Posts Tagged ‘Gossip Girl’

TV on DVD: “Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season”

gossipgirlGossip Girl: The Complete Second Season (2009, Warner Bros.)
purchase from Amazon: DVD

The drama! The sex! The glamour! Yes, the CW’s hit teen drama, Gossip Girl, is back on DVD in a whopping seven-disc set that contains all 25 episodes from its sophomore season, plus plenty of bonus booty to make this collection well worth your while. For those of you who enjoy your teen dramas with a flair for the melodramatic and a slick voiceover from the former Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell, Gossip Girl is a hell of a way to spend an hour. But I must warn you, watching just one episode of Gossip Girl is trying to eat just one Rice Krispie treat when there is a plateful in front of you: It’s very difficult. You may think you’re only going to watch one of these guilty pleasures, but three hours later you’re wondering where the time went, and why you feel so good.

If you’ve never entered the world of the Upper East Side New York elite who occupy this world, and you’ve never cracked open one of Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl novels, (which the series is based upon) then let me fill you in, my friends. First there are the van der Woodsens, led by former teenage queen bee Serena (Blake Lively), her younger brother, Eric (Connor Paolo) and their mother, Lily (Kelly Rutherford), who is on to her fourth husband. He would be Bart Bass (Robert John Burke), whose son, the perpetually drunk Chuck (Ed Westwick) is one of the most cunning and sinister young men in Serena’s circle of friends. Serena’s best friend is the comely Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), who has taken over the throne of queen bee of the mean girls at their private school. Chuck’s best friend is the dashing Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) whose father has stolen millions and fled the country, leaving Nate and his mother to fend for themselves. Finally, there are the Humphreys, a family of three living in Brooklyn that include Dan (Penn Badgley), his wannabe sister, Jenny (Taylor Momsen) and their former rock star dad, Rufus (Matthew Settle). The only character who is not a part of the rich crowd is Vanessa (Jessica Szohr), an old flame of Dan’s who becomes an integral part of almost every character’s life. (more…)

The Three Strike Rule: “90210″ and “Skins”

If you’re like me, you checked out the CW’s reboot of 90210 for nostalgia’s sake. I mean — Jennie Garth, come on! Even my wife thinks she looks good. Well, Jennie Garth’s hotness is about the only thing this show has going for it. I’ll admit, I was curious to see how producers Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah would transform the show from its Aaron Spelling sudsy roots. After all, these two worked on NBC’s exceptional series, Freaks and Geeks. Unfortunately, none of the charm and humor from Freaks and Geeks exists in 90210. In fact, there is nothing to differentiate 90210 from Gossip Girl, except that Gossip Girl is a little better written.

The setup for the new 90210 is similar to the original series, which ran in the 90’s on FOX: Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) and her adopted brother, Dixon (Tristan Wilds) are the new kids at West Beverly Hills High School. They’ve just moved to California from Kansas so that their parents (Robe Estes and Lori Loughlin) can keep an eye on grandma Tabitha (Jessica Walter, rehashing what she did on Arrested Development). For Annie and Dixon, the awkwardness of being the new kids is made worse by the fact that their dad has taken a job as the principal. Annie and Dixon have a close sibling relationship, which they’ll need to help them cope with all the new cliques and classmates, including the spoiled, rich, Naomi (Anna Lynne McCord); Ethan (Dustin Milligan), a popular jock who crushes on Annie; Navid (Michael Steger), who heads up the school’s TMZ-type newscast; and Silver (Jessica Stroup), the rebel, who also happens to be the younger sister of one Kelly Taylor, played by Garth, reprising her role from the original series.

You still have a bunch of rich kids moping through life, worried about their lives, and spending shitloads of cash. And we’re supposed to care about them why? What’s worse, every “teenage” girl on this show looks like she has borderline health problems. I haven’t seen this many stick figures since Ally McBeal and Lara Flynn Boyle of The Practice went off the air. When you consider that the camera adds weight, I am saddened and sickened by how malnourished the actresses look. Except, that is, for Jennie Garth, who actually looks like a thirty-something mother. Good for her for not starving herself now that she’s back on prime time television.

Sadly, (and I’ve said this before) American television series about middle-class people struggling to make ends meet do not garner the ratings networks desire, no matter how great the show. Freaks and Geeks was shuffled around in the NBC lineup, and it eventually went out with a whimper. Friday Night Lights, one of the finest shows on television — I would say the best family drama airing — has a loyal audience, but NBC has not been able to get the ratings it wants. This year, FNL will air on Direct TV’s 101 in the fall and return to NBC come wintertime. This arrangement was done to offset the supposed expensive costs of producing the show. Any show that seems to find some success has to have a high concept to succeed. (more…)