NYC Prep: The Real Life Gossip Girl?

So word around the TV grapevine is, that there’s this brand new reality show on Bravo (American channel) that is a real-life parallel of teen hit drama, Gossip Girl. I must admit I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing an actual, living, Blair Waldorf-ish type character in her dainty little headbands, cunningly scheming her way through life for all the world to see. While at the same time, I cringed at the fact that there’s another one of these pointless shows filled with ego-centric privileged teens who think their bowels are a big pile of steaming gold.

Giving the show the benefit of the doubt, I thought, what the hell and watched the first episode.

It actually wasn’t as horrible as I expected.

At the start of the show we meet PC, an upper-east side Manhattan residing 18 year old senior, who tells us, “Money flows like the wind (in New York City). People wanna strive and kind of act like an asshole and spend a lot of money and really flash their money and I feel bad for the people that can’t have that.” Not a very “pc” thing to say especially in these times of recession, is it now? PC is best friends with Jessie, another one of the main protagonists you’ll get to meet next and the two seem attached at the hip. He complains to her that he can’t find a decent girlfriend and enlists her as his wingwoman, to which she happily obliges. But with a questionable demeanor and an impeccable taste for fashion, is PC looking for a damsel or a lad in distress he can save?

Next we meet Jessie – PC’s fag hag. No, as I was saying earlier, Jessie and PC are best of friends. They apparently used to date when they were younger, but one wonders what these two get up to on a typical date – tampon discussions and giggling about cute, passerby boys in New York perhaps? You know I kid. Jessie is 17, a senior and like her better half, lives on the upper-east side and quite the fashionista. “I treat my clothing like my children. Don’t wear all your labels at once and I think it’s really important to mix and match,” she says. Deep words to ponder. Jessie is also known as the bitchy girl in her elite circle of preppy friends. Ooh, does she also have a lap dog named Nelly Yuki that obeys her every whim?

Kelli with the i is who we are introduced to next. She seems sweet, loveable and quite the pretty lass. Though boys, contain those raging testosterone, as the girl is only a 16 year old junior in high school. There goes your excuse to watch the show! Kelli tells us she used to live in The Hamptons (a playground for the rich and the famous) but moved to New York City’s upper-east side with her 18 year old brother to pursue her singing career. Somewhere out there, Miley Cyrus is rolling her devilish eyes. Her parents live in their Hampton estate and drop in once a week to check in on her and her brother to make sure they have their routine fix of Chinese food, see if they’ve done their homework and make sure they stick to their curfews. She disobeys them on weekends though. Rebellious!

Up next, we meet the resident lothario of the group, Sebastian. But with subpar looks and personality you can’t really write back to home about, I can’t help but wonder why all these girls are fawning all over him. It must be their young, impressionable minds. Or his hair. Yes, that’s it. His meticulously fixed, wind-swept hair that he brushes to the side quite often with his hands to convey interest in the opposite sex during dinner dates. Securing his playboy reputation on the show, he tells us, “I hook up a lot. You know, like hook up with like, 2, 3 girls in a night and maybe more. Why date one girl when you can hook up with a bunch?” His parents must be thrilled their 16 year old sophomore baby boy is sewing his wild oats early! Oh and one more thing, Sebastian lives…you guessed it! ON THAT DAMN UPPER-EAST SIDE.

We are then introduced to Camille, a 17 year old junior who lives in…

The upper-WEST side! Can you believe it? Though, don’t think her residence in the west is an implication of shady living conditions. Camille’s family is actually very very wealthy and according to her, they are, “not multi-billionaires,” but “definitely in the top 1 percent or top half of percent.” Simply put, this girl is loaded. Camille has aspirations to go to Harvard and studies her ass off to achieve what she’s been dreaming about for the last 17 years. She also has her life all planned out. “First I will go to Harvard. Then I will be a business head at a genetics firm. And then at 40, I will have a husband and two girls.” But where does the rich-kid cocaine addiction and unforeseen pregnancy at 18 come into play? Joking!

Last but not least, we meet sweet faced Taylor, a 15 year old sophomore who, like Camille, also lives in the upper-west side. Ok, this UES combo has truly been broken now. She tells us she attends one of the top public schools in the country and is apparently very, very competitive. Competitive for what? Winning the affections of them private school snobs? Taylor is obsessed with the idea of people perceiving her as hailing from a place of status and money – and tries to achieve this by throwing a “party” at a chic restaurant, with what looks like a typical hang with some girlfriends. This is probably a normal, everyday thing to do amongst her rich circle of friends. You see, poor little Taylor is not as financially blessed as her peers. Jenny from Gossip Girl, is that you???

What happens next? You tell me! I was only bringing into the spotlight the main players. I won’t spoil the rest of the episode. But trust, it has some hilariously absurd moments that would make you either tune in the following week or induce you to buy a one way ticket to the upper-east side of New York City, to give these kids a good ol’ slapping.

Photo source: www.poptower.com

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