Gossip Girl Reboot - Details We Know So Far

Attention Gossip Girl fans — we've got some good news for you. The show that kept us in the loop about the lives of Manhattan's wealthiest (and most entitled) teens from 2007 to 2012 on The CW is making a comeback in 2020.

The original Gossip Girl, which was based on a series of books by Cecily von Ziegesar, took us into the lives of Upper East Side's upper-class teens and helped us live vicariously through the eyes of an anonymous blogger. Gossip Girl had it all: the money, the fashion, the drama, the intrigue, and most of all, sassy characters (who hasn't taken a Gossip Girl personality quiz?) with memorable one-liners that many of us still use to this day. It also set the stage for the careers of its biggest stars: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chase Crawford, and Ed Westwick. 

When Gossip Girl first debuted in 2007, the world was just starting to get to know the power of the internet and social media. The reboot, which will have 10 episodes, takes place eight years after the original series ended. Co-executive producer Josh Schwartz says that doing the old plot (a group of elite students being patrolled by Gossip Girl) didn't make a lot of sense, so the reboot takes on new challenges brought about by the widespread use of smartphone technology. "So it felt like there was something really interesting about this idea that we are all Gossip Girl now in our own way," Schwartz says (via Thrillist). "We are all purveyors of our own social media surveillance state and how that's evolved and how that has morphed and mutated, telling that story through a new generation of Upper East Side high school kids felt like the right time." But even if we might see members of the original cast return to the Upper East Side, don't expect to see them reprise their original roles as Parents of Teens because as Thrillist quotes Schwartz as saying: "We ain't that old."

Variety says the Gossip Girl reboot is set eight years after the show ended its run and will follow a new generation of New York private school teens who, like their predecessors, will be introduced to the concept of social surveillance through the Gossip Girl site. The reboot is expected to touch on how much New York's landscape in general, as well as social media in particular, has changed in eight years... and the show will have plenty to address. Gossip Girl went to air in 2007, the same year the iPhone made its debut, and when Facebook hit 1 million active users in the UK (via Infoplease); the show then wrapped up around the time Snapchat made its debut. With smartphones being as popular as they are now, Gossip Girl will have plenty to talk about because as you know, unlike the rest of us, sex, lies, and scandal never take a vacation...

Now for the good news: Kristen Bell, who narrated all 121 episodes of the original series, will be returning as the voice of the new series because, as the show's producers put it (via Elle), "Kristen Bell has always been and will always be the voice of Gossip Girl." Bell may not be the only GG alum who is returning to an old haunt — the entire original cast has been asked to come back for the reboot, and by original, we mean Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chase Crawford, and Ed Westwick. Schwartz tells The Wrap, "Again, if they feel like they played that part and have moved on, we respect that, and if they want to come play with us again, we would love to see them." 

As far as the rest of the cast goes, only time will tell, as no announcements have been made as of yet.

The series will air on HBO Max, HBO's new streaming service, which is set to launch in the Spring of 2020. Unfortunately, then, it will be a while before we get to see what Gossip Girl is up to. HBO MAX itself is also creating a buzz in and of itself because of a stellar show lineup that includes South Park, Game of Thrones, Big Bang Theory, Pretty Little Liars, The West Wing, and Friends. 

Aside from Gossip Girl, Tech Crunch says HBO is also planning to launch a total of 69 original shows, with an estimated half of the titles aimed at capturing the attention of the young adult market. HBO Max's Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly says the service will also be planning to release new episodes of popular shows on a weekly basis, in order to create cultural impact instead of "fading quickly after a binge and burn." 

We've got Kristen Bell, we've got a story, we've got 10 episodes... but we don't yet have a full cast announced, so we can't realistically expect, for now at least, a trailer that will give us a sneak peek at the all-new Gossip Girl. Since HBO's streaming service is not expected to see the light of day until spring of next year, we may need to wait a few more months to see what the Upper East Side looks like in Gossip Girl-land today. Before that, we'll just have to be grateful that we can get our Gossip Girl fix on Netflix, where the show is currently streaming.