What is it? Gossip Girl, the Complete Series, 121 episodes on 29 discs from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
When? Now
How much? $199.70
Who is Gossip Girl? That’s the big question, really. Who is it?
This series, based on novels by Cecily Von Ziegesar, centers on students at Constance Billiard-St. Jude’s School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and the Gossip Girl blog that follows the popular students’ every move.
Speaking of popular, former golden girl Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) disappeared a year ago to attend boarding school and set tongues wagging. Her sudden reappearance has quite an effect, particularly on her best friend, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), who’s queen of the school and is still peeved that Serena went off to boarding school without even telling her. Not that that’s the only thing she has to be upset about, particularly when Blair’s longtime boyfriend Nate (Chace Crawford) learns Serena is back.
Nate’s the “good boy” torn between the two friends, though, really, he may not be right for either of them. His best friend, “bad boy” Chuck (Ed Westwick), also has a somewhat complicated relationship with the ladies.
In this ultra-wealthy world, most of the parents range from neglectful and ineffectual to downright harmful. Don’t pity the kids too much, though. For the most part, they’re a bunch of sharks with cell phones.
As for Serena, she has a frosty mother (Kelly Rutherford) and a suicidal brother (Connor Paolo). Her mother has a bit of a past herself, one that includes Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle), single-father of social outsiders Dan and Jenny (Penn Badgley and Taylor Momsen). Dan has had a crush on Serena for some time, and freshman Jenny just wants to be part of the “in” crowd. They both get what they want, sort of.
There are plenty of other characters to keep track of, like the wicked Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Dan’s home schooled friend Vanessa (Jessica Szohr).
Through six seasons, these very wealthy teens try to find their own way in the world while attending extravagant parties, having sex and scheming like crazy. You know, the usual.
And the gleefully snide and mysterious Gossip Girl (voiced by Kristen Bell) comments on all the action.
Who is Gossip Girl? Why did Serena suddenly take off for Connecticut? And how do these people keep up with all their relationships without the help of flowcharts and diagrams?
What’s it like? It’s a soapy teen drama full of over-the-top characters, wild plots and twists and turns.
But it’s not all that bad, really - at least early on.The increasingly wacky stories and tangled, back-and-forth romances make it hard to care about what’s going on. The mysteries, the setting and a few of the characters make it better than some teen-centric shows but it definitely falls into the “guilty pleasure” category.
What about extras? If you already own the individual season sets, there’s no need to get this one - unless you want the fancy box. The bonus features are all the same, with gag reels, behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes and downloadable audiobooks.
New this week: Ghost Hunters, Season 8, Part 1; Jersey Shore, Season 6; Quincy, M.E., Season 5; Sesame Street, Best of Friends.
New next week: The Borgias, Season 2; The Carol Burnett Show, Collector’s Edition; Kingdom, Complete Series; MADtv, Season 2; Men at Work, Season 1; Veep, Season 1.
Style, Pages 48 on 03/17/2013