HBO Max has opted against ordering a third season of “Gossip Girl,” its reboot of The CW original series that made names of stars Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick and others.
During its two-season run, the updated series produced just 22 episodes, 12 of which were released during the show’s first season which debuted in July 2021 to mixed reviews despite breaking the record for the most-watched original series launch on the streaming service at the time. A second season was ordered a few months later and consisted of just ten episodes, the first two of which premiered on December 1 on the service. The planned season finale, which will now serve as the show’s series finale, will be released next week, Thursday, January 26, 2023.
The news of the show’s cancellation came earlier today via a post on Instagram by showrunner Joshua Safran, who said, “The EPs and I will forever be grateful to the network and studio for their faith and support; the writers for their devious brains and dexterous talent; the superstar cast for being the greatest of collaborators and friends; and the crew for their hard work, dedication and love for the project.
“This was honestly the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom. We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill bottle, and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs. Thank you for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo ps. A big thank you to all the GG fans around the world. You’re the reason we came back in the first place, and who knows, maybe the reason we will meet again.”
In a statement, a rep for HBO Max said, “We are very grateful to showrunner/executive producer Joshua Safran, and executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard. Although we are not moving forward with a third season of ‘Gossip Girl,’ we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience.”
According to Deadline, over the last several months, corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery has been cutting costs to meet financial goals by canceling several high-profile projects. However, the “Gossip Girl” cancellation is “not believed to be a financial decision but a result of the show not being able to break out the way HBO Max’s revival of another YA series, ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ has done, for instance.”
Photo by Barbara Nitke/HBO Max
The series starred Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zion Moreno, Whitney Peak, Savannah Lee Smith and Grace Duah. Michelle Trachtenberg guest starred as Georgina Sparks, a character who first appeared in the original series that wreaked havoc on the lives of the Upper East Siders.
In season two, it’s the second semester of Junior year, and Gossip Girl is leaving no stone unturned in her effort to control the scandalous lives/spin the scandalous lies of Manhattan’s elite. She’s learned a thing or two from her first go-round — namely what her audience wants, they shall get. It’s time for her to turn the heat up on what’s been simmering (Julien, have you met Monet?) and look at her impact and how she can make it more catastrophic than before. Even if that means lying to do it. Old enemies, new allies, constantly shifting sands — this semester, there can only be one queen, and by the end of the school year, everyone will know where the bodies are buried, and just who was holding the shovel.
“Gossip Girl” is produced by Fake Empire and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. The series is written, executive produced and developed by Joshua Safran of Random Acts. Executive producers also include Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage of Fake Empire, and Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo of Alloy Entertainment. Lis Rowinski of Fake Empire serves as co-executive producer.