On Monday, HBO Max unveiled their streaming numbers for Gossip Girl as the reboot of the 00s’ series has already shattered records at the streaming service. With 555,000 U.S. views per household, Gossip Girl has become HBO Max’s “most-watched original series over the first weekend of availability” (Deadline).
While 555,000 views may not seem overwhelming, compared to other lofty numbers often released by streaming services, the measure of Gossip Girl’s premiere success can be found across social media. Fittingly, a series that addresses social media, Gossip Girl remained the number one trending topic on Twitter the day of its premiere. Deadline provided an even more staggering measure of the series impact as “around 15 billion impressions of content inspired by the series” appeared on TikTok in the wake of its premiere.
Gossip Girl’s premiere episode – “Just Another Girl on MTA” – arrived last Thursday, with five more episodes left in the series first half. The second half of Gossip Girls’ debut season will arrive on the streamer in the fall. Deadline provides the series synopsis as “a new generation of New York private school teens is introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl.”
Despite the new, Gen Z makeover given to the franchise, teen drama alum Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, The Good Place) returns to lend her voice to this rendition of the omnipresent Instagram account of Gossip Girl. Aside from Bell, the series boasts an ensemble of fresh talent including Jordan Alexander (Sacred Lies, Unbury the Biscuit), Thomas Doherty (Descendants 2, Legacies), Tavi Gevinson (Enough Said, Person to Person), Emily Alyn Lind (Revenge, Doctor Sleep), Zion Moreno (Control Z), Whitney Peak (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Home Before Dark), Eli Brown (Run Hide Fight, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists), Adam Chanler-Berat (Delivery Man, It Could Be Worse), Johnathan Fernandez (Lethal Weapon, Younger), Jason Gotay (Peter Pan Live!) and newcomers Savannah Lee Smith and Evan Mock.
If the momentum Gossip Girl has already gained continues as the series rolls out its weekly installments, that would be welcome news for both HBO MAX and series showrunner Joshua Safran (Smash, Quantico). Harper’s Bazaar cites that Safran has already planned out the broad strokes of the series through season 5, at which point he says the characters would head-off to college.
Gossip Girl’s record-breaking premiere at HBO Max and tidal wave of fanaticism over social media, particularly TikTok, is certainly a step in the right direction toward ensuring the reboot’s longevity. The second episode – “She’s Having a Maybe” – premieres on HBO Max today, with all future installments of Gossip Girl’s part one dropping on the platform on Thursdays.