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Gossip Girl Spinoff vs. Body Politic: Which Would You Watch?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:50:00 -0700

Though they didn't make the Fall schedule, the Gossip Girl spinoff and the Minka Kelly/Jason Dohring show Body Politic are reportedly still alive - if barely - at the CW. The shows are both theoretically in contention for a midseason spot (though the CW's boss has said they'd really like that spot to be the spinoff's). Now, we've already seen a little of what the spinoff could be, and some clips of Body Politic have hit the web. So check out both options and tell me: if only one could make the schedule, which of these shows would you rather watch?

Photos courtesy of The CW and Source

Could Gossip Girl's Lily Spinoff Work as a Series?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:30:52 -0700

Most of you were at least a little excited to see Gossip Girl introduce its potential Lily spinoff on Monday. Well, now that we've seen the sample scenes, do you think the show could work as a series? Or is this one trip to the '80s that you'd be just as happy to cut short?

Photo courtesy of The CW

Are You Excited For Your First Look at the Gossip Girl Spinoff?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:30:22 -0700

We've followed the news, weighed in on the casting, and flipped through the photos. Now, tonight, we get our first televised look at what could be the Gossip Girl spinoff. It's time to see how Gossip Girl does '80s!

The episode is split between present-day New York and '80s Los Angeles. In New York, Lily and Serena fight over Serena's recent brush with the law; in Los Angeles, a young Lily (Brittany Snow) heads home after getting kicked out of boarding school. Also, it's prom night in NYC, which should mean interesting things for the rest of our Upper East Siders.

Rumors have been flying about the spinoff's possible demise, but a CW insider tells us those reports are preposterous, as the network doesn't even start programming meetings till this week. (The CW will announce its Fall schedule on May 21.) I'm wondering: Are you excited for your first look at this potential new series?

Photo courtesy of The CW

First Look: Gossip Girl Goes '80s in These "Valley Girls" Photos

BuzzSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:00:09 -0700

The '80s are coming! The '80s are coming! You have to get a load of these photos from the upcoming Gossip Girl episode that could launch next Fall's spinoff starring Brittany Snow as young Lily Rhodes.

We've seen the poster, but these are actual scenes from the May 11 episode. Executive producer Josh Schwartz explains how this episode, titled "Valley Girls," will introduce the new characters (including Andrew McCarthy as Lily's father and Krysten Ritter as Carol, Lily's older sister): "It'll be flashbacks that will sort of illustrate a crisis. It will resonate thematically with something that will be happening inside that episode."

I'm so intrigued! For now we'll have to settle for some radical visuals with the new show's stars decked out in '80s fabulousness - plus No Doubt performing as fictional band Snowed Out.

For even more shots of this valley world, just read more.

View 23 Photos ›

Photos courtesy of The CW

An Exciting Monday: New Pics From The Lovely Bones, Gossip Girl Spinoff and More

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:30:09 -0700

When I turned on my computer this morning, I discovered link after link bringing me to new photos from upcoming movies and TV shows. There's a first glimpse at Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and two images from Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lovely Bones. There's a first look at the young Lily from the Gossip Girl spinoff, and (appropriately for today, the 20th of April) we've got a new poster for Weeds. Ready to check out today's bounty of interesting new pics? Let's get started.

View Slideshow ›

Ashlee Simpson and Libby From Lost Nab Jobs at the CW

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:30:00 -0700

The CW has two pretty high-profile spinoffs in the works for the Fall TV season - one of Gossip Girl, one of Melrose Place - and over the past couple of days, they've gotten busy adding some big names to their casts:

Ashlee Simpson has nabbed a role in the Melrose Place spinoff, returning to the network that gave her a breakout job on 7th Heaven. In Melrose, she'll play Violet, "a bright-eyed but shrewd small-town girl and recent LA transplant who has come to town with a secret." She joins Michael Rady and Katie Cassidy in the ensemble.
Meanwhile, Cynthia Watros, aka Libby from Lost, will play Celia "CeCe" Rhodes in the Gossip Girl spinoff, tentatively titled Lily. She'll be the '80s version of awesome grandma CeCe played by Caroline Lagerfelt in the present-day GG. Meanwhile, the show has also added Ryan Hansen (Dick from Veronica Mars) as Shep, who's got a futile crush on Lily's sister, Carol (Krysten Ritter).

So, what do you make of Ashlee's return to full-time acting? And could you imagine Cynthia Watros, Brittany Snow, Kelly Rutherford, and Blake Lively all being related?

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 3/6

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:30:26 -0800

Andrew McCarthy will play Lily's father in the Gossip Girl spinoff pilot. - The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Jackson is set to perform 20 to 25 shows at London's O2 Arena. - Billboard
Paramount Vantage and Comedy Central have jointly acquired the rights to Ghosts/Aliens, Trey Hamburger's supernatural comedy novel, and will develop as both a series and feature. - The Hollywood Reporter
Steve Carell will star in and produce the comedy Hi-T, about a man dealing with uncontrollable mood swings after an injury forces him to take testosterone injections. - ComingSoon
Universal is finalizing a deal for The Adjustment Bureau, a "contemporary love story with sci-fi overtones" that may feature Matt Damon in the lead role. - Variety
U2 is on track to score its seventh no. 1 album next week on the Billboard 200 chart with No Line On the Horizon. - Billboard
Bravo has renewed Shear Genius and picked up a series about fashion photographers. - TV Week
20th Century Fox has signed director Tom Dey to develop a big screen adaptation of the Marmaduke comic strip. - ComingSoon
Jackie Earle Haley has been tapped to star alongside Chi McBride in Fox's drama pilot Human Target, based on the DC Comics title. - The Hollywood Reporter

Source

Brittany Snow Cast as Lily in Gossip Girl Spinoff

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:30:16 -0800

Casting rumors about the new Gossip Girl spinoff swirled earlier today and now we've got some confirmation: Brittany Snow has been offered the role of young Lily!

We already knew Krysten Ritter would be playing her older sister, and in addition to finding Lily, the show's creators also cast Shiloh Fernandez as Owen, "a hot Valley punk guy with a caustic wit." Here's a new rundown of the show's plot from The Hollywood Reporter:

Overnight, Lily has to transition from a life of luxury and education at a wealthy Montecito boarding school to living deep in the San Fernando Valley she once made fun of and going to public school. Caught between two worlds, Lily dives into the fast-paced Sunset Strip and the Hollywood lifestyle of the '80s, journeying over the hill to a world of wealth and excess that used to be her own.

I enjoyed Snow on American Dreams, and I'm going to keep an open mind about her in this role, but I want to hear from you - is Snow the right fit? Can you picture her as an '80s wild child in Los Angeles? We'll get our first look at her in the role during a special Gossip Girl episode May 11 - which, incidentally, will also feature No Doubt.

Source

Josh Schwartz Spills Secrets on the Gossip Girl Spinoff

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:30:13 -0800

I was full of questions after hearing that Gossip Girl's long-rumored spinoff was going to be focused on young Lily - so it was a pleasant surprise to see the gossip guy himself, executive producer Josh Schwartz, turn up at NBC's TCA party on Thursday night. Read on to find out what I learned:

Pay attention to the next-to-last episode of Gossip Girl this season. That's when the spinoff characters will be introduced, Schwartz said. "It'll be flashbacks that will sort of illustrate a crisis. It will resonate thematically with something that will be happening inside that episode."
They're seeking the actress to play young Lily. "We're starting now," he said. "We have a couple months."
They didn't necessarily want to do a spinoff at all - until they hit on this idea. "We talked about The It Girl, the book series that is a spinoff, but for me and Stephanie [Savage, also an executive producer], to do another teen drama . . . we needed something that was going to inspire us. We started talking like, 'What if we did this?' and that got us really excited."
Yes, versions of Lily and other characters could be in both shows at once. "We can introduce characters on the spinoff and then they can show up in the present, and vice versa, and the two things can kind of inform each other," Schwartz said.

To hear about the fashion, the music, and why Lily's a character worth exploring, just read more.

Lily was compelling because it was his way into writing about the '80s. "She was my DeLorean," he said. "She was my phone booth."
Wipe those visions of bad '80s fashion out of your head. "Stephanie is the fashion guru, and the stuff that she and [costume designer] Eric Daman have done for Gossip Girl I think is really influential and impactful. . . Eric is going to do the new show as well, so you know the clothes are going to be great.
And the music is going to rock. "Our goal is going to be to dig up under a couple of rocks maybe some songs you haven't heard in other '80s kinds of things and find some forgotten gems as well as stuff that you love," Schwartz said. "Some songs are still great no matter how many times you hear them, and we definitely don't want to shy away from those, but we all are also interested in finding music that maybe you forgot about or never even heard. And there's a whole generation of viewers, Gossip Girl viewers, who I think this music - this whole world, this decade - will be largely new to."

Source

Gossip Girl Spinoff News: It's All About Lily!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:26:15 -0800

OK, this news is blowing my dome on so many levels. First of all, the news itself:

After months of gossip and speculation, [Gossip Girl] creators/exec producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are proceeding with a spinoff that will serve as a prequel to the hot sophomore drama and chronicle the wild teen years of Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford) in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

So. . .

Now we know it is all about young Lily, which is fine by me. Schwartz said he didn't want to "upset the chemistry" of the current cast and I think that's smart.
L.A. in the '80s?! Yeah!
Schwartz says he is also "inspired by the opportunity to tell overlapping stories and introduce characters that will appear in the past and the present - and hopefully enrich both shows," which is so time-warpy and kind of fun. Think of the possibilities! If we meet Lily's first boyfriend in the spin-off, say, he can show up on Gossip Girl later to wreak havoc. That's some synergy, folks, and I like it.

How do you feel about this? Good news? Bad news? Do you wish another character were getting the spinoff instead?

Photos courtesy of The CW