Fall TV Blog

After plenty of vague references and a mysterious letter, reps from the CW confirm to PEOPLE that actor William Baldwin will play Blake Lively’s estranged father on Gossip Girl.

Baldwin, 46, will guest-star as William van der Woodsen beginning with an episode to air April 26. Manhattan’s Upper East Siders (and audiences) will finally find out the reasons why he abandoned his two children, played by Lively and Connor Paolo.

“I’m very excited,” Paolo told PEOPLE Wednesday on the set of Gossip Girl in New York City about working with his onscreen dad. “I have a great amount of love for all the Baldwins. We work closely with Mr. Alec [Baldwin] and the cast of 30 Rock [at Silvercup Studios], so I’m very excited to get to work with another Baldwin.” (more…)

Singer Adam Lambert took to Twitter Thursday night to quash reports claiming he’ll soon be appearing on Glee: “Glee guest star rumor: it’s a rumor. Sorry guys,” he wrote. But the American Idol alum still is keen to take to the small screen. “If I had to pick a show to guest star on I’d loooooooove to be on True Blood. Or Weeds…Oh yeah. I’d love to be on Gossip Girl too! Leighton [Meester] is amazing. I should be Blair’s shopping buddy. Hahah.”

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Andrew McCarthy, the star of some of the most iconic teen movies of the ’80s (Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero), is getting back to his roots by taking on the CW’s sexy drama, Gossip Girl.

McCarthy, who will direct an episode set to air in the spring, says the show’s young stars are different than the ones who came to be known as the Brat Pack. “They are much more savvy than we were,” McCarthy tells PEOPLE of Gossip Girl’s cast. “We were just a bunch of dumb kids running around.”

And while his experience in teen angst didn’t include threesomes or affairs with politicians, McCarthy, a Gossip Girl fan, is excited to get behind the camera to direct the steamy show. “We have a nice episode, all sorts of juicy little things happen — the normal Gossip Girl juicy things,” McCarthy tells PEOPLE of the episode he directs. So what exactly qualifies as “juicy” in the world of Gossip Girl?

“I can’t give you much,” says a tight-lipped McCarthy. “Except, there is a 9 1/2 Weeks kind of thing going on in one story line,” he says, referring to the 1986 drama starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger that chronicled an erotic affair between an art gallery assistant (played by Basinger) and a wealthy business man (played by Rourke).

McCarthy’s episode isn’t scheduled to air until 2010, so until then all we can do is guess. Could Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) be continuing her affair with Trip Vanderbilt (Aaron Tveit)? Only time will tell! –Andrea DeSimone

Stephen Lovekin/Getty; Amy Sussman/Getty

When Lady Gaga planned an appearance on Gossip Girl, she had an idea of what she’d be wearing. But in true Gaga style, the end result was something of a spectacle.

“We discussed having a very flowy red dress,” she told PEOPLE on the set of the show after filming a performance of her new single, “Bad Romance.” “But [the dress] arrived today and it’s about 30-feet long! That was an adjustment. But nothing that I couldn’t handle.”

She can say that again: Gaga worked the epic garment in rehearsals, wowing the crew who watched her intently as she and her dancers put on a show.

“It’s a little bit more of a fashion montage,” she says of her performance on the show, which airs tonight (9 p.m. EST) on the CW. “It’s very performance art.” (more…)

With all the characters’ twisted — not to mention scandalous — relationships, Lady Gaga couldn’t have picked a better song to perform on Gossip Girl.

The pop star sings her new single, “Bad Romance,” at a private show arranged by Blair, who is trying to prove herself as a freshman at New York University this season, in an episode set to air Monday, Nov. 16 (9 p.m. EST) on the CW.

“My little sister is the hugest Gossip Girl fan ever,” Lady Gaga, who wears a 30 ft.-long dress for her performance, recently told PEOPLE.

For more on Lady Gaga’s visit to the Upper East Side world of Gossip Girl, check back to PEOPLE.com on Monday.

Gossip Girl’s much-hyped and much-criticized episode, which was touted and condemned for its racy threesome scene, aired Monday — and perhaps the most shocking thing about it was that wild child Chuck Bass was not involved!

Here’s how it all went down: Dan (Penn Badgley) and Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) were trying to convince his girlfriend and her roommate, Olivia Burke (Hilary Duff), to stick around New York University for an authentic college experience rather than return to the set of her vampire movie franchise. So, they decided to show her all of the fun to be had as a college co-ed, including frolicking in the fountain and playing rounds of Beer Pong, as prescribed by a local student rag. When all is said and done, they’ve completed all the tasks but one: to have a threesome.

After discussing their lack of experience in that area, Olivia makes her move, kissing Dan and then giving Vanessa a smooch. Then, Dan kisses Vanessa and that’s it! Well, almost. In the final scene of the episode, the three of them are asleep in the same bed. In scenes from next week’s episode, viewers were given a glimpse of the consequences of such a tryst. And let’s just say that starlets aren’t immune to jealousy!

Monty Brinton/CBS

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