“I can’t stand Gossip Girl this season! The storylines are boring, the chemistry is gone and even Chuck and Blair have lost their edge. Help! Is there any hope or should I stop watching?”
This email just in from Natalie in Portland, Ore., and Natalie, we have a sweet little Thanksgiving gift for you: It is getting good again. Hands off the delete button on your DVR!
It seems many of you fans aren’t feeling the same love for the Upper East Siders this year, and sources close to the series tell me the creative powers behind it are well aware.
“The producers had sort of a come-to-Jesus meeting where they realized the show was off track and decided to set it right,” one insider who works on GG tells me. “They’re bringing back the OMG.”
So how will they do it? And what major storyline was I—confession time!—dead wrong about?
Well, even though it is true that John Robert Burke (Bart Bass) will be coming back to Gossip Girl, my speculation that Bart might actually be alive is not true. “He’ll be a ghost,” one source tells me.
But, get this—Spoiler alert!—that doesn’t mean that Chuck doesn’t have a “dead” parent who might not be so dead after all!
“There’s a huge storyline later this season that is going to blow you away,” promises my source. “And it involves Chuck, Jack Bass and Chuck’s mother.”
Also making a comeback? Serena’s father. “We will see him this season,” says the source. “But he hasn’t been cast yet.”
Suggestions?
Whoever it is, he’s going to bring with him another major storyline arc and mucho trouble for Rufus Humphrey.
Also in the love department, thanks to Chuck’s newfound family dramarama, you can expect Chuck and Blair to heat up again.
And for you Olivia (Hilary Duff) haters, you’ll be happy to hear that she is off the series for good, leaving Dan all by his wonesome to get together with longtime special friend (with threesome benefits) Vanessa.
I’m also told that the long-held feelings Nate has had for Serena (don’t forget the triangle drama that started off the series) will add some pretty deep emotion to their upcoming pairing.
What do you think of Gossip Girl this season? Are you annoyed by the haters or do you agree the show has gone off track? And how does the new direction sound? Comment below!
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Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
New Spoilers
Question: Two weeks without any tips for my favorite show is way too long for me. What can you tell me that I don’t know about the remaining Gossip Girl episodes before the super-long three-month hiatus. And I already know Bart is coming back, so give me something new. —Sylvie
Ausiello: In next week’s eppy, it’s Thanksgiving Day! If you’re Serena, you’re especially thankful this year because you’ve had two not-so-bad-looking dudes pining after you. This Monday, she makes her choice and leaves her reject by the curb, literally.
Question: You’ve been really slacking on the Gossip Girl scoop, any exciting news? – JLa
Ausiello: Also in next Monday’s episode, someone finds out they’re pregnant. That’s considered “exciting news,” right?
Question: I need Gossip Girl info. —Jude
Ausiello: Hey, Jude, here’s what I got: You know the letter from Serena’s dad that Lily has been hiding? It’s going to fall into the wrong hands. (Hint: Said wrong hands belong to *a****n.)
Ausiello: In next week’s eppy, it’s Thanksgiving Day! If you’re Serena, you’re especially thankful this year because you’ve had two not-so-bad-looking dudes pining after you. This Monday, she makes her choice and leaves her reject by the curb, literally.
Question: You’ve been really slacking on the Gossip Girl scoop, any exciting news? – JLa
Ausiello: Also in next Monday’s episode, someone finds out they’re pregnant. That’s considered “exciting news,” right?
Question: I need Gossip Girl info. —Jude
Ausiello: Hey, Jude, here’s what I got: You know the letter from Serena’s dad that Lily has been hiding? It’s going to fall into the wrong hands. (Hint: Said wrong hands belong to *a****n.)
Friday, November 27, 2009
The Performance: Blake Lively
“Want some?” she asks, true to her last name. “It tastes like Easter.”
Heretofore known for teen-ish roles, Lively covers 10 turbulent years of the title character’s younger incarnation in “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.” Rebecca Miller adapted and directed her own novel, which navigates the churning beneath an apparently ideal suburban wife’s placid surface. Mature Pippa (Robin Wright) accepts her stagnant marriage and daughter’s indifference with pretty stoicism; any other punches are met with homemade rolls. Young Pippa, in flashback, learns hard lessons on the way to that perceived perfection.
“Pippa’s mother is a drug addict,” says the 22-year-old Lively. “You see your mother as your mother; that’s all they are. But this realization that she’s a human being who makes mistakes, that is flawed, that is selfish, is really hard for her. And you’d think the last thing she would do would be to [make those same mistakes], but it’s really interesting to see how people repeat the cycle of abuse.”
Unlike Pippa, Lively remains very close to loved ones from her Los Angeles and Valley roots. But the newly minted New Yorker kept her enthusiasm for this project to herself, before the audition.
“I didn’t tell many people about it because I wanted this job so much and I knew everybody would just be so excited and so want me to get it, and be so disappointed if I didn’t. I was going to be disappointed enough in myself. All of the cast had signed on by the time I read the script, so I was able to imagine these actors playing the characters.”
Among those actors firing her imagination: Alan Arkin, Maria Bello, Monica Belucci, Zoe Kazan, Julianne Moore, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.
“Rebecca, who’s just the most beautiful, intelligent, intuitive writer — to work with her and the cast, and have this role, this decade arc. . . . ,” says Lively, brightly. “And especially being a young female, the issues that we deal with [on-screen] are often so materialistic.”
To play the part — to get the part — Lively had to distance herself from those “young female” roles that made her famous.
“I’m sitting in the audition room and the casting director says, ‘Oh, Rebecca, she’s on “Gossip Girl,” you would love this show!’ Rebecca said, ‘Oh, actually, I’ve never seen it because I live on a farm in Ireland with my husband; we don’t have a TV.’ And I thought, ‘Goodness, somebody who lives on a farm in Ireland with Daniel Day-Lewis probably would not love “Gossip Girl.” ‘ ”
She seized the advantage of anonymity to tackle the audition scene, one of the script’s most demanding:
“I take my mother’s entire bottle of Dexedrine and I’m sitting in a 4-foot-by-4-foot room in front of Rebecca Miller, having to dance like I’m out of my mind on speed and screaming and crying, fight with this woman I’ve never met before who’s reading lines with me, and I’m shoving her and she’s pushing me. It was very intense. I just had to let go and do it.”
Lively and Wright didn’t have any scenes together, so they had to rely in part on each other’s dailies to understand their respective other halves. Mostly, they relied on Miller.
“Rebecca has been living with Pippa for like, seven years now. Robin and I didn’t get to spend much time together at all. So I just had to trust Rebecca 100%, and I did, that we were going to seem like the same person.
“Younger people’s problems are usually portrayed as juvenile and trivial, so this really was a dream project. I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here looking at this poster and promoting this movie. It’s so surreal and exciting.”
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Leighton Meester: Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
Leighton Meester has already gotten into the holiday spirit, with her own rendition of the yuletide classic, “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)“. 
The song is currently available for digital download on iTunes as part of the collection, A Very Special Christmas 7.
Today, Leighton will stop by The Alexa Chung Show to give a special performance of her hit song “Somebody to Love”. Tune into MTV at 3:30pm EST!
Listen to “Christmas” below!
The song is currently available for digital download on iTunes as part of the collection, A Very Special Christmas 7.Today, Leighton will stop by The Alexa Chung Show to give a special performance of her hit song “Somebody to Love”. Tune into MTV at 3:30pm EST!
Listen to “Christmas” below!
A Very Special Chirstmas
You can now buy “A Very Special Christmas Volume 7″, which Leighton appears on singing “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”. You can preview the song at amazon, were you can also buy the full album, or just Leighton’s song. You can also download the track from itunes.
New Spoiler
Monica in New Orleans: Anything good coming up on Gossip Girl?
Chuck is going to visit Bart’s grave on the anniversary of his death, and when he gets there, he won’t be the only one paying his respects. Any guesses on who’ll pop up? I’m hearing that not one but two family members could be making surprising returns.
Chuck is going to visit Bart’s grave on the anniversary of his death, and when he gets there, he won’t be the only one paying his respects. Any guesses on who’ll pop up? I’m hearing that not one but two family members could be making surprising returns.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Treasure of Serena Madre Synopsis
New Spoiler
Monica in New Orleans: Anything good coming up on Gossip Girl?
Chuck is going to visit Bart’s grave on the anniversary of his death, and when he gets there, he won’t be the only one paying his respects. Any guesses on who’ll pop up? I’m hearing that not one but two family members could be making surprising returns.
Chuck is going to visit Bart’s grave on the anniversary of his death, and when he gets there, he won’t be the only one paying his respects. Any guesses on who’ll pop up? I’m hearing that not one but two family members could be making surprising returns.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Blake to present SNL
Saturday Night Live (SNL) has been on air since 1975 and is currently running in its 35th season. The current SNL update shows that the coming episodes will feature Blake Lively on Dec. 5, along with the music star Rihanna, TBA with Bon Jovi on Dec. 12 and Derek Jeter as the host on Dec. 19 with TBA as the music guest. The latest show on Nov. 21, marked the 665th episode of the show.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Leighton Meester Hooks Up With Lil Wayne To ‘Make It Rain’
NEW YORK — She already made “Good Girls Go Bad” with Cobra Starship and looked for “Somebody to Love” with Robin Thicke. Now Leighton Meester’s about to “Make It Rain” with Lil Wayne.
Yes, Lil Wayne.
The “Gossip Girl” star revealed her latest collaboration to MTV News before performing at the new American Eagle store in Times Square on Tuesday night, where she sang a medley of cuts off her yet-untitled album, including a remix of the Cobra Starship track.
“I met [Wayne] a few months ago, and he’s honestly — I don’t even know if he’ll want people to know that he’s incredibly polite and respectful,” she said about the hip-hop wunderkind, with whom she actually presented the award for Best Song From a Movie at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. “He’s so talented and very funny. And really optimistic, and super supportive of me, which I’ve really, really appreciated so much.”
It seems that since their meeting a few months back, Wayne’s been a fan of Blair Waldorf’s budding discography — and even picked which track he’d be featured on. “I sent him a couple of my songs,” she said. “He’s been diggin’ on them for a while. Then he heard ['Make It Rain'], and he was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna kill it!’ ”
While many musical partnerships can be conducted without both artists being in the studio together, Meester and Weezy got some face time during the song’s recording — a feat for any artist, considering Wayne’s notorious nocturnal office hours.
“It was like, literally, 4 o’clock in the morning,” Meester said of the time she showed up at the studio to watch Wayne work himself into her song. “He was so sick — he didn’t even write anything down. He just, like, vibed to the music and dances. I don’t even know how he does it; he’s amazing.”
Yes, Lil Wayne.
The “Gossip Girl” star revealed her latest collaboration to MTV News before performing at the new American Eagle store in Times Square on Tuesday night, where she sang a medley of cuts off her yet-untitled album, including a remix of the Cobra Starship track.
“I met [Wayne] a few months ago, and he’s honestly — I don’t even know if he’ll want people to know that he’s incredibly polite and respectful,” she said about the hip-hop wunderkind, with whom she actually presented the award for Best Song From a Movie at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. “He’s so talented and very funny. And really optimistic, and super supportive of me, which I’ve really, really appreciated so much.”
It seems that since their meeting a few months back, Wayne’s been a fan of Blair Waldorf’s budding discography — and even picked which track he’d be featured on. “I sent him a couple of my songs,” she said. “He’s been diggin’ on them for a while. Then he heard ['Make It Rain'], and he was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna kill it!’ ”
While many musical partnerships can be conducted without both artists being in the studio together, Meester and Weezy got some face time during the song’s recording — a feat for any artist, considering Wayne’s notorious nocturnal office hours.
“It was like, literally, 4 o’clock in the morning,” Meester said of the time she showed up at the studio to watch Wayne work himself into her song. “He was so sick — he didn’t even write anything down. He just, like, vibed to the music and dances. I don’t even know how he does it; he’s amazing.”
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hilary Duff Is Gone From Gossip Girl; Find Out Who’s Hooking Up Next!
Ladies and gentlemen (and gentlemen who sleep with two ladies), Hilary Duff has left the building!
That’s what I’m hearing from Gossip Girl sources, that the Duffster (Olivia) is no longer a part of the CW series and there are no plans for her to return this season.
Will she be missed? The jury’s still out.
So now that things have gotten all messy on Gossip Girl thanks to that two-week-long threesome (talk about a workout!), what will happen next?
Are Nate and Serena really on?
Who’s gonna be smooching Dan?
And what does Jessica Szohr (Vanessa) have to dish about filming the threesome with Hilary and Penn Badgley?
According to sources, Dan and Vanessa are most definitely on. They will be getting together this season.
Ditto Nate and Serena, who will become a bona fide couple.
Rufus and Lily will have a major problem (Serena’s father).
And Chuck and Blair will be going strong.
We happy?
As for all that hullabaloo over the Dan-Vanessa-Olivia threesome, Szohr told us last night at the American Eagle Times Square store opening in New York City that she was shocked it was made into such a big controversy.
“We got emails from the network explaining how it was going to go down and what was up,” she explained of the threesome. “And I was a little nervous, but I didn’t think that it was going to be made into actually the deal that it was. They were very fun and professional to work with, both Penn and Hilary, and we had a fun time. We were simple and easy, and I hope people enjoyed watching it.”
Jessica showed up to support her friend Leighton Meester, who apparently also appears on the same show. (Anyone heard of her?) Leighton was performing to promote her new album, and when we asked Jessica if she might also be into cutting one soon, she replied:
“If I started to sing or tried to do a music career, they would stop all music, all labels, all everything. I cannot sing to save my life.”
Jessica be funny. Who knew?
Which Gossip Girl couple are you now rooting for? And will Hilary Duff be missed? Comment below.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
People's Sexiest Man Alive Issue
In case you haven't already seen it, Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford are in People's Sexiest Man Alive 2009 issue! The issue hits newsstands this Friday, Nov. 20.
The guys are in a section of People's annual Sexiest Man Alive issue called "Moments."
For more on People's Sexiest Man Alive 2009, go to http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20315920_20320494,00.html?xid=111809-ecmail-sma or pick up a copy of People magazine, on newsstands Friday, November 20.
For more on who else made People's Sexiest Man Alive 2009 issue, go to http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20315920_20320457,00.html?xid=111809-ecmail-sma
Early Morning for the GG Cast
Filming scenes for their hit CW show, the “Gossip Girl” gang was spotted in New York City early Wednesday morning (November 18).
Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick were all dressed to the nines and gathered on the streets of the Big Apple to begin shooting the early morning scenes.
Ms Meester seemed to be bright eyed even though she was spotted out last night with co-star, Michelle Trachtenberg, at the American Eagle Outfitters flagship store preview party.
In related news, Leighton recently opened up about her newly-released video for “Somebody to Love” featuring Robin Thicke, saying, “It’s basically going through … a sexy day in my life. We start off in the car, we come in, I keep on fantasizing and dreaming that I’m with somebody I can love.”
Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick were all dressed to the nines and gathered on the streets of the Big Apple to begin shooting the early morning scenes.
Ms Meester seemed to be bright eyed even though she was spotted out last night with co-star, Michelle Trachtenberg, at the American Eagle Outfitters flagship store preview party.
In related news, Leighton recently opened up about her newly-released video for “Somebody to Love” featuring Robin Thicke, saying, “It’s basically going through … a sexy day in my life. We start off in the car, we come in, I keep on fantasizing and dreaming that I’m with somebody I can love.”
Obsession of the Year
Right, we know, we hear you: the girl from Gossip Girl? There isn’t a single self-respecting male who watches the CW’s lusciously bitchy comic soap about juvenile stylistas navigating the social spiderweb of New York’s Upper East Side. Or at least that’s what we hear it’s about—because, of course, we have never seen this Gossip Girl, and honestly, we had to ask a young woman at work, because we’re always riveted by Ultimate Fighting and chain-saw competitions.
“Guys are like, ‘My girlfriend watches it, so I watch it,’ ” Meester says. “But sometimes they watch it on their own. Someone came up to me recently and said, ‘I’m a Washington, D.C., police officer, and I tell everybody I’m busy on Monday nights—but I’m really watching the show.’”
If you’re still pretending you don’t, Meester, 23, plays the decadent heiress Blair Waldorf, whose acid bons mots (”Haven’t you heard? I’m the crazy bitch around here”) float in the air like the cigarette smoke she’d surely exhale if the CW would let her. Gossip Girl is a showcase of unnatural beauty, but the delicate Meester stands out. In person, Meester is free of pretension, arriving for a breakfast interview at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers wearing a pair of thick glasses that Tina Fey might reject as being too clunky. This is the paradox of the Meester-verse—”Blair is so controlling and such a worrier; Leighton is relaxed,” says co-star Ed Westwick—and it surely speaks to her un-Park Avenue origins. As the tabloids giddily reported last year, Meester was born to a mother who was incarcerated at the time on pot charges, and she has spent the better part of her life on earth shuttling, Gypsy-like, from cramped apartments to soul-sucking auditions. Gossip Girl is the first stable job she’s ever had.
“I’ve finally unpacked,” says Meester, who next year will appear as Steve Carell’s babysitter in the romantic comedy Date Night. “I didn’t expect anything. I’m always like, ‘Is the show going to get canceled?’ ‘Am I going to have to move?’ It’s hard to have any kind of luck in this business.”
Meester lunges for a strip of bacon. Another one of her Gossip co-stars, Chace Crawford, has declared she’s a “guy’s girl.” Meester allows that she’s “not high-maintenance,” and while she won’t bullshit you with a Super Bowl prediction, she can give you five detailed minutes on Ray Liotta in GoodFellas—well, maybe not the whole movie, but one very specific moment in Martin Scorsese’s Mob classic. “It’s the look Liotta gives Debi Mazar in the bedroom,” Meester says. “He’s just thrown his girlfriend onto the bed, and when she runs out, he gives this look to his girlfriend’s friend—Debi Mazar—as he’s coming off the bed….” Meester blushes and fans herself with her hand. “It’s the sexiest thing.”
“Guys are like, ‘My girlfriend watches it, so I watch it,’ ” Meester says. “But sometimes they watch it on their own. Someone came up to me recently and said, ‘I’m a Washington, D.C., police officer, and I tell everybody I’m busy on Monday nights—but I’m really watching the show.’”
If you’re still pretending you don’t, Meester, 23, plays the decadent heiress Blair Waldorf, whose acid bons mots (”Haven’t you heard? I’m the crazy bitch around here”) float in the air like the cigarette smoke she’d surely exhale if the CW would let her. Gossip Girl is a showcase of unnatural beauty, but the delicate Meester stands out. In person, Meester is free of pretension, arriving for a breakfast interview at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers wearing a pair of thick glasses that Tina Fey might reject as being too clunky. This is the paradox of the Meester-verse—”Blair is so controlling and such a worrier; Leighton is relaxed,” says co-star Ed Westwick—and it surely speaks to her un-Park Avenue origins. As the tabloids giddily reported last year, Meester was born to a mother who was incarcerated at the time on pot charges, and she has spent the better part of her life on earth shuttling, Gypsy-like, from cramped apartments to soul-sucking auditions. Gossip Girl is the first stable job she’s ever had.
“I’ve finally unpacked,” says Meester, who next year will appear as Steve Carell’s babysitter in the romantic comedy Date Night. “I didn’t expect anything. I’m always like, ‘Is the show going to get canceled?’ ‘Am I going to have to move?’ It’s hard to have any kind of luck in this business.”
Meester lunges for a strip of bacon. Another one of her Gossip co-stars, Chace Crawford, has declared she’s a “guy’s girl.” Meester allows that she’s “not high-maintenance,” and while she won’t bullshit you with a Super Bowl prediction, she can give you five detailed minutes on Ray Liotta in GoodFellas—well, maybe not the whole movie, but one very specific moment in Martin Scorsese’s Mob classic. “It’s the look Liotta gives Debi Mazar in the bedroom,” Meester says. “He’s just thrown his girlfriend onto the bed, and when she runs out, he gives this look to his girlfriend’s friend—Debi Mazar—as he’s coming off the bed….” Meester blushes and fans herself with her hand. “It’s the sexiest thing.”
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
New Spoiler
Drew in Walhalla, S.C.: I’m a freak for Chuck and Blair on Gossip Girl! Tell me they aren’t going to break up any time soon.
They aren’t. It’s actually Rufus and Lily’s relationship that will be in a very bad place until the end of the season. From what I understand, it all stems from a letter that Serena’s father is going to send her. And of course, it doesn’t help that Bart Bass is back in the mix!
They aren’t. It’s actually Rufus and Lily’s relationship that will be in a very bad place until the end of the season. From what I understand, it all stems from a letter that Serena’s father is going to send her. And of course, it doesn’t help that Bart Bass is back in the mix!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Tree Hill’ to go on hiatus
Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will go on hiatus next year to make room for a new CW drama series, it has been announced.
Life UneXpected, which stars Britt Robertson, Kristoffer Polaha and ER’s Shiri Appleby, will arrive Monday, January 18 in a 9pm timeslot after a lead-in from One Tree Hill.
Tree Hill will then go on hiatus Monday, March 8, with UneXpected taking over its slot. The same night, Gossip Girl will return to its 9pm period.
From April 19, both One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl will resume their respective 8pm and 9pm slots and continue airing until their season finales in May.
Life UneXpected, which stars Britt Robertson, Kristoffer Polaha and ER’s Shiri Appleby, will arrive Monday, January 18 in a 9pm timeslot after a lead-in from One Tree Hill.
Tree Hill will then go on hiatus Monday, March 8, with UneXpected taking over its slot. The same night, Gossip Girl will return to its 9pm period.
From April 19, both One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl will resume their respective 8pm and 9pm slots and continue airing until their season finales in May.
Kiss and Tell
Pining after Dan Humphrey, making out with Nate Archibald, canoodling with Chuck Bass – most girls would kill for these opportunities, but it’s all in a day’s work for Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr. If there’s one thing the role of Vanessa Abrams has taught the Milwaukee-native, it’s not how to handle boys, “The show has given me a whole new perspective on fashion that I didn’t have before. I’ve always been interested in fashion, but I didn’t necessarily follow it – I’m a lot more aware of trends and designers now.” Szohr reveals that although her character gets some of the most interesting and colorful costumes on Gossip Girl, Szohr is, “more of a jeans and t-shirt girl” in her personal life.
Growing up in Wisconsin, acting was never part of Szohr’s plan; she began modeling at age six and scored her first national commercial when she was 10, but Szohr always intended to go to college, “I didn’t see one movie in particular or pay attention to a specific role or someone’s career and think, ‘I want to be that,’” the actress confesses. “But I already had an agent who kept telling me, ‘you need to go out to L.A. for pilot season, you need to go out to L.A. for pilot season.’ I graduated early from high school so I figured I’d go and give it a shot. I only intended to be out there for a couple of months and then go back to Chicago where I was enrolled for college, but here I am, still working!”
Taking a break from her duties as Dan’s outspoken best friend on Gossip Girl over summer hiatus, Szohr abandoned the drama of the Upper East Side to face a foe even more deadly than catty rich kids – a lake full of man-eating piranhas in Alexandre Aja’s Piranha 3D. “I play Kelly, the local girl who has a crush on Jake, one of the guys who is back from college and visiting the lake for spring break,” Szohr explains. “She’s kind of over the whole party scene, but she’s liked this guy for a long time, so she steps out of her comfort zone and on to one of these party boats to be close to him. But then the piranhas attack and it all goes a little crazy!”
Describing the challenges of filming on Lake Havasu in Arizona, Szohr admits it wasn’t all fun in the sun. “The heat was usually around 120 degrees every day, which was intense. And at night, on a lake in the dark, imagining there were hundreds of killer piranhas in the water – it was eerie. I learned a lot about myself from all the water scenes, working underwater was a real challenge for me.” Although the lure of spending a summer by a lake was part of the movie’s appeal, it wasn’t the location that attracted her to the role. “I like to be entertained,” she laughs. “I think that this is just a fun, entertaining movie where people can go and be scared.”
And what of her small-screen alter-ego? Szohr remains tight-lipped on the subject of spoilers, bound by strict confidentiality agreements to keep the show’s much-discussed plotlines a mystery, but she is eager to drop a couple of hints.
“Vanessa has gone to college and she’s starting a new chapter in her life – I think NYU is a really good fit for her,” the actress muses. “Hilary Duff is coming on as her roommate; she plays a movie star and because Vanessa is really into filmmaking and movies and she knows about directors and actors, it’s very interesting for her to have this movie star living with her. And some stuff happens with Hilary’s character and some of my friends…” When pressed for details, Szohr laughs apologetically, insisting, “I always want to spill everything and then I get in trouble – it’s really hard to keep secrets!”
Pictures have leaked online that reveal Duff locking lips with Penn Badgley, who plays Vanessa’s best friend, Dan Humphrey, but Szohr will neither confirm nor deny the rumors. Other special guests this season include Tyra Banks, who will be linked to Duff’s character through a movie they are shooting, while Gina Torres will make an appearance playing Vanessa’s mother, “I was really excited to see who they would cast,” Szohr enthuses. “Like, ‘yes, Vanessa’s finally gonna see what her mom looks like!’ And [Gina] was great to work with, she’s such a warm, wonderful person and it was so much fun.”
But why is the elusive Mrs. Abrams finally making her debut after two years of letting Vanessa do her own thing in New York? “Vanessa’s parents live in Vermont and they were okay with her going to the city a couple of years ago to declare her undying love for Dan Humphrey, but we find out that they’re not so approving of the whole college thing, they’re kind of super-hippies,” Szohr explains with a laugh. “Vanessa has to give the freshmen speech at NYU so she invites her mom to come support her; it’s like a really big deal for her to be giving this speech so it’s important that her mom is there to see it. But in true Gossip Girl fashion, things don’t go so smoothly.”
The hype around Gossip Girl has reached fever pitch, with magazines spending as much time dissecting the personal lives of the show’s stars as the eponymous titular character spends gossiping about Serena, Blair and Chuck. But Szohr hasn’t let fame change her routine, insisting, “I like going to shows, concerts, plays, really taking advantage of New York. I do yoga, I like to ride my bike around a lot…” At this, she pauses to laugh to herself before explaining, “It’s funny, I have this old bike which has this über big basket, so I’m riding around with this huge basket and I’m sure people who see me are like, ‘what is this girl doing?’ but my grandparents sent me this bike purposefully so I could put my dog in the basket, so I don’t care if I look ridiculous.”
Although fame may not have changed Szohr, the 24 year-old admits that it has certainly changed the way the world treats her, recounting a recent on-set encounter that left the actress considerably shaken. “I love Hello Kitty,” she explains with a self-deprecating laugh. “And I was coming out of the make-up trailer one day and there was this girl waiting outside the barriers, maybe around twenty, and she had this stuffed Hello Kitty for me. And of course I just took it without even thinking about it, but the security guard on set said ‘I need to see that’ and he started squeezing this toy. I was like, ‘what are you doing to Hello Kitty?!’ but he found something hard inside it. So we had to take it into the wardrobe trailer and ask the wardrobe girl to find the seam, which looked like it had been sewn up a little weirdly – and,” she pauses, sounding scandalized, “He ripped poor Hello Kitty’s head off! But we actually found a speaker inside, and I don’t know what that was about, whether it was an obsessed fan or something. I would’ve just taken this girl’s Hello Kitty home and never known – it was very weird.”
Steering the subject back to safer territory, Szohr evaluates her fashion sense, unable to find a description that fully defines her, “I wouldn’t necessarily say I have a particular style – I’m all about comfort,” she reflects. “I guess I’d say it’s kind of boho-chic? I always think that if an outfit is too put together it loses a little of its personality, I think if people can follow the trends, but put their own spin on it, that’s more important.”
People's Choice Awards 2010 Nominations Announced
The final nominations are in and here are the categories you should vote in for Gossip Girl/Cast:
TV Drama Actress: Anna Paquin, Blake Lively, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katherine Heigl, Mariska Hargitay.
TV Obsession: “Dexter,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Hills,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “True Blood.”
Music Collaboration: Cobra Starship & Leighton Meester, “Good Girls Go Bad”; Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”; Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, “Run This Town”; T.I. & Rihanna, “Live Your Life”; The Lonely Island & T-Pain, “I’m on a Boat.”
To vote go to http://www.peopleschoice.com/.
TV Drama Actress: Anna Paquin, Blake Lively, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katherine Heigl, Mariska Hargitay.
TV Obsession: “Dexter,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Hills,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “True Blood.”
Music Collaboration: Cobra Starship & Leighton Meester, “Good Girls Go Bad”; Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”; Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, “Run This Town”; T.I. & Rihanna, “Live Your Life”; The Lonely Island & T-Pain, “I’m on a Boat.”
To vote go to http://www.peopleschoice.com/.
Miley Cyrus Crushes on Penn Badgley
justjaredjr.buzznet.com:
On her current celebrity crush: “Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl. I just saw him in The Stepfather and I’m pretty obsessed with him. I actually didn’t know who he was and I went to see the movie as a joke, because the previews looked scary but I wasn’t sure if it was scary. It was actually a good movie.”
On her current celebrity crush: “Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl. I just saw him in The Stepfather and I’m pretty obsessed with him. I actually didn’t know who he was and I went to see the movie as a joke, because the previews looked scary but I wasn’t sure if it was scary. It was actually a good movie.”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Blake Lively: Back for More “Gossip Girl” Action
Getting back to work on her hit CW show, Blake Lively was spotted on location for “Gossip Girl” in midtown Manhattan on Monday (November 9).
The Serena van der Woodsen actress looked stylish and in high spirits as she cheerfully laughed while shooting a few early morning scenes along the Big Apple streets.
The “Gossip Girl” duties come after a weekend of working in Boston, as Blake is also in the midst of filming the Ben Affleck directed movie “The Town”.
Meanwhile, you can catch Blake and her “Gossip Girl” co-stars in action in an all-new episode airing tonight at 9/8C on the CW.
Titled “They Shoot Humphrey’s, Don’t They”, the latest installment’s synopsis tells: “Not satisfied with just being Queen of Constance Billard, Jenny (Taylor Momsen) sets her sights on becoming the Queen of all the Upper East Side by landing the hottest escort for Cotillion. Nate (Chace Crawford) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) plot to help Serena (Blake Lively) and Blair (Leighton Meester) repair their damaged friendship. Dan (Penn Badgley) is upset when Olivia (guest star Hilary Duff) contemplates leaving school for a movie project.”
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Last Days of DSico Stick Synopsis
New Kristen Spoilers
Monty in New Mexico: What’s next on Gossip Girl?
I’m told that after tonight’s threeway, everything will be very messy for Dan, Olivia and Vanessa. “Things are not well,” says my source, and the threesome will have repercussions for all relationships involved, and we’ll see it all play out next week via flashbacks of the dirty deeds that were done. Also next week, a fourth wheel comes into the mix: Lady Gaga! No, she’s not actually hitting the sack for an L-O-V-D foursome (can you imagine?), but her music is the catalyst through which Dan, Olivia and Vanessa have to stay connected and work together even more closely for the time being (thanks to an assignment).
Oh, and for all of you who are sooo tired of hearing about the ménage à trois—can we all just have a cigarette and cab fare already?—I have this news to share: A main Gossip Girl character is going to get in a serious accident. One that will send her to the hospital. And that someone is Serena (Blake Lively).
I’m told that after tonight’s threeway, everything will be very messy for Dan, Olivia and Vanessa. “Things are not well,” says my source, and the threesome will have repercussions for all relationships involved, and we’ll see it all play out next week via flashbacks of the dirty deeds that were done. Also next week, a fourth wheel comes into the mix: Lady Gaga! No, she’s not actually hitting the sack for an L-O-V-D foursome (can you imagine?), but her music is the catalyst through which Dan, Olivia and Vanessa have to stay connected and work together even more closely for the time being (thanks to an assignment).
Oh, and for all of you who are sooo tired of hearing about the ménage à trois—can we all just have a cigarette and cab fare already?—I have this news to share: A main Gossip Girl character is going to get in a serious accident. One that will send her to the hospital. And that someone is Serena (Blake Lively).
Leighton Meester (Sort Of) Confirms Her ‘Thelma & Louise’-Like Movie, ‘Cowboy Bandits’
Last month a rumor began circulating that “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester would hookup with former “Remember the Daze” costar Amber Heard (who also starred with Leighton’s “GG” costar, Penn Badgley in “The Stepfather.” She’s making the rounds on the Upper East Side!) in a “Thelma and Louise”-like flick called “Cowboy Bandits.”
There was very little additional info given about the project other than it would be a younger version of the classic chick flick starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (in it, they play women on the run from the law after shooting a rapist). Word was that Jess Manafort was rumored to be on board as the director. He also worked the girls in “Remember the Daze.” So, when we got Leighton on the set of her music video for “Somebody to Love,” we thought we’d see if we could get any more info out of her about it. Instead of info, however, we got a (maybe) confirmation!
“Oh that is, um, something that I’m possibly going to be working on, but I can’t talk too much about it because I think that just came out like yesterday [October 16],” she said, dancing around the question. “I don’t know how much… what can I say about that? It’s still in development. There you go.”
Well, that leaves us wondering: Will she play Thelma or Louise? Hmmm…
There was very little additional info given about the project other than it would be a younger version of the classic chick flick starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (in it, they play women on the run from the law after shooting a rapist). Word was that Jess Manafort was rumored to be on board as the director. He also worked the girls in “Remember the Daze.” So, when we got Leighton on the set of her music video for “Somebody to Love,” we thought we’d see if we could get any more info out of her about it. Instead of info, however, we got a (maybe) confirmation!
“Oh that is, um, something that I’m possibly going to be working on, but I can’t talk too much about it because I think that just came out like yesterday [October 16],” she said, dancing around the question. “I don’t know how much… what can I say about that? It’s still in development. There you go.”
Well, that leaves us wondering: Will she play Thelma or Louise? Hmmm…
Lady Gaga Describes Her ‘Gossip Girl’ ‘Crazy Performance-Art Piece’
“First of all, my sister’s a huge fan, and she’s 17 years old. So when I called her and said ‘Gossip Girl’ wants to put my whole new album on the show and have me perform, she was like ‘Oh my God, you have to do it. It’s an amazing show,’ ” Gaga told MTV News. “And I’d seen it. It’s a great show.”
Of course, Gaga didn’t want her time on the show to be a stereotypically awkward musical-guest appearance on a TV show. She wanted it done the Gaga way. “I hate TV series performances, because they kind of come in out of nowhere, and everyone’s, like, really into the story, and then all of a sudden somebody breaks into song,” she said. “And it has nothing to do with the storyline, and then it screws everything up.”
Rather than showing up on the set for the day, Gaga met with the writers and producers first to make sure she was doing a performance that she felt comfortable with.
“I really sat down with the writers,” she said. “I was like, ‘Look, I want to do this, and the reason I want to do this is because I am trying to say something that is not mainstream in a mainstream capacity. So, if I can say it on your show, that would be, like, a real coup d’état for me as a performance artist.’ ”
The result sounds like an elaborate music video. “I am the narrator behind what is going on with the characters and make the song part of the moment,” she explained about the “crazy performance-art piece.” “We used these ladders, and I’m falling off ladders. Ladders are kind of a monster symbol about bad luck. And I have this 35-foot-long dress on and these X’s, very gothic-inspired. It was great. They let me do whatever the hell I wanted. It was amazing.”
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Chinese Way Of Getting Bigger Boobs
This video contains Chinese girls with inexplicably big boobs… inexplicably, that is, until you see that little air pump button.
Friday, November 6, 2009
They Shoot Humphreys Don't They? Synopsis
Exclusive: Behind the Scenes as Lady Gaga Hits “Gossip Girl”
In just over a week Gossip Girl will go Gaga when the singer performs a special rendition of her new single “Bad Romance” on the November 16th episode, fittingly titled “The Last Days of Disco Stick.” “She was amazing,” one of the show’s executive producers, Stephanie Savage, tells Rolling Stone. “She was willing to stay on set and perform silently in the background of all of our shots so that she could stay a part of the scene and integrated into the action.” Gaga’s performance of “Bad Romance” incorporated a few Gossip Girl-specific lyrics, but Savage says there are no plans to release the revised version, so fans will have to tune in to catch it. (Check out an exclusive photo of Gaga on the set, above.)
Savage notes that the show’s staffers have always been big on Gaga — they used “Paparazzi” on the Season Two premiere, which was taped in the summer of 2008 — but feared scheduling difficulties would prevent the singer from appearing on the show. When a storyline involving Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), a writer applying to NYU’s Tisch program, and his actress girlfriend Olivia Burke (Hilary Duff) developed this season, Savage realized it could mean Gaga, a Tisch alumna herself, would finally set foot on the Gossip Girl set.
Gaga filmed her cameo in mid-October at New York’s Angel Orensanz, a downtown synagogue-turned-performance space, and Savage estimates the star was there for at least a half-day of production with Badgley, Duff, Jessica Szhor (Vanessa Abrams) and aspiring pop star Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), even though her role lasts only one scene.
Gossip Girl has had a few other high-profile musical cameos: No Doubt guested as Snowed Out on an ’80s-flashback episode last spring and Savage’s favorite band, Sonic Youth, performed at an onscreen wedding last month. Both acts also reworked material for their Gossip Girl gigs. No Doubt covered Adam and the Ants’ “Stand and Deliver” while Sonic Youth transformed “Star Power” from an aggressive rock song into more subtle acoustic tune. Next week will find dance rockers the Plasticines performing “Bitch” at a cotillion for the show’s newest queen bee, Jenny Humphrey. Savage says more live acts are planned for the second half of the season, but isn’t naming names. “I’m keeping that under my hat for now!”
Savage notes that the show’s staffers have always been big on Gaga — they used “Paparazzi” on the Season Two premiere, which was taped in the summer of 2008 — but feared scheduling difficulties would prevent the singer from appearing on the show. When a storyline involving Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), a writer applying to NYU’s Tisch program, and his actress girlfriend Olivia Burke (Hilary Duff) developed this season, Savage realized it could mean Gaga, a Tisch alumna herself, would finally set foot on the Gossip Girl set.
Gaga filmed her cameo in mid-October at New York’s Angel Orensanz, a downtown synagogue-turned-performance space, and Savage estimates the star was there for at least a half-day of production with Badgley, Duff, Jessica Szhor (Vanessa Abrams) and aspiring pop star Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), even though her role lasts only one scene.
Gossip Girl has had a few other high-profile musical cameos: No Doubt guested as Snowed Out on an ’80s-flashback episode last spring and Savage’s favorite band, Sonic Youth, performed at an onscreen wedding last month. Both acts also reworked material for their Gossip Girl gigs. No Doubt covered Adam and the Ants’ “Stand and Deliver” while Sonic Youth transformed “Star Power” from an aggressive rock song into more subtle acoustic tune. Next week will find dance rockers the Plasticines performing “Bitch” at a cotillion for the show’s newest queen bee, Jenny Humphrey. Savage says more live acts are planned for the second half of the season, but isn’t naming names. “I’m keeping that under my hat for now!”
Blake Lively Grows Up
Blake Lively arrives at my apartment carrying her dinner in a paper bag, dressed like a modern-day pinup. She is wearing a pair of black tuxedo shorts, a white blouse opened just enough to hint at a delicate black bra, and a pair of 5-inch Christian Louboutin heels with three straps on the front—they look like bondage Mary Janes—making her 5′10″ frame appear 7 feet tall. Her bracelets are a chic variation of spiked punk dog collars, her blonde mane is disheveled, her skin smooth and golden. At 22 years old, she looks brazen yet girlish, sexy yet sweet. She is, as usual, all smiles, with an endearing, almost puppyish enthusiasm. A bombshell of a girl, I would say Lively is like a tall, frosty glass of milk—but when you take a sip, you realize that the milk has bourbon in it. (Milk Punch, as it is known, is a delicious, distinctly Southern, sweet brunch beverage that you can consume gallons of before you realize you’re intoxicated.) We settle onto my bed, the only place in the house where we can hide from my kids.
On Lively’s first day on the set of my new film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee—where Lively plays the young, troubled runaway Pippa Lee to Robin Wright Penn’s adult Pippa—she was exhausted, having arrived at 7 a.m. after working until 3 a.m. on the pop-culture soap-smash Gossip Girl the night before. The fact that her first scene in the movie would entail hysterical tears and a climactic fight with her bipolar mother, played by the powerful Maria Bello, seemed to faze her only slightly at the time, though internally, it seems, it was another story…
RM: What was your first day like on Pippa working with Maria Bello, who played your pill-popping mother? You had to face that tornado…
BL: I was honestly terrified. I hadn’t slept that much, and all I wanted that day was for Maria to say, “Wow, great job.” And when she didn’t say anything to me, I thought, Oh, my gosh, I’m terrible. She hates it. She’s calling her agent, saying, “What have you gotten me into?”
RM: [laughs] Maria was in character all day that day…
BL: But once we finished filming, she was so complimentary and sweet. The way Maria worked was very method, and then [costar] Julianne Moore was the complete opposite—between takes, she was a nice, normal mom talking about her kid’s baseball games. Then you would call “Action,” and suddenly she’s playing this creepo photographer! It freaked me out.
RM: One of the remarkable things about you is your ability to imagine yourself in situations that are much bleaker than what you’ve experienced in your own life.
BL: As a character, I get to be this wild, outgoing person that I’m so not. I think it all comes from being the youngest of five. I was always observing my siblings and hearing stories about their lives that turned out to be helpful as an actress.
Lively’s father moved the family from Georgia to L.A. when he was cast in the pilot of The Dukes of Hazzard (he would later play her father in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2).
RM: Do you think of yourself as Southern, even though you grew up in L.A.? I think there’s a Southern girl lurking in you.
BL: I grew up in L.A., but I was the only one in my family born there. I have a tight-knit Southern family, so whenever I tell people I’m from L.A., they say, “Yeah, but you don’t count,” I guess because of the Southern values I was raised with, and the way I eat—the more sugary and cheesy and fried, the better.
RM: Did you ever study acting?
BL: Well, my parents taught an acting class when I was growing up, and because I never had a babysitter, I would end up at them. When I got older, I knew all the drills so well that I felt fine getting up on stage. Without them, I’d still probably be hiding under my mom’s skirt.
Lively’s mother, whom she describes as “loving,” “dynamic,” and “a prankster,” has had an enormous influence on her daughter, and they remain very close.
RM: What’s your first memory?
BL: Oh, geez, I remember I was about 3 years old, and I woke up—we were staying at Disneyland. I was in a little pink silk bed, and there were Mickey and Donald and Goofy looking down at me. It was the most exciting place in the world. I kind of feel like I grew up at Disneyland.
RM: What do you mean, you grew up in Disneyland?
BL: My mom would take me there twice a week. I did well in school, so I guess my mom just wanted to have some extra time to bond with me. Sometimes, when I was older, she’d keep me out till 1 in the morning.
RM: [laughs] She would take you out of school and keep you out till 1 in the morning?
BL: We only stayed out late on weekends. We’d get a hotel room and then go to Denny’s, drink coffee, and talk for hours. I’ve always been a night owl. Even at home, we’d stay up all night talking. My mom tells the most amazing stories. In a way, she was kind of raising me to be a great actress without even realizing it.
RM: You went to 13 different schools growing up?
BL: I did. When I was only 3 years old, my mom enrolled me in the first grade. My older brother was supposed to start school, but he didn’t want to go alone, so my mom told them I was 6 since I was so tall. But after a few weeks, they said they would have to put me in mentally disabled classes because I wasn’t up to pace with the rest of the kids. They thought that I was slow because all I wanted to do was sleep while the other kids were doing their projects. [laughs] So my mom took me out of school.
For the rest of the interview, check out the issue!
On Lively’s first day on the set of my new film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee—where Lively plays the young, troubled runaway Pippa Lee to Robin Wright Penn’s adult Pippa—she was exhausted, having arrived at 7 a.m. after working until 3 a.m. on the pop-culture soap-smash Gossip Girl the night before. The fact that her first scene in the movie would entail hysterical tears and a climactic fight with her bipolar mother, played by the powerful Maria Bello, seemed to faze her only slightly at the time, though internally, it seems, it was another story…
RM: What was your first day like on Pippa working with Maria Bello, who played your pill-popping mother? You had to face that tornado…
BL: I was honestly terrified. I hadn’t slept that much, and all I wanted that day was for Maria to say, “Wow, great job.” And when she didn’t say anything to me, I thought, Oh, my gosh, I’m terrible. She hates it. She’s calling her agent, saying, “What have you gotten me into?”
RM: [laughs] Maria was in character all day that day…
BL: But once we finished filming, she was so complimentary and sweet. The way Maria worked was very method, and then [costar] Julianne Moore was the complete opposite—between takes, she was a nice, normal mom talking about her kid’s baseball games. Then you would call “Action,” and suddenly she’s playing this creepo photographer! It freaked me out.
RM: One of the remarkable things about you is your ability to imagine yourself in situations that are much bleaker than what you’ve experienced in your own life.
BL: As a character, I get to be this wild, outgoing person that I’m so not. I think it all comes from being the youngest of five. I was always observing my siblings and hearing stories about their lives that turned out to be helpful as an actress.
Lively’s father moved the family from Georgia to L.A. when he was cast in the pilot of The Dukes of Hazzard (he would later play her father in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2).
RM: Do you think of yourself as Southern, even though you grew up in L.A.? I think there’s a Southern girl lurking in you.
BL: I grew up in L.A., but I was the only one in my family born there. I have a tight-knit Southern family, so whenever I tell people I’m from L.A., they say, “Yeah, but you don’t count,” I guess because of the Southern values I was raised with, and the way I eat—the more sugary and cheesy and fried, the better.
RM: Did you ever study acting?
BL: Well, my parents taught an acting class when I was growing up, and because I never had a babysitter, I would end up at them. When I got older, I knew all the drills so well that I felt fine getting up on stage. Without them, I’d still probably be hiding under my mom’s skirt.
Lively’s mother, whom she describes as “loving,” “dynamic,” and “a prankster,” has had an enormous influence on her daughter, and they remain very close.
RM: What’s your first memory?
BL: Oh, geez, I remember I was about 3 years old, and I woke up—we were staying at Disneyland. I was in a little pink silk bed, and there were Mickey and Donald and Goofy looking down at me. It was the most exciting place in the world. I kind of feel like I grew up at Disneyland.
RM: What do you mean, you grew up in Disneyland?
BL: My mom would take me there twice a week. I did well in school, so I guess my mom just wanted to have some extra time to bond with me. Sometimes, when I was older, she’d keep me out till 1 in the morning.
RM: [laughs] She would take you out of school and keep you out till 1 in the morning?
BL: We only stayed out late on weekends. We’d get a hotel room and then go to Denny’s, drink coffee, and talk for hours. I’ve always been a night owl. Even at home, we’d stay up all night talking. My mom tells the most amazing stories. In a way, she was kind of raising me to be a great actress without even realizing it.
RM: You went to 13 different schools growing up?
BL: I did. When I was only 3 years old, my mom enrolled me in the first grade. My older brother was supposed to start school, but he didn’t want to go alone, so my mom told them I was 6 since I was so tall. But after a few weeks, they said they would have to put me in mentally disabled classes because I wasn’t up to pace with the rest of the kids. They thought that I was slow because all I wanted to do was sleep while the other kids were doing their projects. [laughs] So my mom took me out of school.
For the rest of the interview, check out the issue!
PTC complains over ‘Gossip’ threesome
The CW has received complaints from the Parents Television Council over upcoming scenes in Gossip Girl.
According to reports, the PTC sent a letter to the network which addresses a threesome to be screened later this season.
The note read: “By now you must be aware of reports in Entertainment Weekly and elsewhere that the November 9th episode of the teen-targeted drama Gossip Girl will feature major characters in a sexual threesome.
“To include a storyline like this on a program that is expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers is reckless and irresponsible. I appeal to your highest sense of decency, respect and common sense in urging you to preempt this episode.
“Television is profoundly influential in the lives of children, especially when it comes to sexual decision making – it has even been described by one researcher as a “sexual super-peer” – signifying television’s power to amplify, many times over, the peer-pressure teens are already feeling to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.”
PTC president Timothy F. Winter ended the complaint: “Please be advised that the PTC will monitor this episode very closely.
“Our members will not hesitate to contact local and national advertisers; and if this program violates broadcast decency law, rest assured that our members will contact the Federal Communications Commission.”
According to reports, the PTC sent a letter to the network which addresses a threesome to be screened later this season.
The note read: “By now you must be aware of reports in Entertainment Weekly and elsewhere that the November 9th episode of the teen-targeted drama Gossip Girl will feature major characters in a sexual threesome.
“To include a storyline like this on a program that is expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers is reckless and irresponsible. I appeal to your highest sense of decency, respect and common sense in urging you to preempt this episode.
“Television is profoundly influential in the lives of children, especially when it comes to sexual decision making – it has even been described by one researcher as a “sexual super-peer” – signifying television’s power to amplify, many times over, the peer-pressure teens are already feeling to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.”
PTC president Timothy F. Winter ended the complaint: “Please be advised that the PTC will monitor this episode very closely.
“Our members will not hesitate to contact local and national advertisers; and if this program violates broadcast decency law, rest assured that our members will contact the Federal Communications Commission.”
ACT NATURAL – Blake cover NYLON
With her new movie, Blake Lively proves her acting talent and appeal… again.
On TV, Serena van der Woodsen changes boyfriends, life goals, and party plans on a daily basis. But Blake Lively, who embodies Serena so well on Gossip Girl, couldn’t be more different.
When executive editor Stephanie Trong sat down with the fast-rising star to discuss her new movie, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, she found that the former high school class president and California native is a focused and fiercely intelligent young woman.
The one similarity between Blake and her on-screen alter ego? They pile on designer clothes with the glee of a tween stacking her first set of plastic bangles. But nobody can blame her – if we had a Serena / Blake closet experience, we’d do it, too.
Blake on her new film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. “I had a leash around my neck, and Julianne Moore was taking pictures. I thought, What am I doing with my life? What is happening? How is this a good idea?”
How she pranks her friends. “I [credit-card] swipe my friends with, like, my phone or something, – I slide it in their butts. Like in middle school! You say ‘Visa! Mastercard!’ Just to give somebody a jump. I’m a prankster.”
Her empathetic nature. “I feel a lot. I get really bad stomachaches all the time. So I went to a doctor, and he said, ‘You’re a feeler. I take on people’s pain a little too much.”
Is she completely different from Serena? “No, because I dress just like Serena! I own half her wardrobe, so it’s far too similar to the way I dress. I feel ridiculous at times with her – because I’m, you know, killing someone or marrying someone, but I look like me. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is absurd.’”
On TV, Serena van der Woodsen changes boyfriends, life goals, and party plans on a daily basis. But Blake Lively, who embodies Serena so well on Gossip Girl, couldn’t be more different.
When executive editor Stephanie Trong sat down with the fast-rising star to discuss her new movie, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, she found that the former high school class president and California native is a focused and fiercely intelligent young woman.
The one similarity between Blake and her on-screen alter ego? They pile on designer clothes with the glee of a tween stacking her first set of plastic bangles. But nobody can blame her – if we had a Serena / Blake closet experience, we’d do it, too.
Blake on her new film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. “I had a leash around my neck, and Julianne Moore was taking pictures. I thought, What am I doing with my life? What is happening? How is this a good idea?”
How she pranks her friends. “I [credit-card] swipe my friends with, like, my phone or something, – I slide it in their butts. Like in middle school! You say ‘Visa! Mastercard!’ Just to give somebody a jump. I’m a prankster.”
Her empathetic nature. “I feel a lot. I get really bad stomachaches all the time. So I went to a doctor, and he said, ‘You’re a feeler. I take on people’s pain a little too much.”
Is she completely different from Serena? “No, because I dress just like Serena! I own half her wardrobe, so it’s far too similar to the way I dress. I feel ridiculous at times with her – because I’m, you know, killing someone or marrying someone, but I look like me. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is absurd.’”
Belated Birthday, Sorry Penn
We are late on this, sorry Penn! Hope you had a happy brithday on November 1st.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
TV Guide Top Ten Moments
10. Best Kiss, Part I: Blair tricks Chuck into kissing Mr. Ellis so she can give the coveted freshman toast at NYU’s parents’ dinner. “You really think I never kissed a guy before?” Chuck asks, thinking his bi-curious overtures will fuel his lady’s passions. Alas, what Chuck thought was a sex game was a game of another sort to the scheming B.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Michelle Trachtenberg Says ‘Gossip Girl’ Threesome Is ‘Worth Waiting For’
On a recent episode of “Gossip Girl,” Chuck Bass kissed a boy, but that’s not the only provocative story line set to take place this season. There’s still that much talked-about threesome. In her usual sassy way, Michelle Trachtenberg revealed, well, that she can’t actually reveal anything about what will happen when it all goes down.
“Ah, yeah, it’s me, myself and I, and we get busy,” Georgina Sparks herself joked to MTV News. “It’s going to be, like, in split screens. So it’s going to be like Michelle, Michelle, Michelle, like, ‘What body part is that?’ But it’s all mine.”
All joking aside, she went on to divulge that the scene would be “worth waiting for,” and pondered the setup: “I would imagine it’s going to involve at least one boy and one girl, so…”
Even though she wasn’t able to leak any spoilers, Trachtenberg was willing to fess up about who she’d like to see get busy. “Um, all of them! You can’t possibly make me pick!” she said. “We’ll go with Blake [Lively] and Leighton [Meester]. It would be a crazy lady threesome. It’s not going to happen. I’m just messing with you. … It’s actually going to be, like, a tensome.”
Trachtenberg also gushed about the news that Lady Gaga will be making a cameo in a future episode. Unfortunately, all the actress could share about the appearance was that she missed it.
“She performed on the show, so that’s pretty fantastic ’cause I’m a huge Gaga fan. I was not there. … I missed out on Gaga,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know when the singer’s episode will air. “I just don’t know things like [airdates]. We just show up and hope we look somewhat glowy.”
“Ah, yeah, it’s me, myself and I, and we get busy,” Georgina Sparks herself joked to MTV News. “It’s going to be, like, in split screens. So it’s going to be like Michelle, Michelle, Michelle, like, ‘What body part is that?’ But it’s all mine.”
All joking aside, she went on to divulge that the scene would be “worth waiting for,” and pondered the setup: “I would imagine it’s going to involve at least one boy and one girl, so…”
Even though she wasn’t able to leak any spoilers, Trachtenberg was willing to fess up about who she’d like to see get busy. “Um, all of them! You can’t possibly make me pick!” she said. “We’ll go with Blake [Lively] and Leighton [Meester]. It would be a crazy lady threesome. It’s not going to happen. I’m just messing with you. … It’s actually going to be, like, a tensome.”
Trachtenberg also gushed about the news that Lady Gaga will be making a cameo in a future episode. Unfortunately, all the actress could share about the appearance was that she missed it.
“She performed on the show, so that’s pretty fantastic ’cause I’m a huge Gaga fan. I was not there. … I missed out on Gaga,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know when the singer’s episode will air. “I just don’t know things like [airdates]. We just show up and hope we look somewhat glowy.”
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Leighton Meester Admits It’s ‘Hard To Find Somebody To Love’
Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester has revealed that her debut single is about her struggle to find a boyfriend.
The actress released Somebody To Love, the first song from her debut album, earlier this month.
And Meester, who dates Gossip Girl co-star Sebastian Stan in real life, said the song was written about her own experiences.
She told Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS FM radio show: “It is about what’s going on in my life and I think everyone can relate to it.
“It’s about being crazy, busy, young and running round and it is really, really hard to find somebody to love.”
Meester added: “People love you but you don’t really love them. It’s about that struggle of finding someone.”
The 23-year-old actress, who plays Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, is due to release her as-yet-untitled album next year.
The actress released Somebody To Love, the first song from her debut album, earlier this month.
And Meester, who dates Gossip Girl co-star Sebastian Stan in real life, said the song was written about her own experiences.
She told Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS FM radio show: “It is about what’s going on in my life and I think everyone can relate to it.
“It’s about being crazy, busy, young and running round and it is really, really hard to find somebody to love.”
Meester added: “People love you but you don’t really love them. It’s about that struggle of finding someone.”
The 23-year-old actress, who plays Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, is due to release her as-yet-untitled album next year.
Monday, November 2, 2009
2009 Kids for Kids Family Carnival
As you all know, Connor and Matthew were at the 2009 Kids for Kids Family Carnival a few days ago. Below is a video from the event.
Also, please visit http://www.pedaids.org for more information, and do support them if you can.
Also, please visit http://www.pedaids.org for more information, and do support them if you can.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Leighton Meester shifts from ‘Gossip Girl’ to pop woman
“Gossip Girl” actress Leighton Meester hasn’t yet released her Universal Republic debut. But it appears the TV star is well on her way to silencing naysayers about her fledgling singing career.
Meester released her first single - a retro dance-pop track titled “Somebody to Love” - to digital retailers Oct. 14 after premiering it on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM Los Angeles morning show. Featuring R&B singer Robin Thicke, the song is already off to a solid start with 102 spins at top 40 radio and 7,000 digital tracks sold through the week ended Oct. 18, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“I have a crazy, strange life and I work a lot,” Meester says. “I like that it’s electronic but still lyrically driven. It’s a very sexy track, and Robin really brought something different to it.”
“Somebody to Love” follows “Good Girls Go Bad,” Meester’s collaboration with Cobra Starship that reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer. Universal Republic believes these two songs should assuage anyone who raised an eyebrow when the label announced her signing in April.
“There was some skepticism, but now there’s not,” says Universal Republic executive vice president Tom Mackay. “As the Cobra record went up the chart, we got better and better material from songwriters. That song immediately validated the project.”
Mackay also notes that the vision for Meester’s album was clear from the start. “She wanted to make a sophisticated pop record that could work in the clubs and in the international market. And this first single is nothing else if not sophisticated pop.”
Although it isn’t yet finished, Meester’s debut album is tentatively slated for late 2009 or early 2010. She’s spent most of the year juggling studio sessions with taping two feature films and the CW network’s “Gossip Girl.” About 25 songs have been completed, however, and collaborators include producer Mike Caren on “Somebody to Love,” Stuart Price on “I Feel Everything” and J.R. Rotem on “Lights Out.” Meester also plans to showcase her vocals on more downtempo tracks like “Your Lies Are the Truth.”
Universal Republic and CW are also discussing how to promote Meester’s album on “Gossip Girl,” with short-term ideas ranging from a synch placement of “Somebody to Love” to an exclusive premiere of its music video. “We would be foolish not to utilize the show,” Mackay says.
Meanwhile, Meester remains focused on channeling her singing idols - from Madonna and Debbie Harry to Santigold and Lykke Li - and taking the time to get her solo material just right.
“I never wanted to pay attention to the business side of acting, and it’s the same with music,” she says. “I love being creative. As I come up with more stuff, I keep topping myself . . . and this is the perfect time for me to do it.”
Meester released her first single - a retro dance-pop track titled “Somebody to Love” - to digital retailers Oct. 14 after premiering it on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM Los Angeles morning show. Featuring R&B singer Robin Thicke, the song is already off to a solid start with 102 spins at top 40 radio and 7,000 digital tracks sold through the week ended Oct. 18, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“I have a crazy, strange life and I work a lot,” Meester says. “I like that it’s electronic but still lyrically driven. It’s a very sexy track, and Robin really brought something different to it.”
“Somebody to Love” follows “Good Girls Go Bad,” Meester’s collaboration with Cobra Starship that reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer. Universal Republic believes these two songs should assuage anyone who raised an eyebrow when the label announced her signing in April.
“There was some skepticism, but now there’s not,” says Universal Republic executive vice president Tom Mackay. “As the Cobra record went up the chart, we got better and better material from songwriters. That song immediately validated the project.”
Mackay also notes that the vision for Meester’s album was clear from the start. “She wanted to make a sophisticated pop record that could work in the clubs and in the international market. And this first single is nothing else if not sophisticated pop.”
Although it isn’t yet finished, Meester’s debut album is tentatively slated for late 2009 or early 2010. She’s spent most of the year juggling studio sessions with taping two feature films and the CW network’s “Gossip Girl.” About 25 songs have been completed, however, and collaborators include producer Mike Caren on “Somebody to Love,” Stuart Price on “I Feel Everything” and J.R. Rotem on “Lights Out.” Meester also plans to showcase her vocals on more downtempo tracks like “Your Lies Are the Truth.”
Universal Republic and CW are also discussing how to promote Meester’s album on “Gossip Girl,” with short-term ideas ranging from a synch placement of “Somebody to Love” to an exclusive premiere of its music video. “We would be foolish not to utilize the show,” Mackay says.
Meanwhile, Meester remains focused on channeling her singing idols - from Madonna and Debbie Harry to Santigold and Lykke Li - and taking the time to get her solo material just right.
“I never wanted to pay attention to the business side of acting, and it’s the same with music,” she says. “I love being creative. As I come up with more stuff, I keep topping myself . . . and this is the perfect time for me to do it.”
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