Special Coverage Comic-Con 2008Pop Culture Classics (The EW 1000)Sound BitesBox Office Game
Page 3 of 3
gossip-girls_l
LIVELY AND TRACHTENBERG ''As bad as Serena could be, Georgina was always worse,'' says Josh Schwartz
Giovanni Rufino

The main event, though, will be the battle for Serena's soul, now that the malicious Georgina has come home. ''Back in the day when Bad Serena was in full bloom, Georgina was her enabler, her best friend, and her id,'' says Schwartz. ''As bad as Serena could be, Georgina was always worse.'' Georgina's influence will threaten to tear apart Constance Billard's golden couple, Serena and Dan. ''He and Serena are in a bit of a rough patch,'' says Badgley. ''His frustration is finally going to come to a head.'' The secret Georgina is holding about Serena's past will be revealed in the May 12 episode. ''There will be flashbacks to what happened the night of the Shepherd wedding after Serena left Nate,'' explains Savage. ''It involves Georgina, and it's the thing that drove Serena to boarding school.'' While everyone is mum on what that secret entails, trust that it's more dramatic than, say, Serena being revealed as a closeted Trekkie. ''It's a really fantastic story,'' says Lively. ''It's the most shocking thing that's happened on the show to date.'' There will be so many scandalous revelations, in fact, that the last act of the May 19 season finale will take place one week later in the Gossip Girl world — so fans can survey the wreckage after all the blue-blood bombs drop.

Knowing how fickle younger audiences can be, The CW has safeguarded against a long summer hiatus by ordering the show back to work early: The cast will return to production in June to complete its hefty 24-episode season 2 pickup and make a planned late-summer premiere date. ''It's child's play for me and Savage,'' says Schwartz. ''We did 27 episodes the first season of The O.C.'' Schwartz and Savage will have to pace themselves better than they did with the Fox drama, though, which took a creative nosedive in its second season after burning through too many story lines in its extended freshman outing. To be safe, they're planning ahead: While putting the final touches on Girl's remaining episodes, the writing staff has simultaneously been breaking story lines for the fall. What can fans expect in season 2? The first few shows will take place in summer, so look for these beautiful teens to be hitting the Hamptons. (One request: Please let Chuck attend Diddy's White Party!) ''Some of our characters will be out of the city, some of them will be in the city, some of them will be coming back from traveling,'' teases Savage. ''We'll catch up with them and learn what they've been doing off screen during the break. You'll be seeing some new relationships. It won't necessarily be the same pairings you saw this year.''

And it won't be the same CW that viewers saw this year, either. While the network doesn't unveil its fall lineup until May 13, it's currently developing a Gossip Girl-influenced schedule. In the works are a Beverly Hills, 90210 update courtesy of Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, and How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls, an adaptation of another popular teen book. Using teen shows to build a network identity is nothing new (see Fox circa 1992 and The WB circa 1997), but there's always the chance that a 90210/Gossip Girl doubleheader would be the biggest teen magnet since the advent of the instant message.

While it's unknown whether Georgina will return next season, Trachtenberg has enjoyed this chance to walk on the dark side. ''The most appealing thing for me is actually being able to come in, cause as much ruckus and hell as possible, and pop back out,'' she says. As for the future of the show, don't expect the cast to be chattering in the hallways of Constance Billard forever, nor will they experience a One Tree Hill-style fast-forward through college. ''We're seeing New York as more of a franchise of the show than high school,'' says Schwartz. ''The stories we tell could take place out of high school, but only in New York.'' In other words, these kids may age in real time, but they won't ever have to grow up.

More Gossip Girl:
'Gossip Girl': 15 Over-the-Top Style Statements


Got something to say about Gossip Girl?
Write a recap, start a fan group, or challenge other fans on EW.com's TVFan

Sign up for EW.com's What to Watch Newsletter!

What to watch on TV. Hear what's on tap for the night ahead and get witty, morning after recaps of top shows (sent weekday mornings).
Posted May 02, 2008 | Published in issue #990 May 09, 2008 | Order Article Reprints
Page 3 of 3