Summary

  • The Gossip Girl reboot was canceled by HBO after two seasons, and despite efforts to find a new home, it seems unlikely season 3 will happen.
  • The reboot received mixed and negative reactions from audiences and poor critical reviews, with a 38% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for the first season.
  • While the reboot introduced diversity and explored unique relationship dynamics, it failed to capture the appeal of the original show.

HBO Max's Gossip Girl reveal was that it was Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), the reboot let audiences in on who Gossip Girl was instantly: the teachers at Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys.

In season 1, the Gossip Girl reboot mainly followed popular influencer, Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander), and Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak), a scholarship student who's also Julien's half-sister. Additionally, the show featured six other protagonists. The storylines were vast and filled with drama, much like the original, with Julien and Zoya's rivalry taking up much of its narrative. Gossip Girl season 2 thickened the plot further, with Julien secretly working with Gossip Girl — though this twist wasn't enough to earn the reboot a third season.

The Gossip Girl Reboot Was Canceled By HBO

With all the Gossip Girl reboot's backstabbing and drama, the show theoretically had the makings to pay homage to the original. However, the Gossip Girl reboot was canceled by HBO in January 2023. Although showrunner Joshua Safran didn't state that the show is indefinitely finished in his Instagram announcement, he revealed that its time with HBO had come to an end. Safran wrote, "We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill [battle], and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs."

As no other streaming services have picked up the show since, it's safe to assume Gossip Girl season 3 is off the table. Safran also expressed gratitude to the viewers and Gossip Girl fans for the show's run. Despite its cancelation, the reboot seemingly didn't part from HBO on bad . An HBO Max spokesperson expressed the company's thoughts on the departure in a statement saying, "Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl, we thank [Josh Safran, Stephanie Savage, and Josh Schwartz] for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing, and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience" (via EW).

Gossip Girl's Reboot Suffered From Poor Critical & Audience Reaction

Tavi Gevinson as Kate in the Gossip Girl reboot season 2 episode 1.

Despite the show rebooting a now-classic early 2000s TV drama, it fell short of living up to the original Gossip Girl. The first season saw negative reviews, receiving a 38% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 59% audience score. While the second season got better ratings, it had its narrative flaws. The lengths Kate went to in season 2 were too outrageous even for the scandalous world of Gossip Girl. An adult teacher spending almost all her time tormenting teenagers proved harder to excuse than a fellow student messing with Manhattan's elite.

While Gossip Girl's reboot had more diversity in of racial and LGBTQ+ representation — as well as more unique relationship dynamics — it still didn't match the original show's appeal. Even with references and callbacks to the original Gossip Girl, the Gossip Girl reboot ultimately got stunted after two seasons because it attempted to follow a beloved show with a lackluster and often problematic narrative arc.

Source: Instagram, EW, Rotten Tomatoes