I've already gone public with my new favorite guilty pleasure: "Gossip Girl." I love the two rich girl leads and REALLY love the guys - especially Penn Badgley's adorable character of Dan who reminds me of a less-geeky version of Seth Cohen on "The OC." Badgely did an interview with E! Online that was very revealing.
Here are some excerpts:
Badgley: "I can’t imagine why anyone would compare me to Seth Cohen! That’s just absolutely crazy! [Laughs.] No, I think, on the page, Dan started out like a Seth Cohen in New York....I try to make him unique and not just a bumbling, awkward kid but a charming and innocent kid. You know, Adam Brody has his thing, and he’s great at that, but I wanted to do something a little different. People are probably going to see the similarities at any chance they can and be like, 'Oh, he’s just trying to be Adam Brody.' I’ve already gotten that in a lot of the reviews, but I think if you pay a little more attention, I’m actually doing something very different.

Q. Are you familiar with the Gossip Girl book series at all?
A. I read about 40 pages of the first book, just to get the idea and the tone. Then I realized there’s really no point, because we’re not emulating the books. We’re only using the premise as a platform to go off and do our own thing. But fans of the books won’t be disappointed, because we’re going to bring the same kind of fun entertainment: a little bit of trash but a lot of substance.

Q. In the books, Dan has a bi-curious element, no? He has questioned his sexuality.
A. Yeah, I think he’s straight-up gay in the books. But I don’t think network TV really has the balls to make one of their [teenage] series regulars gay. Let's say the show builds up to become a big hit, then I think they'd maybe explore it in year three or four. It would be an interesting thing to do. It could bring in a whole different demographic.