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Gossip Girl - Season 1 [2007] | ![Gossip Girl - Season 1 [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514nr7tnsJL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Actors: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Kristen Bell
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £29.99
Buy New: £14.86
You Save: £15.13 (50%)
New (11) Used (2) from £14.50
Rating:  10 reviews
Format: Pal
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Number Of Discs: 5
Running Time: 778 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.8
EAN: 7321902220871
ASIN: B0018O51C4
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: August 18, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Loosely based on the books by Cecily Von Ziegesar, Gossip Girl focuses on a privileged group of New York teenagers and their comparably glamorous social lives. When Serena van der Woodsen suddenly returns from boarding school with no explanation, it takes no time for tongues to start wagging. Cue "Gossip Girl", the voice behind the website gluing together all the characters in this entertaining show, who reports on what everyone in their social circle is up to. Nobody knows who is behind the site, but everyone pays attention to what it has to say. It is the website mechanic that gives Gossip Girl a new twist on its rival teen dramas. The cast, too, have plenty of punch, with the likes of Blake Lively (Serena), Leighton Meester (Blair) and Taylor Momsen (Jenny) just some of the highlights among a good ensemble.
Gossip Girl is ultimately a fun, enjoyable drama that knows its target audience and hits it very well. Slickly packaged and easy on the eye, it's a fine piece of television drama, and has enough here to suggest a long and successful run on our screens. --Jon Foster
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| Customer Reviews:
You Know You Love Me, XOXO Gossip Girl May 21, 2008
Lilith's Lantern (England)
38 out of 43 found this review helpful
There are 18 episodes in total that make up GGs first season, there would have been 22 episodes overall but the Writers Guild Strike in America this year crippled much of the TV industry, and GG therefore was interrupted in production and had to have its episode order shortened. The post strike episodes (episode 14 onwards) were very good albeit slightly rushed as Josh Schwartz, the showrunner and head writer, had to condense what would have spanned nine episodes into five.
GG was based on a series of books which I have some limited knowledge of but have never read. I don't think it's a good idea to come into the TV version of GG expecting an adaption of the books because that's most certainly not what one will get -- indeed, they are at this point two disparate entities. The show, in essence, takes the characters from the books along with the setting and then creates its own storylines. As a result it's a catty, glossy and just plain fantastic ride. A lot of shows based around teenagers seem to be pretty mindless but GG is actually very well written and there's always interesting psychological depth to the story and characters. In a nutshell GG is set in the glamorous Upper East Side of New York, and is depicting the scandalous lives of Manhattans elite. Gossip Girl is a mysterious blogger who basically enjoys exposing these rich inhabitants secrets.
Now, I was a huge Veronica Mars fan so I only watched this show initially because the wonderful Kristen Bell is acting as the voice of Gossip Girl. So I came for KB (not expecting much in the way of good plot etc.) but ended up staying for the awesome writing, acting and colourful characters. When I first saw the Pilot I was rolling my eyes a great deal and nearly did not come back to watch the next episode; I'm glad I gave the show another chance because I would have been missing out. The Pilot is literally the worst episode of the season and the whole show improves leaps and bounds from thereon in. Really, the Pilot doesn't make much sense in context of the rest of the show -- there's a lot of contiunity errors and characters like Chuck act out of character, as they decided after the Pilot to go in a different direction with his character. So, it's best to ignore the events of the Pilot. Apparently the Pilot would have been re-shot if the CW had more money.
My favourite characters by a huge mile are the two fan favourites Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf. I have to give the writers huge kudos for putting them together in the middle of the season, I always thought they would be an interesting pairing but never thought they would actually get together. Chuck and Blair's immense popularity as a couple and as individual characters is a testament to the excellent acting of English actor Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester -- who literally always steal any scene they appear in. Westwick and Meester also have the most explosive and heated chemistry of any of the cast. Blair is at first presented as a nasty, vindictive girl, although it's this ruthless mean side to her is part of what makes her lovable; her scheming is particularly brilliant in episodes like The Roman Holiday. You can't help but root for her. Blair is truly the shows real protagonist.
'I'm Chuck Bass' Chuck is wonderful, the sexually promiscuous and a somewhat nasty person. He is even more vindictive and scheming than Blair. He's a Machiavellian figure but as he falls in love with Blair the audience is shown with some fantastic writing/acting that he's far more complex than he first appeared to be; of course Chuck would not be half as interesting without Westwicks charisma and acting nuance, indeed it's a testament to his skill that someone as vile as Chuck in the Pilot could become the most popular male character of the show. Together CB are pretty much the Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler of the Gossip Girl world.
The other characters Gossip Girl focuses on are Nate Archibald, Serena Van Der Woodsen, Dan Humphrey, Jenny Humphrey, and various other secondary characters. Dan and Serena's not so torrid relationship is the focal point of the season along with the Nate/Blair/Chuck love triangle, which is pretty much taken from Chucks perspective throughout. As the triangle culminates in episode thirteen a new arc begins with guest star Michelle Trachtenburg, who is evil to delicious degrees. The first thirteen episodes of the season are well written, acted and all the episodes tend to contain various amounts of symmetry and subtext, particularly episodes like Hi-Society which exposes the weaknesses in Chucks character in a very Shakespearian manner. The post strike episodes are well conceived but some plotlines are rushed and lacked cohesion.
When all is said and done the most stabilising relationship of the show is between Blair and Serena, without it the show would be the poorer. The familial bonds and friendships are often touching and a key component of GG, particularly C's friendship with N -- indeed I think Nate will always love Chuck more than any other person in his life. The season finale 'Much I Do About Nothing' is great fun albeit slightly rushed. It centers around a wedding which involves all the regular characters. Gossip Girl is a fantastic show which I would highly recommend to anyone, it's most certainly a step above the average teenage drama.
Extras: Deleted scenes, gag reel, a fantastic featurette about the making of Gossip Girl from page to screen. There's no commentaries unfortunately, but I think said featurette more than makes up for that.
Highlight episodes include: The Wild Brunch, Victor Victrola, The Roman Holiday, A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate and Much I Do About Nothing.
Guilty little pleasure. July 29, 2008
Mrs. F. L. Marney (Watford, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Just finished watching this series on ITV2 and have really enjoyed it. It would be very easy for people to write this off as teen drama, but the tight scripts, terrific acting and compelling story lines really rise it above average teen fare. There are great villains, but they're not one dimensional and the show really surprised me with some it's twists and turns. There's some heart breaking love stories, nicely handled issues such as "coming out" and lashes of fabulous fashion and fun too. I'll really miss it, it's fantastic hangover TV, wrap yourself up in a blanket, curl up on the sofa and enjoy, it's not gonna to set the world on fire, but it's a compelling, fun and thoroughly entertaining little treat.
 Really enjoyed it! August 4, 2008
D. H. Taylor (Lancashire, UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Though this programme took a while to get going, I did watch it every week and really enjoyed the majority of the episodes!
I think the last episode could have been better; I would have loved for it to end with a cliffhanger and for me to be able to "not wait" for Season 2, however I have learned that some of the production team went on strike after episode 14, for some reason or another??
I think that the characters of the show are very well-written and the casting for Serena, Blair and all of the other characters couldn't have been better.
Season 1 has just finished on TV, but the boxset comes out on August 18th this year.
If you enjoyed The OC and One Tree Hill, I would recommend watching this as I would say it comes under that genre of programme.
I doubt you will be disappointed if you bought this boxset, though I will say the first few episodes were quite dull, HOWEVER it does get much better.
For anyone who loves Gossip xD August 11, 2008
Ms. Francesca L. Carless (Bristol, United Kingdom)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Having being a huge OC fan, i was really expecting this series to be yet another copy of it. And yes, the characters in some way can be descibed as the characters in the OC were however to me, these characters seem much more intruiging and having much more to them than a fancy purse.
I really adore this show and couldn't wait for England to broadcast it over here therefore i watched all episodes during it being aired in the US.
I have probably one main reason to watch this show and that's the wonderful pairing of Chuck Bass & Blair Waldorf. The writers made a great job in bringing these two together considering they aren't even paired in the books. For anyone who was a big fan of Seth/Summer etc, you haven't seen anything yet.
Their chemistry is flawless (especially after the 107 episode, you'll know what i mean) and their attraction to each other is undeniable. Of course, the other couples during the show are great but people, you haven't seen love yet until you see Chuck & Blair.
A definite MUST-HAVE for anyone who adores bitchy, glamorous gossip.
you know you love IT
xoxo
you know you love it! xoxo August 29, 2008
Anna (Cheshire, UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I absolutely love gossip girl! its an amazing series, one which i keep watching again and again! buy it! one of the best things on tv! xoxo
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