We just got this series at work. I ordered it for the teen collection because it is based on a series of books published for that age group. Like the books, the show centers around a group of very wealthy (and spoiled) teens that live in Manhattan and attend the same private school. Thanks to their familial money, they have access to everything they could want, including drugs, booze, sex, and clothes.

The books and the show kick of with the return of Serena Van der Woodson, who has been away attending a boarding school. Serena, who was the ultimate queen bee, had disappeared mysteriously during the previous school year. A lot of it has to do with the fact that she slept with her best friend's (Blair Waldorf) boyfriend Nate Archibald. Blair was particularly hurt because it was her friend, and she and Nate had been waiting for their first time for ages. The last of the rich kids is Chuck Bass, who is the ultimate bad boy among the group. He is an oversexed pig, who seems to do everything to hide his unhappiness with homelife in the drudgery of high society.

This group is offset by the nice Humphrey family. They actually live in Brooklyn and attend school on a partial (majority) scholarship. Older brother Dan is a nice guy, who has always had a crush on Serena, but has been too afraid to say anything. Then, there is his younger (freshman) sister Jenny ... She looks up to Blair and her clique with hopes of getting in, and she is willing to do anything to do so.

The series of books has been tremendously popular, and even made the evening news because it is so "trashy." Ultimately, the kids in the book are not as bad as they seem. The trouble they do get into tends to lead to lessons learned. The books are fun, but the CW Network has taken the tales to a whole new level with the trouble the kids get into. I was surprised to see that this was a show aired on network television rather than a cable network because they do nothing to soften the immorality of what the kids do. I always said the book series was like Sex and the City for teens, and the show is even more so. It is fun, but it is definitely not for older audiences.