GOSSIP GIRL: Josh Safran Teases Season 5

Our favorite Upper East Siders return to television tonight…but when GOSSIP GIRL kicks off, many of the characters we know and love will actually be on the opposite side of the country, living it up in sunny California.

What can fans expect from the new season? GOSSIP GIRL executive producer Josh Safran met up with a few reporters and shared a few teases about Dan’s book, romances and more…

Dan’s book:
Vanessa may be off the show, but her decision to send a rough draft of Dan’s book to a publisher without his consent will play a big part of the season. In fact, Dan spends a good part of the season premiere trying to track down one particular chapter he desperately doesn’t want to be published.

So was it always the writers’ intention to have Dan’s writing be a major storyline?

“It’s really funny…I remember [the book being a part of the plan] from the beginning but I can’t tell if I sort of backdated into it in my head,” Safran said. “I mean, we talked about his writing career all the way through [the show]. Even when he took a dip, when he didn’t get into Tisch and Vanessa did, we knew that he was going to be a phoenix from the ashes at some point. So we knew it was going to happen and we hoped we would get to that point, but with the book, we definitely talked about the book in season 2 and I think it went away. I mean, we just knew the stories were going to become part of something else. But definitely in season 3, we knew it was going to come at the end of season 4. He has been writing since what you hear in the pilot — when he saw [Serena] at a party in ninth grade and he started writing about her from that point forward.”

However, if you were hoping to actually get a chance to read what Lonely Boy wrote all these years, you may be out of luck.

“I wish [we could do an actual book]!” Safran laughed. “I so wish we weren’t so tired. Seriously, we talk about it all the time, we would love to do a book but we’re exhausted. The idea, it’s too much. There’s a writer named Jeanne Leitenberg who writes all the sort of, the extra content — things like that like newspaper articles and stuff so she’s written the Charlie Trout story from season 2, she’s written Serena’s story from season 1, like the story that was in the NEW YORKER. So we have those pieces, and there’s more that she’s written for this year also that you’ll see on screen. So maybe they’ll be on the website. Dan’s writing is very good and we just want to spend the time [if we ever did it]. Like, he spent six years so maybe in six years [we’ll do it].”

California, here they come…
After starting last season in Paris, what prompted the show to travel to California this year?

“I’ve always said the pilot is also sort of like a new location with Serena’s returning to New York,” Safran noted. “We just like to do it every year and LA felt right. CeCe lives in Montecito — we actually initially before we even landed on LA we were going to do Montecito because we knew that Chuck and Nate were on their trip and they could land anywhere. Blair and Louis said they were going on a yacht, they could land anywhere, so we always talked about the west coast, so first it was Montecito, and then we were like, where are we really going to shoot in Montecito? Really? Also no one wants you to shoot there because they’re all so rich, they’re like, get out of our hair. So then we were like, go back to LA, so it was just a natural choice.”

Chuck is a new man:
When viewers first see Chuck this season, he’s adopted a new life philosophy: say “yes” to every opportunity that comes his way. It may seem a little crazy, but it works for him, and several of his friends see the wisdom in his lifestyle.

“His journey is what, I think we always strive for all of the characters: to grow,” Safran said. “And this season, I believe, we’ve talked about the theme is growing up, which Chuck says in [the premiere] episode and that sort of is like they are all actually taking the first steps to who they actually are going to be. So Chuck’s journey, even though it just looks like he’s a thrill-seeker [in the premiere]…that opens the door to a new avenue for him. A new way of life, which isn’t what you’ve seen yet. But I think that people will really like it. I think it is the only possible next step in the evolution of Chuck.”

Nate’s new romance:
If you were worried Nate might not have much to do this season, think again.

“He’s got a really huge, great story,” Safran teased. “Which is funny because I feel like people keep going like, ‘Where’s Nate?’ and it’s like, he’s got almost like the biggest story of the bunch. His journey really relates the most to growing up and taking control of his life and it’s really just Chace [Crawford (Nate)] and [guest star] Elizabeth [Hurley]. They just have run with that story and it’s really great. And Elizabeth’s story brings almost everybody into it so, because Chace is standing there with her basically along the way, he gets to sort of have scenes with everybody which is really great and fun and nice.”

Any romance for Serena?
With Serena super focused on her career in the premiere (and her exes, Dan and Nate focusing their romantic desires elsewhere), will S find a man to catch her eye anytime soon?

“Any romance for Serena?” Safran questioned. “Um…maybe. I’ll just say that. Maybe. Serena’s right now focused on her career.”

(Anyone else reading that as a yes?)

Will Blair actually make it to her wedding day?
Blair is set to marry the prince, but will she actually say “I do”? Safran was understandably coy when it came to that particular nugget.

“Um…the thing is, I know the answer to that, I just don’t think I should say it yet,” he said. “But you definitely will see all the steps leading up to at least, if not including, the actual wedding.”

What are Rufus and Lily up to?
Rufus and Lily may have been placed on the backburner a bit last season…and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. But Safran insists that’s actually a good thing.

“Lily’s first episode is episode three this season and Rufus and Lily, they’re good,” he noted. “We really don’t want to mess with that couple. We really believe that they worked very hard to get together. It was years and a love child and all this other stuff so we really like them together and I think that might mean, less single, stand-alone stories for them but that’s because we want them to be sort of grounded and together and really intact so they fold in to other peoples’ stories as opposed to, having their own definable arcs, like Lily had all through season three.”

Keeping with that theme, Lily might be MIA in the premiere, but Rufus is around to help Dan deal with his stolen manuscript.

The status of the cast:
Despite the fact that many of the cast members either spent their summers working on movies or have films currently in production, Safran promises it won’t mean you see less of them on GOSSIP GIRL.

“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s been a challenge for production, but it’s actually been great because again, it helps us go, ‘Well, you know, Chace might have to be in Atlanta for five days so his story will be on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.’ That’s literally all that [impacts] as opposed to, like anything, but you will see all of [the actors] in every episode in their actual roles.”

Who’s the mama?
The pregnancy test viewers saw at the end of last season? Not a fake out. And while we can’t reveal the who right now, make sure to come back to Give Me My Remote after the episode airs on the West Coast for more GOSSIP GIRL dish!

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Are you excited for GOSSIP GIRL’s season premiere?

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