BlackBook Magazine

The first five minutes of Monday's Gossip Girl season premier are now online, along with a recap of last season. It starts off in the Hamptons, just as New Yorkers are reliving the birth of their own Cooper Beach orgies this summer (just watch the clip). And as promised, Chace Crawford has landed himself a cougar in former Twin Peaks star Mädchen Amick. I initially wondered why pouty Ed Westwick's eyes seemed barely open, until Blake Lively makes her first season 2 appearance in a blinding platinum frock.

Like most of you, I sometimes stay awake at night counting down the minutes to the second season premiere of Gossip Girl -- somewhere just shy of 11,000. I don't necessarily watch it for the revolutionary acting or the envelope-pushing story arcs. (Although there is a certain je ne sais quoi with Blake Lively's performance, right?) I watch it for the pretty people, the backstabbing, and the killer soundtrack. And for New Yorkers, you don't really need to watch the show to find it endearing, because there's always the marketing to enjoy. The ad campaign features clever posters adorning the walls of our favorite slipshod subway stops. But more clever still is one street artist's mashup of the marketing message.

On Gossip Girl, Taylor Momsen spends her days sidling up to the feline in-crowd. Off-camera, though, the youngest model ever signed to IMG couldn’t care less about playing it cool. "I love high fashion,” gushes Taylor Momsen, the 15-year-old star of Gossip Girl. And it’s a good thing she does, since Momsen was recently signed as IMG Models’ freshest new face. “It’s been such a big part of my life, models and fashion, so it’s really exciting to enter that world. It’s a whole different ballgame.”

Gossip Girl, affectionately referred to as the Greatest Show of Our Time by New York, is gearing up for Season 2, debuting on September 1. Last season's ad campaign, OMFG, has reached new heights, turning criticism towards the show on its head by using quotes like the Boston Herald’s “Every parent’s nightmare” on their billboards. Sure, we already showed you the wining and dining, but get ready for the drama and let life imitate art: Take a tour of New York, Gossip Girl style.

It's safe to say Michael Kors is a huge TV fan. When he's not sitting in a judge's chair for the juggernaut that is Project Runway, he's watching Mad Men -- the breakout show and its early-1960s setting was an inspiration for Kors' fall 2008 collection. He even hosted a viewing party for the new season premiere. And it turns out Kors is also into Gossip Girl.

Madchen Amick (pronounced Madchen Amick) is coming back to New York. The "Twin Peaks" star, who played Carrie Fairchild for 21 episodes on the short-lived "Melrose Place" knock-off "Central Park West," is joining the cast of "Gossip Girl." She'll play an older woman to Chace Crawford’s younger man when the show returns on September 1st. We hope Ms. Amick knows what she’s getting herself into: paparazzi stalking you in SoHo, screaming girls waiting outside your trailer, and rumored romances with Carrie Underwood.

"Private Practice" is a wholly abysmal retelling of the doctor love saga that was perfected on "Grey's Anatomy." "Joey" was pungent in comparison to its only mildy offensive predecessor "Friends." And there are countless other examples of cashing in gone wrong. So, yay "Gossip Girl" spin-off! Word has it that Taylor Momsen's Jenny Humphrey will star heavily in the new series, unless its creators opt to incorporate a new character into the show. Go for it, Taylor! It totally worked for Kate Walsh. Wait, who's Kate Walsh again?

There are also Smallville and Veronica Mars versions over at Gawker.

What a treat it is, to stroll into a lovely garden on the Upper East Side on a fresh spring afternoon, and to be escorted by some lovely ladies into a small store that is even lovelier than they (sorry girls). And then, as if our brain wasn’t already hurting from the abundance of lovely, the store had to be adorned with goodies that were lovelier than loveliness itself. We’re talking about the Caravan boutique, a fetching enclave that catered to various television stars all week long while they were in town for Upfronts week. And by catered, we mean styled (shoes from Gola, jeans from Gilded Age), wined (sparkling wine from Karma) and dined (lunch from Sfoglia).

While I'm certainly no authority on Gossip Girl -- quite the reverse actually -- I do try to (occasionally!) give the people what they want. Therefore, enjoy this selective rundown of GG restaurant and nightlife set locations in New York, refined to overlap with our own BlackBook recommendations. You know you love it, and so on and so forth.