It seems that no TV series is safe from cancellation these days, and if you get too attached to characters, their relationships and their arcs – the chances are you’ll be left hanging. It’s becoming more common for shows to be pulled before offering fans a finale that wraps up storylines. The latest victim of the cutthroat TV business is the Gossip Girl revival, which certainly did have a devoted fanbase, as many of these cancelled shows have done.
Showrunner Joshua Safran has now revealed that he was trying to get at least two characters back from the original Gossip Girl – which aired from 2007-2012. “We were initially trying to bring Nate back, and we just couldn’t make it work with the schedules because Chace shoots The Boys in Canada, and we shoot in New York,” Safran told TV Insider.
“We also wanted to bring back Eric because you hear Jonathan talking about being married to him, but Connor Paolo was shooting a movie, and unfortunately, we only had one day that we were allowed to shoot inside the museum, and he was shooting his movie on that one day. So, unfortunately, that couldn’t be either. It’s always scheduling that makes these things so difficult. But having Andy Cohen and having Matt Doyle back as Jonathan was incredibly fun.”
“We always wanted to bring back Nate and Blair [Leighton Meester]. I think those were the next two doors we would’ve knocked on, especially because we had tried with Chace to see if we could make it work,” he shared.
“And obviously, I think having Eleanor [Margaret Colin], Dorota [Zuzanna Szadkowski], and Cyrus [Wallace Shawn] appear in the show; it would be a natural extension to have Blair come back. But it was always gonna be up to those actors’ interests and their availabilities,” Safran continued.
The main breakout star of the OG Gossip Girl was Blake Lively, but Penn Badgley now stars in the popular series You, and a certain Sebastian Stan also appeared in 11 episodes. If you’re looking for something to fill the Gossip Girl gap, check out our guide to the best TV series.