Gossip Girl: The Biggest Differences Between The Original & Reboot

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage’s Gossip Girl achieved cult status in its first, iconic run from 2007-2012. The team, along with writer, producer and now showrunner Joshua Safran, decided to bring back the magic of the show in 2021 with a new rebooted version. While the ubiquitous blogger is still tracking the lives of Upper East Side’s wealthy teenagers, that is pretty much where the similarities between the two shows end.

After close to a decade, it comes as no surprise that several things would change in the Gossip Girl reboot. Aside from the fresh gang, the tonality of the show and the personalities of the new kids on the block are quite different from Blair, Serena, Chuck, Dan, and Nate’s era. Plenty of other things stand out as markedly different from the original show too.

9 The Diversity In Cast And Characters

The original show had a primarily straight and white cast of characters with the exception of a few side ones, like Vanessa and Nelly Yuki. The reboot changes this with much more diverse representation that viewers will be able to relate to.

Members of the principal cast Jordan Alexander, Whitney Peak, and Evan Mock are talented POC actors who play Julien Calloway, Zoya Lott, and Aki Menzies – some of the best characters of the reboot. Transgender actress Zión Moreno stars Luna La, the show’s first trans character, and Thomas Doherty plays Max Wolfe who identifies as pansexual. These additions to the cast bring some much-needed diversity to a series that was disctintly lacking in POC and LGBTQ+ representation.

8 The Characters’ Views On Wealth And Privilege

The new Gossip Girl made a significant change in the show by making the Gen-Z kids of Constance Billard and St. Jude’s a lot more tuned into the reality of their privilege. While this doesn’t stop them from partying hard, characters like Obie and Zoya are vocal about their backgrounds.

All in all, they’re a lot more socially aware than the original Queen B Blair, Serena, or Chuck ever were about their charmed lives. The original characters frequently took off in private jets to exotic locations, blew huge amounts of money on trivial things without a second thought, and amassed more wealth despite having so much of it already.

7 Gossip Girl’s Identity (And Its Reveal)

Perhaps the biggest plot twist and one of the many things that don’t make sense about Gossip Girl’s reboot is the revelation about GG’s new identity as well as the timing of it. Shockingly, the new incarnation of Gossip Girl was in fact teachers at Constance who stalked and exposed their students to make them fall in line, and this was revealed early on in the reboot’s run.

This was markedly different from how Dan’s identity as Gossip Girl was revealed right at the end of the original show, and whether audiences liked it or not, a student being behind the website was a lot more believable. The mystery and suspense that is key to the show is no more since GG’s identity was uncovered so early.

6 The Level Of Explicitness

Raising eyebrows, especially those of parents, is something that both versions of Gossip Girl do, but there is definitely a difference in the degree of explicitness and nudity in the two shows.

The original series aimed to shock with suggestive content and steamy scenes, but since it was on a television network, it still kept things PG – that’s not the case with HBO Max’s version. Being on a paid streaming platform gives the makers the ability to add a lot more gratuitous sex scenes as well as f-bombs, one of which includes cruising in a bath house.

5 The Depiction Of Social Media

In the age of SMS, Blackberrys, and long before Instagram, Dan’s GG website depicted a primitive form of social media that he used to uncover scandals, but also to out people’s sexuality against their will, talk about their sex lives, and generally harass them.

The reboot was developed firmly in the era of social media, and everybody already knows what everyone else is doing. So the original GG blog transformed into an Instagram account, and Gossip Girl tries to only reveal lies rather than humiliate people for their identities.

4 Gossip Girl’s Reach

Eagle-eyed viewers would realize a slight shift in Gossip Girl’s address to the audience — she no longer speaks to only the Upper East Side, and the students of Constance and St. Judes are not her only targets.

Kate Keller’s GG tells all about other schools in the city, and not only in the posh boroughs of Manhattan. This was mainly done to evade being caught, but it also shows that Gossip Girl is covering more ground because its far easier in the current digital age.

3 Increased Sensitivity Around Social Issues

It’s safe to say that 2007 was a different time, and the show reflected the lack of awareness in its writing and plot lines. Things that would be unacceptable today, like forcing someone out of the closet, publicly talking about someone’s first time having sex, and slut shaming each other was common on the original Gossip Girl, and representation of LGBTQ+ individuals was often tokenistic and superficial.

The show’s developers have changed this by handling social issues more sensitively and representing the queer community in the right light. The Gossip Girl reboot casts a spotlight on things like influencer and cancel culture, mental health, and other topics that the new generation is more keenly aware of today.

2 The Cattiness Between Teenagers

Blair and Serena were known for the frenemy relationship they shared, and Blair was no stranger to plotting, scheming, and taking people down. Serena also had her fair share of catty takedowns, as did Chuck, who didn’t let anybody stand in his way. The world of the original Gossip Girl was cutthroat, but the reboot scales this back somewhat.

The teens are a lot more mature and even if they rat each other out, it usually ends with them realizing their mistake and apologizing. For example, Julien snitched on Zoya multiple times in the reboot, but she always made up with her sister in the end. Sorry was much harder to come by in the era of Blair, Serena, and co.

1 The Fashion

Fashion has always been a big part of the show, and the Gossip Girl reboot features some incredible outfits. Both versions of the show take pride in showing off the character’s unique styles, but the fashions in both are reflective of the era in which they were made. The original students of Constance and St. Jude’s had closets full of colorful leggings, ballet flats, massive bags and tons of headbands.

Athleisure, thrifted vintage clothing, androgynous fashion, cycling shorts, and sneakers dominate the Gossip Girl reboot since those are currently trending styles. While fashion is key in both, the differing styles is one of the most noticeable distinctions between the two shows.

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