The Remote Island : penn badgley

"Gossip Girl": Schmutz Happens

Lindy Parker — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Good morning Upper East Siders -- good to have you back. This week's episode starts with Blair's Yale rejection tension manifesting itself in Audrey Hepburn-themed anxiety dreams, which at first we thought were going to be lame, but when Blair played Eliza Doolittle both pre and post makeover, we were totally on board.

Meanwhile, Serena's back from Spain and predictably Chuck already has a lead on whatever crazy shenanigans she got up to in the land of Cervantes...

In other news, Cyrus's "schmutz happens" apron is maybe the best thing we've ever seen in our lives. Really, he's well on his way to being our favorite character on the show. Even though he's hard at work preparing the passover Seder, he's never too busy to show concern for Blair's self-destructive existence. Despite her assertions that a socialite's life is her chosen path, Cyrus encourages her to keep her options open and at least meet with his contact at NYU -- a contact, incidentally, whose life he saved in 'Nam. Yes, 'Nam. Blair flounces off to find Nate, just as Serena crashes the party to enlist Cyrus's legal advice on the aforementioned Spanish shenanigans.

Nate got into Columbia, and is now seriously considering bailing on Yale. Nate's grandfather isn't about to have one of his own progeny sullied by the unsavory halls of Columbia -- the horror -- which leaves us to wonder what he would have done if Nate had gone with his initial impulse and chosen -- gasp! -- USC. In order to ensure that Nate stays on the straight and narrow, Grandpa Vanderbilt strikes a bargain with Blair to facilitate her Jackie-O climb to social greatness if she'll convince Nate to attend Yale.

Back in Brooklyn, Jenny's taken up with some cardigan-wearing youth named Wes, who despite an unfortunate haircut, holds the key to Dan's college tuition -- a gig with his mother's catering business.

Turns out Dan's first catering job is at the Waldorf-Rose Seder, although mercifully the dinner is Blair-free -- she's got bigger lamb bones to roast at the Vanderbilt wedding rehearsal dinner. However, no sooner has Dan agreed to the illustrious position of Seder cater waiter at an event that both his father and his ex-girl's mother will be attending, then Serena shows up and adds insult to injury by confessing that she married a random stranger in Spain.

Tragically, before Cyrus can light the Seder candles, who should show up at the door but Serena's betrothed Spaniard. Inexplicably, Serena decides that the best way to break the news of their impending annulment is to tell the Spaniard that she's still in love with Dan. The sight of Dan and Serena semi-feigning amor at the Seder table nearly drives Rufus to the drink.

Sidenote: this week in WTF, Chuck's sleeping with a ballerina. What happened to Vanessa?

Back at the rehearsal dinner, Nate's causing yet another scene at a Vanderbilt get together by taking his grandfather to task for all his underhanded ways (i.e. having Nate's shady father hauled off to prison and bribing Blair into selling Nate's college dreams for a bridesmaid dress). Good news: Nate's impassioned speech inspires an appearance by Blair's conscience. Bad news: Up until this moment, we'd forgotten that we're supposed to refer to Nate's father as "the Captain."

Pause for a word from our sponsor in which we high five our friend at the sight of the Fighting trailer. We feel like Channing Tatum is from the Mark Wahlberg school of acting -- a pretty boy who's still believable as a badass.

After a triumphant exit from the rehearsal dinner, Nate confronts Blair about the whole ruthless social climbing debacle, and we wonder why Josh Schwartz is bothering to drag us through this whole Blair/Nate charade when we all know Blair belongs with Chuck. Nate storms off to the Van Der Woodsen's to whine to Chuck about Blair, which has to be the weirdest bro talk ever featured on this show. Apparently, growing a conscience is going around, because Chuck gives a Nate a pep talk, sends him back to Blair, and then, since one good deed deserves another, Chuck finishes the night by apologizing to Jenny for the attempted rape of season one. God, we love Chuck Bass.

Good news all around: Dan sucked as a waiter, but Rufus is selling the gallery to pay for Yale. Our reaction: Woo hoo! Go back to being a rockstar!

Lily gives Serena one of her patented parental guidance sessions that always seem to end with her encouraging Serena to throw herself on some guy. Serena takes her at her word and before we know it, OMG, Serena's making out with the Spaniard on the street corner. How old is this guy? Luckily, Blair interrupts the kiss with the BFF trump card, but no sooner has the Spaniard scurried off home, then Nate shows up at Blair's door to kiss and make up.

Cue the ominous music as the episode winds to a close: The Spaniard is in cahoots with celebutante Poppy Liption and it doesn't bode well for Serena. We always knew that Louise Brooks haircut looked sinister.

Previously:

Gossip Girl Spoilers: Blair Picks a College? [VIDEO]

Gossip Girl: The Grandaddy of Social Hangovers

Tonight's Gossip Girl SPOILERS: The Grandfather

Gossip Girl: Like Kissing Your Teacher

Should Brittany Snow Play "Lily" in "Gossip Girl" Spin-off?

Lindy Parker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:20:00 GMT

Let's take a vote, Gossip Girl fans. Who think's Hairspray star, Brittany Snow, is a good choice to play the teenage Lily Van Der Woodsen in the upcoming Gossip Girl spinoff?

Here's our pro/con list to help you decide:

Pro: Inexplicably, we always find ourselves endeared to anyone who's been on a show with Joey Lawrence.

Con: Her John Tucker Must Die romance with Penn Badgley takes on a weirdly Oedipal quality:

Pro: Her freakishly long toes lend themselves to unusual sexploits of which we can easily believe Lily capable...

Con: We don't really picture the teenage Lily with a Minnie Mouse voice.

Pro: There's a possibility (albeit remote) that Vin Diesel will make a guest appearance...

Previously:

The Gossip Girl Spinoff Will Be Set In the 80's?

"Gossip Girl" Stars Say No to John McCain

Lindy Parker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Penn Badgley and Blake Lively are rocking the vote, but in a funny way. The CW's golden couple have joined the fight to help elect Barack Obama to the presidency by appearing in an anti-McCain public service announcement produced by mccainfreewhitehouse.org and directed by Doug Liman. The ad features the Gossip Girl stars encouraging kids to "talk to their parents about the dangers of McCain." We've got to admit, we're amused. And, to be honest, we're not above wanting the Gossip Girl cast to use their celebrity power to brainwash kids into voting their way.

Here's the ad:

Everybody's Worried About the Skinny Girls of "90210"

Ben Kallen — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:25:00 GMT

When the cast of Gossip Girl calls you too thin, you've really got a problem.

But they're not the only ones. Suddenly everyone seems to be worried that the young female stars of the new 90210 are setting an unhealthy example for the show's teen audience.

Let's take a look at what they're all saying:

First on the bandwagon was US Weekly, with a cover story that claimed stars Shenae Grimes (who plays smiley Kansas transplant Annie) and Jessica Stroup (who plays punky "Silver") "are so thin that show producers and costars are poised to take action."

According to the article: " 'They are trying too hard to be skinny, and it's started to wear on them. It's just not healthy,' says a source. 'I've never seen Jessica or Shenae eat,' says another.... So shocking is the situation that their 90210 male costars are contemplating an intervention.... 'The girls were all skinny when they started, but they're definitely thinner now.' "

Our take: It sounds pretty bad, Of course, the story would be more convincing if it didn't come linked to another article in the same issue of US about how great it is that stars like Mariah Carey and Jennifer Love Hewitt have lost a lot of weight. Lesson to the young girls out there: No matter how much you weigh, it's wrong.

Next, Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog weighed in with an article that partly blames the CW network for the problem, because they allegedly follow a "thin is in" philosophy:

"One casting agent who works frequently with The CW turns a critical eye on the network itself. 'I know in discussions at ABC and CBS that too skinny is no good. They talk about it as a minus point,' says the agent. 'But at The CW it's a different story. They're trying to pull in the Gossip Girl audience and that's the image: hyper-skinny models.' "

In the same article, a publicist for AnnaLynne McCord, the actress who plays mean girl Naomi and who has also been cited for excessive thinness, insists that she eats anything she wants.

Our take: If the network casts actresses who are naturally thin, that doesn't necessarily mean they're unhealthy -- but viewers might still practice unhealthy eating habits trying to emulate them.

Last but not least, even actor Penn Badgley of the CW's Gossip Girl chimed in on the bony-beauty controversy. According to the entertainment blog PopEater:

"He's heard the swirl about the show's skinny starlets, and [says] that he's 'never been proponent of the thin L.A. girls.' He goes on to tell us that he thinks it's 'healthy' that the females on Gossip Girl 'aren't bone-thin.' He also has solid advice for the 90210 gals: 'I hope they eat a double cheeseburger or something.' "

Our take: Thanks, Penn, that's really helpful! Now if your own show would stop teaching kids they have to be rich to be happy, we're sure everything will work out fine.

Previously:
90210: Bowling for Dollars
Are the CW's Ultra-Rich Kids Destroying Our Nation's Youth?

Does "Gossip Girl" Hate Blake Lively?

Ben Kallen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:20:00 GMT

Look, we get it: In a scene on last night's Gossip Girl, Serena was trying to sex up Dan by seductively eating a chocolate-covered strawberry she just happened to have with her on the Hamptons Jitney. But guess what? It's not so sexy when it's a humongous strawberry, especially when you film someone struggling to eat one in a tight shot from the side. We happen to think Blake Lively's very pretty, but this closeup of her is one of the most unattractive images of an attractive person we've ever seen.

Where's this poor woman's agent? In the future, maybe she should be like Johnny Drama in the season premiere of Entourage, and refuse to be photographed from that side... while eating, anyway.

Screenshots: TheRemoteIsland.com, from the CW

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