My guilty pleasure...

I will freely admit that the one new show of the season that I enjoy is Gossip Girl. What type of show typifies a "guilty pleasure"?
1) A show that I am not too keen to tell other people that I watch/watched, which obviously accounts for the "guilty". See "The Hills", "Saved The Bell", "Teddy Ruxpin", or "Jem".
2) Recognition that the show is full of unbelievable coincidences, ridiculous setups, corny production, and a general sense that you would not find a lot of redeeming lessons from the episodes of the show. "The Hills" fits perfectly. So does "Jem". "Saved by the Bell" would have some moral messages, but let's be honest. The show was brutal. The only one that doesn't fit the bill is "Teddy Ruxpin" which I honestly found to be a first rate cartoon with a great driving story involving a search for these magical crystal shards. But the fact, that I am defending a show about a talking teddy bear and his caterpillar friend, puts it into the "guilty pleasure" category, because I really don't want to be going to bat for this show with the general populace.

So keeping the above criteria in mind, Gossip Girl fits the bill. The first episode presented a lot of the characters as downers, especially Serena who was moody and enigmatic because of all the secrets she was harbouring. After catching up on two more episodes last night, Serena has become one of my favourite characters on TV. She just has a natural charm around her and her goofiness, especially in yesterday's episode, is infectious. However there is a lot of ridiculousness in the storylines that puts this show in the "guilty pleasure" category:

This show is about high schoolers. Spoiled rotten high schoolers. Their lifestyles are so over the top. And they don't really act like high schoolers. In fact, I make myself think I am watching college kids, because it is a bit creepy watching high schoolers act this way and enjoy myself fully when watching the show.

Did I mention that these kids are all supposedly underage? How the heck do they get into a nightclub when the age limit is 21? Serena's brother manages to get in with the group and he looks like Aaron Carter, back when he was a cute little kid, not the bratty selfish Aaron Carter on their reality TV show (I will pretend that I didn't see one episode of "House of Carters").

Did I mention that these kids are underage? Yet I have a crush on Serena. Thank goodness she is played by an actress in her 20s (Blake Lively). I should also mention that this is just a harmless crush, like Serena-is-so-cool-I-have-a-crush-on-her crush. Again, this high school time frame is making it difficult for me to fully enjoy the show.

Every guy on this show has perfectly manicured eyebrows. It really creeps me out.

Chuck, owns the baseball that Babe Ruth supposedly called THE SHOT and he keeps it locked up in a drawer? That baseball would be priceless. It would be in a museum or in a safe. How the heck does a kid like Chuck even own something like that? And seeing Chuck in basketball gear, makes me buy-in that he can even dribble the ball? Puhleeze.

The most unrealistic part of the show? Dan's dad and Serena's mom used to have a thing for each other. Doesn't sound bad? Well Dan and Serena are dating. And last episode there were sparks flying between the single parents again. So what if Rufus (Dan's dad possessing the worst name ever) and Darla start dating again? Or get married? That would mean Dan would be dating his sister!! And then to top it all off, the show has hinted at a romantic connection between Dan's younger sister and Serena's younger brother. Which would mean the ENTIRE family would be dating the other family. Not right.

A minor quibble is that with all of the blazers that the kids are wearing, along with their scarf ensembles, I half expect to see Harry Potter and friends to stroll past the camera.

Even still I find the show very watchable. The romance between Dan and Serena is actually kind of cute and the actress that plays Blair, Leighton Meester, managed to add a bit of depth in the modelling episode, which went beyond her bitchy bossy personality. Even creepy Chuck, managed to show some redeeming qualities by saving his buddy Nate from a swindle.

This show will probably last, because it is on CW. What shows exist on CW now? OC Creator Josh Schwartz has produced two guilty pleasures for this new TV season to replace the departure of the OC for me. This show, Gossip Girl and Chuck are two shows that are all over the place at times, but ones that I do enjoy watching. We'll see how they pan out, but for now I will be watching both of them.

Last quibble... Kristen Bell's narration which ends off with "XOXO Gossip Girl" is a stupid ending. What's with all the narration in all the shows these days? It just doesn't work for this show as opposed to something like Pushing Daisies.

XOXO

Gossip guy