Pop Vultures

Today is, of course, a holiday in the US, and I don’t mean that obscure holiday known as “Labor Day.” Hell, most people can’t even say exactly what is being celebrated. However, any TV fan knows that today is the start of the new fall season, and that is definitely cause for celebration.

While there are several news shows on tonight, it’s not the new Prison Break or One Tree Hill that have me so excited. Prison Break is so far past its prime that it has acquired the television version of arthritis, and whatever happens on One Tree Hill is sure to be silly and completely implausible. I’ll still watch them, of course, because I am a shameless television addict, but they’re not good enough reasons to welcome fall’s return of rain and dark days. However, Gossip Girl is also back on the air tonight, and that’s cause for a party.

Gossip Girl has come a long way from its first episodes at this time last year. It was a silly teen soap then, and it’s a silly teen soap now, but this year it seems to have settled into its skin a bit more. I’ve been lucky enough to see the first three episodes, and I’m happy to report that the show picks up right where it left off.

Last year, the show started slowly, introducing characters and building relationships that we didn’t really care about. It was rather hard to care about Blair’s desperate attempts to keep Nate when it was obvious to everyone, up to and including my mother, my cats, and the dust bunnies hiding under my sofa, that he wasn’t nearly good enough for her delicious self. It took a while for the show to establish the chemistry between the various characters and to find the right pacing for the various plot twists and turns.

Season two, however, seems to have figured it all out quite nicely. The show relies on the fact that we know the characters well enough that we don’t need any more dreadful devices like “Serena’s brother attempted suicide!” to help us warm to them. While the show originally tried to balance on the line between soap and drama, this year it’s lurched far over to the soap opera side while still keeping one dainty pinky toe on the drama side to help ground it. In other words, the show is just damn fun.

It was awfully fun before, watching the social machinations of these Upper East Siders within the microcosm of their high school, but it’s even more fun when they add gigolos, blackmail, and preposterous English lords. It’s over the top and completely unbelievable, but it makes for some seriously good television. Still, what sets it apart from other teen soaps is the consistency of the characters. Unlike One Tree Hill, which asks its leads to completely change their personalities to match whatever plotline the writers throw at them, the Gossip Girl leads remain constant, with time revealing complexity rather than contradictions. This elevates the show beyond its teen soap brethren. Plus, the dialogue is genuinely witty. I may feel dirty for watching OTH, but I look forward to each new episode of Gossip Girl. In fact, after watching the first three episodes, I’m a bit grumpy that there are only 19 left this year, and that’s a pretty good sign that the show’s on the right track.

Anyone else skipping the Labor Day bbq to watch Gossip Girl? Which characters will keep you tuning in week after week?