The first reviews for the Gossip Girl reboot series are in – scroll down to read a selection of the reactions.
HBO Max will be releasing the first episodes of the new take on the CW series in the US this week, with the series set to air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK later this year.
Many critics praised the show’s actors, saying it had a “talented cast” and said there was potential for the remake to tread new ground – yet found the show to be “fundamentally hollow”.
“None of these characters seem to like each other, none of them have chemistry with each other, and none of their relationships feel lived-in,” wrote Linda Holmes for NPR.
Vulture also disliked the show, saying: “It is fundamentally hollow at the core, frivolous and frothy, studded with sequins and infidelities and students who lust for their teachers (but gay!). It seems uneasy with that emptiness, but it lacks the desire or capability to backfill everything with earnestness or do-goodery.”
Specifically acknowledging the relationship between the original show and the new version, IndieWire found there to be zero “interior drama from the characters or exterior commentary about their place in society”.
Their review went on: “Gossip Girl seems more interested in commenting on the old show than establishing a new one worth watching…
Check out some more reactions from social media here:
not all the gossip girl reviews being awful omg? pic.twitter.com/IdSI1Qhz7l
— nao (@kaluuyah) July 5, 2021
Gossip Girl opens with a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and continues the legacy of being massacred by critics since 2007. pic.twitter.com/hAwIoZdmVJ
— GOSSIP GIRL ARCHIVE (@archivegossip) July 6, 2021
Okay, here is MY @gossipgirl review, in a Twitter thread because I’m not an entertainment reporter: I really, really love it. The hot take in our home is that Sam likes it better than the original, because the characters feel more “real” to him. I love all my children equally.
— Tyler McCall (@eiffeltyler) July 5, 2021
Logging on just to share that I liked the new Gossip Girl way more than expected and am looking forward to how its absolutely wiLd twist on the central conceit unfolds. xoxohttps://t.co/yfa5GDh8y2
— Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) July 6, 2021
Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zion Moreno, Whitney Peak and Savannah Lee Smith all star in the forthcoming reboot.
The revival cast is largely made up of newcomers, although Kristen Bell will reprise her voiceover role as the elusive Gossip Girl once more.
The post ‘Gossip Girl’ reboot first reviews: “Fundamentally hollow at the core” appeared first on NME.
