BLUE MAG

All of you who took the odds on “will Don also review ‘Gossip Girl’?” played the safe money. Hey, it’s on TV, isn’t it?

We’re not here to debate the relative morality of television. I will leave it to the philosophers to debate whether it is a good idea to watch “Gossip Girl” from a philosophical standpoint. Sure, it bothers me that 11 year olds are probably going to watch this. I, however, am not 11 years old, nor would I let my children watch this show. Furthermore, there is a definite “oogy” factor to the sexual content of this pilot, but overall it’s tame enough for prime time, as they say.

Overall this is a “good show” (philosophical arguments aside). The easy comparison is to “GG” creator Josh Schwartz’s previous offering “The O.C.” which started strong (I think that’s accurate) and fizzled. This show trades the OC for the NYC and adds an element: voice over by an anonymous blogger (Kristin Bell) who is chronicling the events we are watching. This helps us sort of follow who is who and will bug you far less than you think it would.

The lead role (though she is not the “Gossip Girl,” a fact which will probably confuse people) is played by Blake Lively who is 20 but looks like she’s 28. She’s got an admirer in Dan, played by Penn Badgely who looks strikingly familiar but scanning his IMDB I don’t see why that would be. He is great in this role, extremely likeable, He provides the eyes through which the audience sees the more privileged characters, giving the show a moral center in a very low-key manner. Matthew Settle plays his father who is an aging rocker from a forgotten 90s band.

Yeah it is based on a series of tweener books, yeah it is fluffy and inappropriately scandalous at the same time, and no it won’t make you think, but sometimes TV can just be fun to watch. “Gossip Girl” is not bad.