OC Does New York

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The result is Gossip Girl - the new TV show that's on everyone's lips.

And it's now taking this school by storm. Everyone is talking about it; whether Chuck is hot (ew, no, he's way too sleazy), if Serena and Dan are right together (as one girl said, "I just want them to have children!"), whether Nate is hot (fairly, in my opinion), if Jenny really looks like a 14 year old girl (no), etc. It seems we can't get enough!

My friend and I watched the first 7 episodes last night - it was almost a marathon effort, but more than worth it. Although now we're left wondering whether Blair really did do the dirty deed with Chuck (good god, I hope not, she really does deserve better for her first time.)

Why is it so addictive and delightful? Because it's so spiteful! It's got bitchy cat fights, hot guys, steamy sex, gorgeous fashion, snotty rich kids, torrid affairs, drugs, rock 'n' roll (if you count Rufus, that is) and mystique (who is Gossip girl?!) - what's not to love?

The only problem I have with the show is how far it strays from the story lines and characters of the books. Although some of the stuff Josh Schwartz comes up with is far juicier than that in the books (for example, Blair's Burlesque dance, the modelling, the brunch fight), some things just aren't right:

• Eric is supposed to be Serena's older brother, in college, and doesn't attempt to commit suicide (Blair has a fling with him in later books)


• Dan is supposed to be a little more of an introverted, tortured soul - and a poet; but his character is awkward enough to be OK


• Rufus is also supposed to be a poet, a scruffy father with long hair, a shaggy beard, and a bit more "uncool" than he is in the show. He is also not supposed to have a 'thing' with Lily, because there is a Mr Van der Woodsen on the scene


• Nate's father is supposed to be a strict sea captain (or something like that), not a businessman
  
• Nate himself is supposed to be a stoner boy - and wait, blonde? A bit of a waspoid, actually


• Vanessa is all wrong, because she's supposed to have a shaved head, for goodness sake. Apart from that, she too is a recluse like Dan, but a movie-maker (big on filming everything). They didn't have a past, either, they created one in the books


• Serena's and Nate's sex scene is not on a bar stool, but creative license is OK in such an instance
  
• Jenny is supposed to be a little more endowed - more developed, if you will, than a 14 year old girl should be, and that is what catches the attention of the guys (eg Chuck Bass)
  
• Blair's mother Eleanor doesn't have a job (she's an Upper East Sider for goodness sake) but marries an older, gross man whom Blair hates. This results in a wedding on Blair's 17th birthday and a stepbrother

But, for all that, I'm not going to hold it against the show, because I love it too much. I'll have to think of the TV show is more of an adaptation that a 'based on the books' series, otherwise my complete adoration of the books (my first love, you see, between the show and the books) will continue to interfere with what should happen instead of what does. And that would be predictable, anyway. Besides, the two key characters, Blair and Serena, are perfectly bitchy and pretty much spot on; no real complaints there! So thank you, Josh Schwartz, for bringing such utter gossip queens to our TV screens!

Because I love the books so much, let's enjoy some quotes relating to my favourite characters:

• The Van der Woodsens: They were all tall, blond, thin, and super-poised, and they never did anything - play tennis, hail a cab, eat spaghetti, go to the toilet - without maintaining their cool.
  
  
• Nate: Nate was the only son of a navy captain and a French society hostess. His father was a master sailor and extremely handsome, but a little lacking in the hugs department. His mother was the complete opposite, always fawning over Nate and prone to emotional fits during which she would lock herself in her bedroom with a bottle of champagne and call her sister on her yacht in Monaco. Poor Nate was always on the verge of saying how he really felt, but he didn’t want to make a scene or say something he might regret later. Instead, he kept quiet and let other people steer the boat, while he laid back and enjoyed the steady rocking of the waves.
  
  
• Serena: Two floors below Blair, in the Constance Billard School auditorium, Serena was toiling over her American history exam.
  Not. Serena wasn’t exactly the toiling type.
  
  
• Blair: Whenever Blair did anything nice for someone else, she usually regretted it.
  Which kind of explained why she was such a bitch most of the time.
  


• Eleanor: To Blair’s dismay, her mother was wearing beige velour track pants with the word Juicy printed on the butt.
  Hello, inappropriate?!
  
  
• Jenny: Blair knew perfectly well that Jenny was the balloon-boobed freshman whore who’d stolen her Nate away, but she also knew that Nate dumped Jenny flat on her ass after some extremely embarrassing pictures of Jenny’s bare butt in a thong had been posted on the Web just before New Year’s Eve.
  

[Extracts from the books]

xoxo
Just a girl (just as mysterious as gossip girl herself)