HBO Max’s reboot of classic CW teen drama series Gossip Girl started off reasonably strong, both in terms of reviews and ratings, but it has since struggled in areas where the original show succeeded by taking on serious issues that it’s not necessarily equipped to handle and by putting the reins of the eponymous secret-slipping persona in morally dubious hands. But nobody should ever underestimate the appeal of brag-worthy ratings! An HBO Max press release says the series had “record viewership” in its first weekend and “took over Twitter in the No. 1 trending spot” in addition to “5.2 billion impressions from content inspired by the series on TikTok.” That’s all pretty much meaningless, but HBO Max believes it’s brag-worthy at least, and that’s why the streaming service has announced that it has renewed the Gossip Girl reboot for a second season.
The new series stars Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zion Moreno, Whitney Peak, and Savannah Lee Smith. That first season’s first half premiered over the summer, and the final six episodes are coming in November. That means this renewal decision probably did just come down to those exciting TikTok numbers and other quantifiable metrics for how much “buzz” something is getting. Say what you will about its storylines and how it’s tackling modern social issues, but the new Gossip Girl is certainly buzzy. It remains to be seen if that will translate to even higher TikTok numbers (or better reviews) when this first season ends and season two comes around, but for now, HBO Max is clearly happy to just keep hitting the “more Gossip Girl” button down in the content factories.
There’s no word on when season two will premiere, but the smart money is on “some time next summer,” since that’s usually how TV works.