HBO Max has canceled its Gossip Girl reboot after season 2. Joshua Safran’s standalone sequel to The CW’s wildly popular 2007 series of the same name began airing in July 2021, chronicling the story of a new clique of Manhattan teenagers as they are scrutinized under the watchful eye of the titular omniscient blogger, again voiced by Kristen Bell. While the reboot did not continue the story of the original show, legacy characters appeared and were frequently referenced. Gossip Girl season 2 premiered in December and is currently underway on HBO Max.
Now, a new report from Variety confirms that HBO Max has canceled Gossip Girl after two seasons.
The rationale behind the decision remains unclear, but the executives at HBO Max have acknowledged Safran’s efforts at reintroducing Gossip Girl to a new generation of audiences. The Gossip Girl season 2 finale, which airs January 26, will now serve as the series finale. Read what the spokesperson at HBO Max said about the show being canceled below:
“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.”
Why The Gossip Girl Reboot Never Achieved The Success Of Its Predecessor
The Gossip Girl cancelation is the latest causality at HBO Max in the wake of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Previously, the new parent company, in its attempt at cost-cutting, axed some fan-favorite shows at the service, including Raised by Wolves, Made for Love, and Love Life, while also pulling original HBO content like The Nevers and Westworld from its library. Earlier this month, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels indicated that after several months of cancelations, the content bloodbath at the media company was over. However, the streamer’s decision to cancel the Gossip Girl reboot raises some questions about whether that is true.
While Gossip Girl‘s cancelation is indeed heartbreaking, it can be argued that the show was never actually able to recreate the magic of the original series. When the show premiered, it was lambasted for its directionless drama and lack of ambition. However, the critical reception increased in season 2 due to a reshuffling within the status quo while the show embraced its flaws and allowed its characters to do the same. The character Georgina Sparks’ return from the original Gossip Girl was widely celebrated, and the viewership numbers seemed fairly strong. Still, many continue to see the reboot as an inferior version to the original, meaning that the show was not really able to make the same impact as the 2007 series.
However divisive, the cancelation of the Gossip Girl reboot will leave many disappointed. The pain of the decision could be felt even more if the season 2 finale ends with a twisty cliffhanger rather than offering closure. However, while this certainly isn’t easy news, there is the possibility that Gossip Girl could end up finding a new home elsewhere. Starz recently picked up Minx season 2, which HBO Max had unrenewed, so it’s possible that it could do the same for Gossip Girl, considering the series’ popularity and the franchise’s legacy. At the moment, the creators of the show have mentioned that they are searching for a new platform for the show, but as they themselves acknowledge, in this cutthroat atmosphere it could be reasonably difficult to get season 3 ordered elsewhere.
Source: Variety
