Leif and Steve do a spoiler free recap of the original Gossip Girl TV show that aired on the CW from 2007-2013. They take a deep dive–one episode at a time–examining all the references to old movies and literature as well as exploring all the parallels and foreshadowing used by the writers. Not to mention, discussing all the schemes, secret hookups, and couture catastrophes.
Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion.
Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.
The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.
Hey, Upper East Siders and all you scandal-loving listeners, you just tuned into the non-judging breakfast pod, where the coffee is strong, the waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than ever. My name is Leaf and I'm your Seizing Gossip Girl Veteran.
And I'm Steve, I'm your newbie, your greenhorn year. I don't know, Leif, what do you call the new kid on the block in gossip girl terms? I think they would label you as a project, you know, the type of girl who has a potential to be a Blairite. Well, dress me up in an Eleanor Waldorf original and let's get started.
ls since it first came out in:
And together, we're your dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama, romance, and sometimes questionable fashion choices of this iconic TV series. That's right, each week we're going to be taking a deep dive in one episode at a time. We're going to be analyzing all the obscure references, parallels, and of course the cataract catastrophes.
We're also going to be looking at behind the scenes gossip and some fandom stuff along the way. And since we're all about inclusivity here at the non-judging breakfast pod, there's always a seat for you at the non-judging breakfast table. So go ahead and grab a mimosa, some coffee, or maybe some of Nate and Chuck's special medicine, and we're going to get right into this.
Well, as I said, my name is Leaf, that's Steve. We are doing the non-judging breakfast pod, and we are about a season in now. And we were new podcasters coming in, and the first couple of episodes were a little rough, so hopefully you'll bear with us. But I think we've come along quite a bit, and we've kind of started moving along smoothly.
We had our first guest in episode 17, and we're hopefully going to have some more guests in season two for you. And we're just having fun. Yeah, and we're learning the ropes and kind of getting to analyze TV differently, look at things in a different way than I usually do anyway.
And we're having a really nice time kind of learning the ropes here and figuring out the ins and outs of podcasting. Well, what is your history with teen drama, Steve? Well, when I was a teen myself, and probably even into my late teens, I watched Save by the Bell. That was like the first big iconic one that I was into. I also really liked Pretty Little Liars.
I was watching that when it came out. Smallville for a while, for several seasons of Smallville, I was really into that. And a few other of the more than anything, I'm a huge Buffy fan.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my all time favorite TV shows. So I kind of went through three distinct periods of picking up teen traumas. First, as a younger kid, I watched The Wonder Years and Save by the Bell. I'm a few years younger than you. Wonder Years for me, too.
Yeah. And then, so somewhere around, you know, 92, 93, after the Buffy movie came out, my dad showed me that movie because he was a big Pee Wee Herman fan, so he showed me that movie. And then so when the show came out, I kind of picked it up pretty early on. And then from there, I started watching some other WB shows, Dawson's Creek, Smallville. And then, you know, that lasted through my high school years. And then I didn't have a TV for my first few years of college. So I kind of stopped watching anything new. But then like towards the end of my college career, I kind of got into the OC. And then from there, I went to Gossip Girl and from there, just binged a bunch of shows.
I checked out The Mountain, which has Pan Vagely. It's only like 12 episodes. The Vampire Diary. Yeah, so just, you know, a lot of shows in the genre. Friday Night Lights. Yeah, that's another one that I was watching. Yeah, so that's kind of my history. And then, so, you know, people are always asking why Gossip Girl? Why Gossip Girl?
Well, I'll let you go first, Steve. What's really funny is that my answer often comes back to Ask Leaf. This was that a lot of this was Leaf's idea. Leaf came to me and said, hey, I want to start getting into podcasting and I want to try it out and I want to try this format.
Have you ever seen Gossip Girl? And I said, no. He said, great, then we're going to do this rewatch podcast.
And I said, fantastic. Now that I'm watching it, I understand why it's a great show to dive in and really analyze things like the sets, the costumes, the acting. You do have some really fantastic acting and some really terrible acting. Same with writing, same with directing. And so it really is a good show to analyze. Yeah, I agree.
So yeah, it's it's simple. It's very surface level, but it does have stuff to analyze because the writers like doing parallels and they do a lot of references to other literature and old movies throughout the series. Obviously, all the episode titles are of course puns on old movies, mostly times, sometimes books. But sometimes the names mean something.
Sometimes they're just puns. But sometimes the movies do actually relate back to the story of the episode, but not always. It's just a fun show to analyze. I got involved in the fandom and they did a lot of analysis in the fandom. It just it seems like an easy show to start out and then to move on to something a little more complicated. And it's also something that has like a really strong fan base.
Yes, yes. The people no one has ever said to me, I'm kind of into that show. Yeah, people who like the show really like the show.
So like I said, if you like the show, you usually get hooked and a lot. There's always new people finding it because it's usually on some streaming services on Netflix. Can currently while it's running and then for several years after that, because all the WB shows were on Netflix for a while. Then of course, you know, HBO did their own streaming.
So they had WB so they, you know, they're they brought them over to there as part of Warner Brothers. Yeah. But yeah, which I yeah, I watch it on Max. So yeah, new fans all the time.
So thought it would be a good show. Yeah. Yep. Any other thoughts, Steve? Just really, we look forward to hearing from you and. Rightest questions, send us stuff on social media. We got on TikTok, Instagram and on threads. We're at non judging breakfast pod. We're on Twitter slash X as at NJB pod. And you can find us on Facebook by searching for a non judging breakfast pod where we have a page and a group where you can take your own seat at the non judging breakfast table.
Yeah. And also please, if you have any questions or just want to get involved directly in the conversation, send us an email at non judging breakfast pod at gmail.com. And we'll be happy to answer your questions right here on the air or involve you in the conversation some way. Also, please remember if you're listening to this, like, follow, subscribe and tell your friends about our show. Give give something to give the gift of something to talk about with your friends by listening to our show and talking about us talking about Gossip Girl. We're looking forward to more interaction with the listeners in season two.
Yes. And we're planning on bringing on more guests in season two as well. Until next time. You know, you love us. XOXO. Take care.
