Gossip Girl

Two years ago, Emma Watson was facing a quandary many young adults encounter: Is college worth it? For most 18-year-olds, a university degree is an expensive but necessary investment leading to personal growth and a well-paying job. But for Watson, already a multimillionaire as a result of playing Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies, the calculus was more complex. Should she trade red carpets for Red Bull-fueled nights studying? Would the knowledge gained be as valuable as the roles she'd have to forgo?

After leasing her West Hollywood house out last year, "Gossip Girl" actress Kelly Rutherford has returned it to the market at $1.099 million. The Spanish bungalow, built in 1926, features a living room with fireplace that opens to a sky-lighted dining room, an updated kitchen, two bedrooms and 13/4 bathrooms. The deck contains a bar and a built-in barbecue. Rutherford, 43, plays husband-hopping Lily van der Woodsen on "Gossip Girl" (2007-present). She was also in the series "E-Ring" (2005-06)

Nearly every television season, a storybook stork delivers a plot twist in the form of a baby to a teen drama. "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," created by Brenda Hampton of "7th Heaven," premiered last summer on ABC Family and introduced us to 15-year-old Amy Juergens, a scrawny, French horn-playing freshman at Grant High School who discovers she's pregnant -- though she's not even sure she actually had sex -- after a rendezvous with bad boy Ricky Underwood at band camp.

Warner Bros.' international television unit is teaming with two Chinese production companies to create a Chinese teen drama series inspired by "Gossip Girl," which airs in the United States on the CW Network. "Gossip Girl," about a group of wealthy back-stabbing Manhattanites, has been a cult hit for the cable channel for the last five years and launched the careers of actresses Blake Lively and Leighton Meester. Tentatively called "China Girl," the show will be in Mandarin and launch in November on satellite television, with "Gossip Girl" creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage consulting.

The post-collegiate high school students of "Gossip Girl" made it through their second season Monday night -- and, for most of them, their senior year -- with a graduation ceremony, a couple of parties and a shower of nasty revelations (old news to us, but fresh to the general population of Constance Billiard/St. Jude's) that had no effect at all on anyone's social standing.

The Parents Television Council surely didn't plan it this way, but a protest from the conservative watchdog group might do for "Gossip Girl" what a guy-on-guy kiss and coed romps haven't been able to accomplish this season: Boost the ratings, which have seen double-digit declines this fall. The controversy stems from a multiple-partner sex scene planned for tonight's episode of the soapy CW drama, which the network has been teasing on-air as "OM3," in keeping with its suggestive, text-speak marketing.

HOLLY HUNTER ["Holly Hunter, In Focus" by Lynn Smith, July 13] is playing with fire when she tells The Times, "The world is chock-full of actors and actresses who want to talk about their personal lives. I don't." Imagine if every star and celebrity-for-15-minutes followed Hunter's lead, refusing to publicly discuss their drug addictions, divorces, infidelities and Kabbalah. What would Americans read, gossip and fantasize about to fill the vacuums in their brains? The entire nation would plunge into depression, anxiety attacks and nervous breakdowns.

Those of you who believe you're on a first-name basis with the leading ladies of the CW network's "Gossip Girl" are no doubt familiar with the hot-and-heavy plotlines ? who's sleeping with whom and betrayals that seem to pop up with astonishing regularity. But though it's true that the scripts, aimed at teens and twentysomethings, are filled with drama so thick they border on soap operatic, it's the imaginative, sometimes outrageous, sense of style that is most important to many devotees who need to fill their Tuesday mornings by reading (or writing)

The "Gossip Girl" panel on Friday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton got a little surly when television critics asked the executive producers to justify the underage drinking and (attempted) date-raping in its pilot. Josh Schwartz, creator of "The O.C." and an executive producer of "Gossip Girl," fielded the inevitable what-will-you-say-to-the-parents question. "We take the message the show is sending incredibly seriously," Schwartz said. "These are flawed characters."

OMG . . . tv is sooo retro. In a strategic reversal, the CW television network said it would no longer offer free Internet streams of new episodes of "Gossip Girl" when the show returns to the air Monday. Instead, CW wants young fans to watch the drama about privileged preppies the old school way -- on TV. The move is designed to boost ratings for the program, which has developed a loyal online following but has failed to attract a sizable TV audience. The show's average of 2.

"Gossip Girl's" Kelly Rutherford listed her West Hollywood bungalow for sale or lease in May and ended up leasing it out at $4,700 a month. Built in 1926, the Spanish-style home includes a sky-lit dining room, an updated kitchen with limestone counters, two bedrooms and 13/4 bathrooms. Outdoors, the deck features a bar, and a built-in barbecue is surrounded by tropical landscaping. Before her role as Lily van der Woodsen on "Gossip Girl" (2007-present), the 43-year-old actress was in the series "E-Ring" (2005-06)

SERIES Gossip Girl: A performance of the provocative theater piece "Sleep No More" leads to interesting romantic twists for some of the gang in this new episode. Elizabeth Hurley, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford and Leighton Meester star (8 p.m. KTLA). Terra Nova: While serving an internship with the colony's greatest scientist (Robert Coleby), Maddy (Naomi Scott) makes a horrifying discovery that could put her life in danger in this new episode (8 p.m. Fox). Saved: This new series, sneak-peeked in September, offers firsthand accounts of animal heroism, including a hound that helped a woman to kick her 25-year heroin habit and parents who struggle to bring home the puppy that had brought joy to their son who was killed in Iraq (8 p.m. Animal Planet)

Netflix has just made the CW network's future very secure. The subscription video company has struck a four-year agreement to stream reruns from the CW network, including such popular shows as "Gossip Girl" and "The Vampire Diaries. " For CW's parent companies, CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., the deal will put the partnership in the black, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said. "It essentially makes the CW a profitable enterprise," Moonves said in an interview Thursday.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner enjoying date night at the 10th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball, honoring Olivia Wilde and producer Scott Stuber at a residence in Brentwood.... Famous folks rolling out for a preview of SBE and Jason Scoppa's the Sayers Club in Hollywood, where Chris Pine and Jeremy Piven caught up over Corzo cocktails, as did "Gossip Girl" actresses Leighton Meester and Jessica Szohr. Also spotted: Alex Pettyfer on his best behavior, looking relaxed and enjoying a live music set....

Two years ago, Emma Watson was facing a quandary many young adults encounter: Is college worth it? For most 18-year-olds, a university degree is an expensive but necessary investment leading to personal growth and a well-paying job. But for Watson, already a multimillionaire as a result of playing Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies, the calculus was more complex. Should she trade red carpets for Red Bull-fueled nights studying? Would the knowledge gained be as valuable as the roles she'd have to forgo?

It's something your teenage child already knows well: Those popular kids can be mighty mean. But he or she might not be clued in to the conclusion drawn by a paper released Tuesday in the American Sociological Review , which found that the more central you are to your school's social network, the more aggressive you are as well -- unless you're at the top of the heap, in which case you're more likely to give your peers a break. “By and large, status increases aggression, until you get to the very top,” said the study's lead author, UC Davis sociologist Robert Faris.

A little birdie told me that the Dec. 8 "Gossip Girl" episode was the last we'd see of Aaron Rose, Serena's artist boyfriend who had recently whisked her off to Argentina for the winter break. The CW confirmed the news, and as much as I detested the character, I felt compelled to write Aaron a proper breakup letter. Dear Aaron: It was good while it lasted . . . OK, maybe not. You did arrive bearing full potential -- what girl wouldn't swoon at some clever art installation that she didn't understand or melt at the fact you remembered her out of all the other pretty, rich girls at Camp Suisse?

Hilary Duff is joining "Gossip Girl" for a multi-episode arc next season. Duff will play Olivia, a former child star who enrolls at NYU and happens to get placed as Vanessa's roommate. Her main purpose will be to portray a love interest for Dan (Penn Badgley). Duff makes her debut on the Oct. 5 episode. -- Enid Portuguez

As it becomes more common for teenagers to realize ? and then tell others ? that they are gay or lesbian, there is also a growing number of teen characters on TV programs geared toward teens going through the same thing. The CW's "90210," which returns on Jan. 24, joins the ranks of shows like "Glee," "Gossip Girl," "Pretty Little Liars," "Hellcats," "Greek" and the new MTV series "Skins" in showcasing young, gay roles. "I felt like the world of '90210' was missing the gay characters that it would realistically have," said Rebecca Sinclair, the CW series' show runner and executive producer, on the writers' decision to show teen character Teddy Montgomery's coming-out process.

Gwyneth Paltrow is the kind of well-mannered celebrity who never ? even in her gregarious 20s ? raised eyebrows by swaying boozily on a bar top, hopping in and out of rehab or kissing a man who wasn't her own. So it is with relish that the actress, now 38 and the kind of conscientious mother of two who coordinates play dates from 5,000 miles away, does all that misbehaving and more as a country star in her new movie, "Country Strong. " "My life is all responsibility," says Paltrow, shrugging into a hooded sweatshirt and kicking off her three-inch heels after a performance to promote the film at Yahoo in Santa Monica last week.