about to air its 100th episode, which is why members of the press were waiting in a room that more dedicated viewers would recognize as Chuck Bass’s Empire Hotel Suite for Mayor Bloomberg, who was working his way out to Queens in order to proclaim the day “Gossip Girl Day.â€
He was a little late, but when the Mayor, accompanied by his staff, the cast, and the creators of the show finally bustled in, the reason for the delay became clear: The mayor had been catching up on DVR. “I don’t have a whole lot of time to follow what New York magazine has called ‘The Greatest Teen Drama of our time,’ he said, feigning indifference. “But I am interested in finding out who the real Gossip Girl is–Serena’s cousin, maybe? And I don’t see how Blair could marry Prince Lewis while she is clearly in love with Chuck, although she and Dan became pretty close when they interned at that fashion magazine. And I just wish that Nate and Vanessa had been able to work things out, I guess Nate was preoccupied with everything that was going on with his father and Jenny and, I mean, it was a tangled web, I guess Dan would have ended up making their relationship impossible anyway, but I’m just a casual fan.â€
Five minutes after the ceremony, in the Humphrey’s Brooklyn loft, conveniently located next door to the Bass Cave (No WONDER it takes them no time to get from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn!) the show’s producer-writers Josh Safran and Stephanie Savage addressed the controversial mid-season opener, in which Blair turns to religion. “For us in our minds it was maybe a little less literal about like, religion, and more about Blair’s guilt about doing something that she thought was selfish, and being punished for it,†said Savage. “Blair felt because of what had just happened to her, she didn’t have control, so she looked for a way to regain control, and that way was to come up with something that gave her a sense of control,†added Safran. “I’m sad that some people might have seen that as, Blair believes in God, and that means that God exists and God is doing this, but the whole point is that she believes it, and belief is strong. You can’t break belief.â€
Or can you? It was we who believed that Gossip Girl was the Greatest Show of Our Time, we pointed out, but lately we haven’t been so sure. “Next week’s episode will revitalize you,†Safran promised, indicating that the show will contain a Big Twist–and possibly reveal the identity of Gossip Girl herself. And after that, Savage assured us, there will be many, many more episodes to come. “We don’t plan on ending the show this season,†she said. Yay?
(And for the curious, here are some photos from insde the Humphrey loft.)
