If you were a teenager in the early 00s, the chances are that you wanted to be Summer Roberts or Marissa Cooper. No matter that your weekend activities were spent trailing around a suburban shopping centre rather than partying in the Californian hills. You probably watched the show on a Thursday night and then spent Friday trying to work out what look you could most closely emulate with whatever was already in your wardrobe or on sale in Topshop.
Moody cool-sad girls wanted to be a Marissa Cooper, who had boys fighting over her and sort-of shot someone. But the best character on the show, without question, was Summer.
Played by Rachel Bilson, Summer was originally written as a ditzy mean girl who said 'ew' a lot and turned Seth down. But as the show wore on, largely because it needed more than one female character, and because Marissa Cooper was very, very annoying, she became something else. An emblem for nascent feminist teenagers, who demonstrated that it was possible to be both incredibly well dressed and super smart at the same time.
Very often, female characters are either smart and feisty, or interested in fashion and romance. Summer Roberts broke that mould. When Seth tries to advise her against telling a college interviewer that Miuccia Prada is her idol, she replies: ' If you memorise the answers you think they want to hear, that’s fine. But I believe in being myself. And by the way, Miuccia Prada combines styles from time periods in a way that people never even imagined possible.'
At a time when sex was still very often used on TV as a dire warning to young people, resulting in pregnancy and misery, Summer Roberts was fully sex-positive. From dressing up as Wonder Woman to seduce Seth to deciding that after they slept together for the first time, they needed to slow down and work back up to having sex, she demonstrated that having an open and honest conversation about the act with your boyfriend was possible, and something to aspire to.
Possibly the most important aspect of Summer's narrative arc was when she got into Brown University and Seth, her long term boyfriend, didn't. Seth had been planning to attend Brown his entire life, and Summer applied because she wanted to be with him and wasn't bothered about where she ended up. It's a scenario that we've all seen play out in real life - women putting their aspirations on hold for their romantic partner. Happily, Summer goes to Brown even though it causes friction with Seth.
At university, around the time that the show started to be absolutely and completely bonkers, Summer discovered green activism. Admittedly it's portrayed as a response to Marissa's death (apologies for the spoiler on the decade old tv show) but as displacement activities go, trying to save the world is an extraordinarily healthy one.
She graduates college and joins an anti-climate change organisation, moving away from Seth for months at a time. When the series ends with Summer marrying Seth there's no sense that she's compromised on her own life experiences in order to make the relationship work.
Is it any wonder, growing up with characters like Summer Roberts, Brooke Davis and Blair Waldorfthat we turned out to be a generation of sex-positive feminists with really great hair?
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READ MORE: While we're here, here's a load of fun facts the cast of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl Cast: 45 Things You Didn't Know About Serena And Blair
1 of 451. Gossip Girl was originally planned as a one-off feature film...
With Lindsay Lohan lined up to play Blair Waldorf. Seriously.
2 of 452. When the film fell through, the network was keen to cast Ashley Olsen as Blair and Rumer Willis as Serena in the TV version...
In fact, even Jennifer Lawrence auditioned for a role - that of Serena - how weird would that have been?Eventually, they went with the (then) lesser known actresses Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, because they 'captured the essence' of the stories.
3 of 453. Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass) originally auditioned to play Nate Archibald...
But the producers decided he 'looked more like a serial killer than a romantic lead.' Ouch.
4 of 454. After landing the role of Chuck Bass, he modelled his American accent on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air's Carlton Banks...
Ed is actually from Hitchen, just outside of London.
5 of 455. Leighton Meester had to dye her hair brown just to audition for the role of Blair...
The producers didn't want two blondes in the lead roles, so according to producer Josh Schwartz, Leighton 'did a sink-rinse dye job to audition as a brunette.' Talk about commitment. We actually think it suits her better, too.
6 of 456. The role of villainess Georgina Sparks was originally offered to Mischa Barton...
Who's best known for playing Marissa in The OC. Personally, we can't see it.
7 of 457. Taylor Momsen had her first major film role aged 7...
She starred as Cindy Lou in The Grinch, opposite Jim Carrey.
8 of 458. Taylor also auditioned to play Hannah Montana...
She was beaten to the role by a certain Miley Cyrus.
9 of 459. Aged 8, Taylor wrote a song called 'Blackout'...
It was later recorded and released by Heidi Montag, of The Hills fame.
10 of 4510. She's not the only musical cast member - her on-screen brother Penn Badgley recorded a pop song aged 12.
Much to our disappointment, it was never released.
11 of 4511. Ed Westwick also fronted indie rock band The Filthy Youth...
Two of his songs were featured in the season one episode, 'School Lies.'
12 of 4512. Blake Lively and Penn Badgley were friends before the show started...
They were home-schooled together as 11-year-olds. It's a small world, hey?
13 of 4513. Blair's classic look was modelled on Audrey Hepburn...
While Serena's wardrobe was based on Kate Moss and Sienna Miller's more bohemian style.
14 of 4514. A spin-off series, set in the '80s and focusing on Serena's mother Lily and her sister Carol, was originally planned...
With Brittany Snow starring as Lily and Krysten Ritter as Carol.
15 of 45It was never picked up by the network, but aired as part of the season two episode 'Valley Girls'...
Had it gone ahead, it would have featured younger versions of characters from The OC, too.
16 of 4516. A spin-off show with Jenny Humphrey as the main character was also planned...
It was never picked up, and Jenny only had a handful of appearances after season four, as Taylor chose to focus on her musical career with The Pretty Reckless.
17 of 4517. Gossip Girl was voiced by Kristen Bell...
Who went on to provide the voice for Anna in Disney's hit Frozen.
18 of 4518. Kristen finally appears on screen in the last episode, alongside The OC's Rachel Bilson...
The two actresses appear to be auditioning for a film adaptation of Dan's novel. So meta.
19 of 4519. Jessica Szohr's cameo in season six was shot on the set of The Carrie Diaries, the '80s SATC spin-off...
So Vanessa actually appears in Carrie Bradshaw's '80s kitchen.
20 of 4520. The van der Woodsen family live in an apartment in the Milan Condominium Building, at 300 East 55th Street...
This is a real building - where a three bedroom penthouse apartment recently sold for around $7 million.
21 of 4521. Penn Badgley was genuinely named after Penn, the tennis ball company...
Better than being named after an actual pen, we guess.
22 of 4522. He was about to give up on acting when he was finally offered the role of Dan Humphrey...
He turned down the role twice, and had to be convinced into taking it by producer Stephanie Savage.
23 of 4523. Serena, Blair and Dan are the only characters to appear in every single episode of the show...
All 121 of 'em.
24 of 4524. The title of every episode is based around a reference to a film, book or TV show...
So, Desperately Seeking Susan becomes Desperately Seeking Serena, John Tucker Must Die (which, coincidentally, starred Penn Badgley) becomes Blair Waldorf Must Pie and The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton's classic novel of Gilded Age New York society, appropriately becomes The Age of Dissonance.
25 of 4525. Leighton Meester dated Sebastian Stan, who played frat boy irritant Carter Baizen, from 2007 to 2010...
He's now best known for playing the Winter Soldier in Marvel's Captain America film franchise.
26 of 4526. Leighton's now married to Adam Brody, aka Seth Cohen from The OC...
It's the ultimate teen drama crossover.
27 of 4527. Blake Lively and Penn Badgley were together off-screen from 2007 to 2010, too...
Blake is now married to actor Ryan Reynolds, and they've have two daughters Irnes and James.
28 of 4528. Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr (who played Vanessa) were also in an on-off relationship throughout the show...
They've since broken up, too. Why are there no Gossip Girl success stories?
29 of 4529. The US Parents Television Council described the show as 'mind-blowingly inappropriate' and 'every parent's worst nightmare'...
These quotes ended up in pride of place on promotional posters for Gossip Girl season two.
30 of 4530. Costume designer Eric Daman worked on Sex and the City before dressing the Upper East Side's teen elite...
He won an Emmy for his work on SATC, too.
31 of 4531. In 2012, January 26th was named 'Gossip Girl Day'...
Michael Bloomberg, then the Mayor of New York, visited the set for the 100th episode, and commended the show for presenting the city in such a positive light.
32 of 4532. It cost between $10,000 and $60,000 per day to film on location in New York...
Yes, that's per day.
33 of 4533. The Empire Hotel - the aptly-named first addition to Chuck's property empire - is a real New York hotel...
You can head to the bar and order GG themed cocktails.
34 of 4534. In New York? You can go on a Gossip Girl location tour...
Taking in Henri Bendels, Grand Central Station (aka, the location of that opening shot of Serena) and the steps of the Met, of course.
35 of 4535. The author of the Gossip Girl book series, Cecily von Ziegesar, approved of the on-screen versions of all of her characters - except for Vanessa...
In her novels, Vanessa only wears black and is completely bald.
36 of 4536. Cecily has a cameo appearance in the final episode of season four, titled 'The Wrong Goodbye'...
She plays a guest at a Constance Billard mixer event.
37 of 4537. Other memorable cameos include Alexa Chung, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga and Karlie Kloss...
Oh, and Liz Hurley pops up, too.
38 of 4538. Blake Lively was fitted for Serena's wedding dress the day after her real life wedding to Ryan Reynolds...
Talk about life imitating art. Her white and gold dress is by Georges Chakra Couture.
39 of 4539. Blair wears princessy Vera Wang for her first wedding, and pale blue Elie Saab for her second...
Naturally, she wears a headband for both.
40 of 4540. Jennifer Behr, the designer behind many of B's iconic headbands, released a gift set of nine replica styles in 2012...
It would have set you back a cool $4,000.
41 of 4541. The front of the Museum of New York City was used as the entrance to Constance Billard School...
It's found at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street.
42 of 4542. Blair's full name is Blair Cornelia Waldorf...
Serena's is Serena Celia van der Woodsen (the 'Celia' is after her grandma, CeCe).
43 of 4543. Jack Bass and Georgina Sparks were kept apart by scheduling problems...
The writing team were always keen for the pair to have a storyline, but only managed to make it work in the final episode due to actor Desmond Harrington's commitment to Dexter.
44 of 4544. Henry Bass was child actor Alex Bento's first ever TV role...
He now has a recurring part on HBO drama Vinyl.
45 of 4545. The writers and producers of the show always knew that Blair and Chuck would end up together...
Because 'I'm Chuck Bass' is a legitimate answer to anything.