Don’t call it a reboot … or a revival! The new Gossip Girl, which is set to premiere on HBO Max in 2020, isn’t either of those things. In fact, it’s “not even a sequel,” executive producer Joshua Safran says on the latest episode of the “Watch With Us” podcast.
“I wish there was the proper word because it isn’t a remake, isn’t a reboot. It truly is just years after the original. It’s hard to say how many years because the original ended in 2012. But it was 2017 for the characters, because we flash forward five years,” Safran told Us exclusively while promoting his new series Soundtrack. ”It really is the same world. It’s 2020. If these characters were to talk about Blair Waldorf, they’re going to talk about Blair Waldorf. I kind of look at it as sort of what Marvel does or the DC Universe. You’re just looking at a different angle inside the universe. I think, because of that, it allows us to not feel super tied. … It’s still in the same location, it is still [about] fashion, still about privilege, about the 1 percent.”
That said, don’t expect any Humphreys or Van Der Woodsens running around the hallways. The Smash showrunner confirms the characters will not be relatives of the original cast.
“You heard it here first. The truth of the matter is, we covered so much ground the first time around, you would have seen all the relatives,” he says. “Kids is not possible because they were, like, 15 when we started, so they wouldn’t have kids in high school now. As for relatives, we went so deep into the family history, there are no relatives left! But that isn’t to say that people won’t pop in.”
Something the new series will have is an overarching question, similar to “Who is Gossip Girl?” which was asked at the end of the original show’s second season.
“There is an arc to season 1 that probably is more of an arc than had previously existed on Gossip Girl, because it is only 10 episodes. So I kind of say it’s like Big Little Lies in that way, because we want to make sure that like that it is all connected,” Safran adds. “But I will not tell you what that arc is!”
For more from Safran — including what he thinks about Chase Crawford wanting to voice Gossip Girl — and exclusive TV interviews and news, subscribe to the “Watch With Us” podcast for free.
Soundtrack is streaming now on Netflix.
