TV Watch

Gossip Girl Creators Compare Show to a ‘Chess Game’

11/10/2008 at 12:00 AM EST

Don't try telling creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage that their steamy nighttime soap about Manhattan's Upper East Side prep students Gossip Girl is just a TV show.

In an interview with the New York Post the co-creators likened their soap to "a chess game," where "Chuck and Blair are the king and queen. Everyone else, except Serena, is a pawn."

And the show draws its inspiration from the most unlikely of sources.



In addition to being based on the Gossip Girl book series by Cecily von Ziegesar, the show's creators pointed to a certain Englishman as their main inspiration.

"Our writers," says Savage, "are much more literate than we are. They really know their Shakespeare."

And the ensuing drama on season two will reach Shakespearean heights this month, the creators promise.

Schwartz and Savage say: "Blair and Chuck's perverse love story will 'come to a head.' Chuck's ensembles will get even more flamboyant, due in large part to what the creators call actor Ed Westwick's 'utter fearlessness.' Serena will be hooking up with the new art boy, which will make Dan unhappy." – Jesse Curti

GIOVANNI RUFINO/CW