It follows a group of students in Manhattan's Upper East Side whose private and social lives are chronicled by the unidentified blogger "Gossip Girl".

[2][3] The series' main characters include socialite Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), her popular frenemy Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), her mother Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), and her love interest Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), an aspiring writer and scholarship student.

Other main characters include Serena's ex-boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), his best friend Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), Dan's sister Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), Dan's childhood friend Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr), his father Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle), and the troublesome Ivy Dickens (Kaylee DeFer).

[4] The series focuses on a group of privileged teenagers who attend a prestigious high school in the Upper East Side of New York City.

Leighton Meester and Blake Lively–who started auditioning in December 2006[20]–were the first two actresses to be chosen in February for the lead roles of Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, respectively.

[21] Penn Badgley, who had previously worked with Stephanie Savage on The Mountain,[20] Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford, Kelly Rutherford, and Connor Paolo also auditioned successfully and landed roles in the series in March, as did Florencia Lozano who appeared only in the pilot, and was later replaced by Margaret Colin.

[20] As rumors swirled about the impending cancellation of Veronica Mars, it was revealed at the CW's 2007 upfronts on May 17, 2007, that Kristen Bell had narrated the pilot, thus making her the title character of another show on the network.

[30]Jessica Szohr was signed on to portray the recurring role of Vanessa Abrams and received regular status during the fourteenth episode of the first season.

[35] Throughout the series' run, Connor Paolo consistently declined to elevate his recurring role of Eric van der Woodsen to regular status, citing personal reasons for his decision.

[44] The fictional Constance Billard-St.Judes School, based on novel writer Cecily Von Ziegesar's alma mater, Nightingale-Bamford used external shots of the Museum of the City of New York.

[59] Savage explained their choice to film there: "There's no New York City on TV, or there wasn't when we started making the pilot, except what you could see in the background behind the dead bodies on cop shows.

[63] During their contract, Verizon Wireless offered exclusive Gossip Girl content and created a website where ringtones of the songs featured on the show could be downloaded.

[73] On July 25, 2012, Style Network announced that it had acquired the off-network rights to Gossip Girl and started airing repeats of the show on August 15, 2012.

She stated that the series was "related to the original only in the names and outlines of the characters", and that "Without von Ziegesar's fast, mocking commentary to propel them, the TV episodes are sluggish and crass—a move from Barneys to Kmart".

The ads included quotes like "Every Parent's Nightmare", "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate" and "A Nasty Piece of Work" in what appears to be an effort to continue the "rebellious teen" style of the show.

and that "The cast would all rather be making movies, while the showrunners are focusing on launching new projects via their nascent Fake Empire production company (including CW newcomer Hart of Dixie).

[84] Scholars have criticized the series for being low-quality fiction aimed at teenage girls, focused on activities such as "frenzied shopping, gossiping, partying, and sexual encounters", and portraying beauty and wealth as most important and desirable qualities.

[97]: 882–883 CW executive Dawn Ostroff later compared Gossip Girl's role as the show that defined its network to House of Cards for Netflix.

While Gossip Girl is drawing fans in with its plot twists, the show also attracts many of them to visit New York, contributing to our incredible 50.5 million visitors last year.

The series premiere was watched by 3.50 million viewers and achieved a 1.6 Adults 18–49, coming in last place in its 9:00 pm timeslot on Wednesday nights.

Fans stride into boutiques bearing magazine tear sheets that feature members of the cast and ask for their exact outfits.

Or they order scoop-neck tops and hobo bags by following e-commerce links from the show’s Web site.Gossip Girl was very influential on fashion for teenage and young adult women.

[154] Daman, who based his costumes on what Manhattan private-school students wore,[98] said that by the sixth season the show was "getting one-of-a-kind couture from Paris", because "they wanted their wares on Blake Lively".

[155] On September 16, 2011, it was announced that Warner Bros. and label Romeo & Juliet Couture had partnered to create Gossip Girl's official clothing line inspired by lead characters Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf.

Sinem Kobal portrays Su (Serena van der Woodsen), Burak Özçivit as Çetin (Chuck Bass), Birkan Sokullu as Demir (Dan Humphrey), İpek Karapınar as Arzu (Blair Waldorf) and Kadir Doğulu as Ali (Nate Archibald).

[163] The show stars Sofía Sisniega, Oka Giner, Jon Ecker, Vadhir Derbez, Diego Amozurrutia, and Macarena Achaga.

On March 5, 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. International Television and Metan Development Group would produce a Chinese adaptation called China Girl.

Production was set to start in June 2012, with the show airing in November, and was designed to follow the lives of students at a university instead of a high school.

It lasted for one season An Indonesian adaptation known as Gossip Girl Indonesia was announced during the launch of GoPlay, a video-on-demand service by the country's popular ridesharing app, Gojek, with Nia Dinata as its showrunner.

[170] A standalone sequel series – also titled Gossip Girl and headed by original executive producers Schwartz, Savage and Safran – premiered July 8, 2021, on HBO Max.