Fall TV Blog

Gossip Girl is at it again!

The CW show, which has created buzz before by pushing the envelope with its racy promos and storylines, is crossing a line, according to a television watchdog group.

The Parents Television Council is upset about an upcoming scene in an episode scheduled to air Monday (9 p.m. EST) that contains a storyline in which characters have a threesome.

Calling the scene “reckless and irresponsible,” Parents Television Council President Tim Winter released a statement Wednesday asking CW affiliate stations not to air the episode. (more…)

What’s a new NYU student to do when she’s no longer queen bee? Work her connections to get Lady Gaga to play a private show, of course! That’s what Blair (Leighton Meester) does in an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl set to air Nov. 16.

PEOPLE was on set while the pop star filmed her performance — set to her new single, “Bad Romance.”

“My little sister is the hugest Gossip Girl fan ever,” Gaga (with Penn Badgley and Meester) tells PEOPLE.

For more on her thoughts on the show — and what it was like to perform in a 30 ft.-long stage dress — check back with People.com on Nov. 16.

Gossip Girl airs Mondays (9 p.m. EST) on the CW. –Rennie Dyball

Giovanni Rufino/The CW

Well, this is bound to cause a scandal — or at least a few OMGs!

According to EW.com, Gossip Girl’s Nov. 9 episode will feature a sex romp with three — count ‘em, three! — characters at the same time.

The report did not reveal which three characters would participate in the scene, though it does let slip that the ménage à trois will take place in a bed. (That’s right! In a bed!) It also had some possible combinations for the lusty event, but did not divulge who gets in whose pants.

Our bets are on the femme fatale Blair luring bad boy Chuck into the sack with gay NYU grad Josh. We know the guys are going to kiss, afterall.

Where’s Mr. Furley to put a stop to this hippie free-love nonsense when you need him? –Michael Y. Park

Tell us: Who do you think will be involved in Gossip Girl’s scandalous scene? And what will the misbehaving college kids do next?

Larry Busacca/WireImage

Tyra Banks in a tiara! What better way for the model and mogul to appear on Gossip Girl in an episode airing Monday.

Her role is that of Ursula Nyquist, an award-winning actress looking to offset some negative personal press by playing a real-life heroine — American-born French stage star Josephine Baker — in an Oscar-worthy movie about the French Resistance during World War II.

“The people at Gossip Girl tell me I set a Gossip Girl hair change record. I had SEVEN hair changes, every single scene you see is some new hair on my head,” says Banks, who also plans to talk about her role on the episode during Monday’s Tyra Show.

According to press materials about Banks’s appearance, the fate of Ursula’s career ends up in the hands of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively). You’re in good hands, Ursula. – Stephen M. Silverman

On the season 3 premiere of Gossip Girl, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) gave Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) some advice on dating on the Upper East Side.

“Sleeping with the enemy is hot,” he said, advising Nate to call Bree Buckley, played by Joanna Garcia, whose family are rivals to the Archibalds. “Why do you think I have the whole Ivanka thing?”

Well, it turns out Ivanka Trump has a thing of her own for Chuck Bass.

“Gossip Girl is my guilty pleasure. I’m addicted to it!” the real-life socialite and daughter to Donald Trump tells PEOPLE. “I have to confess I have a ‘thing’ for Chuck Bass myself.”

But what does Ivanka, who is engaged to New York City publisher Jared Kushner, think of Chuck’s line? “Despite the tawdry implications,” she says, “having your television crush reciprocate is definitely flattering.”

Gossip Girl airs Mondays (9 p.m. EST) on the CW.

Tell us: What did you think of the first episode of the new season? What are your predictions for Nate and Bree?

Just when you thought they couldn’t get any more glamorous, the cast of Gossip Girl — (top row, from left) Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, Penn Badgley, Jessica Szohr and (bottom row, from left) Leighton Meester, Blake Lively and Chace Crawford — vamp it up in an exclusive season 3 cast photo. The show returns tonight to the CW (9 p.m. EST).

Watch an exclusive clip from tonight’s show!

Tell us: Are you excited for the season premiere? What are your predictions for Blair, Nate, Dan, Serena and Chuck?

The CW

When Gossip Girl’s Joanna Garcia needs a sexy inspiration, she doesn’t look further than her costar Chace Crawford.

“This role is a little bit of a departure for me because I’m used to playing characters in funny roles,” Garcia told PEOPLE at the launch of the Gossip Girl-inspired Anna Sui for Target line Thursday. “This is a lot sexier, so it’s definitely nice to have a good partner in my scenes to make me feel sexy and desirable.”

Garcia, 30, will play Nate’s on-screen love interest Bree for four episodes in the upcoming fall season, which premieres Monday on the CW (9 p.m. EST).

Of kissing Crawford, Garcia says, “It’s everything you could imagine and more.” But, she points out, Crawford is even more gorgeous “when you get to know him.”

“He’s such a nice guy and a total dude,” Garcia told PEOPLE. “He’s ready to have a cocktail and kick back and watch sports. And as beautiful as he is on the outside, he’s ten times more beautiful on the inside.”

Does she have anything to say to the millions of jealous fans who wish they could be in her place? “They’re always asking me what it’s like [to kiss Chace],” Garcia says. “And I’m like, ‘Well, it’s not like I slip my tongue down his throat every day.’”

Giovanni Rufino/The CW

In a new clip of the season premiere of Gossip Girl, Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), who’s headed to college at Brown, is spotted slipping away from her summer fling, Carter (Sebastian Stan).

How does she do it? By staging a photo op for waiting paparazzi, of course. Well done for our young starlet! Gossip Girl returns to the CW Monday (9 p.m. EST).

For more Gossip Girl scoops — including more on Carter and Serena — check out our gallery of Gossip Girl season 3 spoilers.

Tell us: Which Gossip Girl character did you miss the most?

The big gossip about Gossip Girl this week? That Ed Westwick is filming an episode in which his character, Chuck Bass, kisses another man.

Up-and-coming actor Neal Bledsoe plays the object of Bass’s affection, EW.com reports.

Bledsoe reportedly plays an NYU administrator who is looking for a student to give the freshman speech. Leighton Meester’s character, Blair Waldorf, reportedly sets Bass up with him to boost her chances at getting the gig.

The Chuck Bass character had flings with men and women in the Gossip Girl books by Cecily von Ziegesar, but this will be his first gay encounter on the show.
– Tim Nudd

Giovanni Rufino/THE CW

She’s the new kid on the Gossip Girl block, but Hilary Duff says the star-studded cast is making her feel right at home.

“Everyone’s been really, really gracious to me and sweet to me,” Duff told reporters Thursday night at a NYC celebration for Charlotte Ronson’s I “Heart” Ronson collection for JCPenney.

Duff reportedly will play Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrolls at New York University and rooms with Jessica Szohr’s character, Vanessa.

“I’m a huge fan of the show. They called me and said come on and do a few episodes. I jumped at the chance,” she said on the red carpet outside the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Due to a packed summer schedule, Duff — who recently returned from Columbia, where she distributed food to poor children through the charity Blessings in a Backpack — says she hasn’t hung out personally with the GG cast much yet, but has enjoyed spending time with them on-set.

“Blake [Lively] and Penn [Badgley] are really amazing. She’s been so so sweet to me,” she said, when asked about the real-life couple. “And I’ve known him for a few years. We’ve kind of lived in the same neighborhood in L.A., just growing up.”

Another first-timer joining her on the Gossip Girl set this season: Tyra Banks, who will play actress Ursula whose roles include cultural icon Josephine Baker.

“It was fun to work with her in a different atmosphere than appearing on her show,” Duff told reporters. “She looked beautiful and did a really great job. She had the flat hair that squiggles on her forehead. Very flapper-ish!” –Laura Hahn

Donna Ward/ABACA