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So I was watching Gossip Girl for a few minutes today and Deeps and I were discussing the target audience for the show (teen girls) vs. the people who actually watch the show (people over 30).

Does anyone know any actual teens watching it? Why is it so fascinating to the old(er) folks watching it (See the NY Mag story) ?

I find it lacking in any interesting protagonists, which is a problem Josh Schwartz had with The OC. Julie Cooper was delightfully evil early on and then quickly defanged to be as dangerous as a paper cut.

If the parents of America are doing their job, then no actual teens should be watching Gossip Girl. Maybe the older audience is a sign that mom and dad are starting to pay attention to what the little one is watching? Probably not, but a girl can dream.

I think that Gossip Girl appeals to me, a 28 year old woman from the Midwest, because I’m just stupid enough to think that 16 year olds drinking and sexing in the Big Apple is glamourous. I certainly feel sufficiently titillated once the show is over, which is a different feeling than what I get after watching According to Jim.

alyssa - 04 May 2008 06:02 PM

So I was watching Gossip Girl for a few minutes today and Deeps and I were discussing the target audience for the show (teen girls) vs. the people who actually watch the show (people over 30).

Does anyone know any actual teens watching it? Why is it so fascinating to the old(er) folks watching it (See the NY Mag story) ?

I find it lacking in any interesting protagonists, which is a problem Josh Schwartz had with The OC. Julie Cooper was delightfully evil early on and then quickly defanged to be as dangerous as a paper cut.

Gossip Girl is the modern day Dynasty, or Dallas.  Why were those shows popular?  Who knows.  Maybe it goes back to the Great Depression, when working class people wanted to see films that featured rich, white people acting like fools and getting taken down a peg.

I’m intrigued by your collective theories, Amy and Miles, but I’m not not totally convinced that people are merely drawn by the glamor and riches.

I think we like judging the rich. I suspect the socio-economic breakdown of older fans is such that they are well-educated members of the middle class. So they’re not just looking for escapism as much as confirmation of their worst ideas about the rich....

But I haven’t had coffee yet.

My Theory is that Gossip Girl is the weaker and less entertaining O.C.

I always figured the target audience for Gossip Girl is ice pick lobotomy patients.