Gossip Girl was a thrilling teen soap opera broadcasted on The CW that gave people a taste of the high life. Based on the series of books by Cecily von Ziegesar, Gossip Girl was about a group of privileged teenagers living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan whose lives were narrated by the mysterious "Gossip Girl." The series begins when Serena van der Woodsen comes home after a mysterious absence. Upon her return, she mends fences with her best frenemy, Blair Waldorf, and falls in love with the new boy, Dan Humphrey, who is determined to be a part of her shallow world.
Despite being a soapy teen drama, Gossip Girl received critical acclaim and love from its viewers. Beloved to this day, the cult series had a significant influence over television and the way fashion was depicted on screen. However, Gossip Girl ended after six seasons, concluding with a shortened final outing.
The truth is, Gossip Girl, for all the love fans had for it, just wasn't doing well in its final years. After Season 2, the ratings for the series were on a steady decline. Season 5 garnered an average of 1.7 million viewers, which was a sharp contrast from the 2.35 million that came to watch Season 1. What made Gossip Girl unique was how scandalous it was for a teen drama, but once it was released, other networks were quick to mimic its sleazy and secretive characters, causing things like Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Life of the American Teenager to hit the air. In truth, the show was starting to sink in its own market.
A reasonable theory about the sudden decline of Gossip Girl was offered up by The Atlantic in a piece published three days before the finale. It claims that Gossip Girl was a victim of the 2008 financial crisis. Around this time, people's attitude toward the rich was taking a drastic turn, and shows like Gossip Girl suffered for it. People were losing their jobs and they didn't want to sit around and watch the Waldorf's throw a million-dollar brunch party.
Fans weren't the only ones feeling this way, either. The cast was apparently growing equally as tired of being on the show and were ready to move on. Most of the Gossip Girl cast members were young rising stars who began to receive offers for movie roles as the show progressed. Blake Lively got a part in the crime thriller Savages, which had the show's production team shifting to Los Angeles to accommodate her. By this point, Taylor Momsen, who played Jenny Humphrey, had already left the show to focus on her band The Pretty Reckless, and Leighton Meester was starting to dabble in the music industry as well, working on her debut album that would be released in 2014.
With viewership on the decline and the cast itching for new jobs, there was no way Gossip Girl could have lasted any longer. However, times have changed and fans are now getting the chance to revisit that world through the sequel that will premiere on HBO Max in 2021. Taking place years after the events of the original series, the upcoming Gossip Girl will focus on a new group of students that will once again be watched by the mysterious "Gossip Girl" social media figure.