15 Best TV Shows Like Gossip Girl

One of the biggest teen shows of the late 2000s and early 2010s, “Gossip Girl” typifies both the era and the genre, and remains a cultural touchstone today. The CW series follows students at a prep school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Blake Lively plays Serena van der Woodsen, a popular girl and socialite, while Leighton Meester co-stars as Blair Waldorf, the status-seeking queen bee who rules the school with an iron fist. Penn Badgley portrays Dan Humphrey, a scholarship student from the wrong side of the tracks (Brooklyn) who attends the neighboring boys’ school. Kristen Bell voices the titular Gossip Girl, an anonymous purveyor of rumors and scandal who sends salacious memos about the students via text.

“Gossip Girl” was never meant to be relatable, but that’s exactly what makes it so fun to watch. These characters are not your friends; they’re New York City royalty who lead lives we could only dream of. The series excels at creating outrageous drama and sexy schemes, carried out by characters we love to hate. Though nothing can truly replicate the show’s signature saucy tone, here are 15 great shows like “Gossip Girl” that will satisfy your cravings.

Like “Gossip Girl,” its sister show on the West Coast, “90210,” is a product of the wild, questionably styled time that was the late 2000s. Based on the ’90s series “Beverly Hills, 90210,” starring Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty, this 2008 show follows students attending school in the wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Among the teens are Annie (Shenae Grimes), a sweet girl who moves from Kansas with her adoptive brother, Dixon (Tristan Mack Wilds). Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) is the school’s mean-spirited queen bee, while Silver (Jessica Stroup) sees herself as the alternative type.

“90210” doesn’t pretend to maintain much semblance to reality — much like the over-the-top narratives of “Gossip Girl” — though it does tackle serious issues like mental health and addiction. Romantic rivalries, an illicit teacher-student relationship, illegal drugs, and bullying run rampant at West Beverly Hills High School, which is far less polished than it appears.

It’s probably a stretch to call “Pretty Little Liars” a good show, but you can’t find anything like it on television, and it will never bore you. Despite its singular absurdity, “Pretty Little Liars” does have a few things in common with “Gossip Girl” — namely, a focus on teenagers and their secrets. 

Based on the books by Sara Shephard, the show follows a group of friends torn apart and brought back together by tragedy. Aria (Lucy Hale), the artsy one, Spencer (Troian Bellisario), the brains, Emily (Shay Mitchell), the jock, and Hanna (Ashley Benson), the ditzy fashionista, were all friends with a girl named Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse), who disappeared a year earlier.

In the “Pretty Little Liars” pilot, the four former friends begin receiving texts from a mysterious figure known as “A.” These texts threaten to reveal their secrets and taunt them with clues about Alison’s disappearance. The Liars come together to try and fight back against A, whose machinations become more dangerous as the series goes on. “Pretty Little Liars” often doesn’t make sense, and the plot starts to go off the rails in later seasons, but it’s great fun, and sometimes downright hilarious.

The similarities between “The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl” are not a coincidence. Both shows were developed by Josh Schwartz, with the former show ending the year the latter show began. Ben McKenzie plays Ryan Atwood, the Dan Humphrey of the series. A troubled kid kicked out by his mother, Ryan is taken in by his public defender, Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), and his family, who live in Orange County. Ryan mostly hangs out with Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), a nerdy kid with a crush on the rich, popular Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), while Summer’s best friend is Marissa (Mischa Barton), a wealthy teen with a rebellious streak.

Like “Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.” features an amazing soundtrack — both shows share the same music supervisor — and showcases many up-and-coming artists like Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, and, perhaps most famously, Imogen Heap. Class is another of the show’s central themes, as is substance abuse. Though certain storylines read as silly today, “The O.C.” is a classic of the era and a great companion to “Gossip Girl.”

As in many shows such as “Gossip Girl” and “The O.C.,” “One Tree Hill” depicts a group of teenagers who come from different worlds. “One Tree Hill” centers on two half-brothers, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty). Nathan is a rich, popular jock, while Lucas is a loner raised by a single mother. Their friends include Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton), an emo music lover, Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush), her rich, ditzy best friend, and Hayley James (Bethany Joy Lenz), a nerdy girl with a heart of gold. 

Depicting characters that feel more relatable than the elites of “Gossip Girl,” “One Tree Hill” nonetheless featured high-stakes drama alongside more ordinary teen concerns. The show weaves a Shakespearean story into the world of high school, leading to some legitimately profound storylines — but also some major silliness. “One Tree Hill” features a lot of great acting, especially from the show’s three female leads, and arguably some of the best music of any teen show. Running for an impressive nine seasons, it’s also the rare high school show that follows the characters into their 20s.

If you’re looking for the “Gossip Girl” of the 2020s, “Euphoria,” starring Zendaya, is probably your best bet. Created and written by Sam Levinson, the series follows Rue (Zendaya), a 17-year-old who has just left rehab. Rue’s classmates include the mysterious new girl Jules (Hunter Schafer), the abusive jock Nate (Jacob Elordi), and his popular girlfriend Maddy (Alexa Demie), along with Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), who’s considered loose by her classmates, and Kat (Barbie Ferreira), a shy girl exploring her identity.

Though “Euphoria” shares some qualities with “Gossip Girl,” it probably has more in common with “Skins,” the British drama that purported to show the gritty reality of modern teenage life. The series tackles some intense issues, from drug abuse to sexual assault, and isn’t for the faint of heart. Levinson endeavors to distinguish “Euphoria” from other teen shows with its stylized look and creative cinematography, a quality befitting a series that airs on HBO.

“Gossip Girl” fans looking for something slightly more grown-up are sure to enjoy the Freeform series “The Bold Type.” Set in New York City, the series follows three friends working at Scarlet magazine (inspired by Cosmopolitan). Jane (Katie Stevens) is a type-A journalist, Kat (Aisha Dee), is a carefree, confident social media manager, and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is an under-utilized fashion assistant.

Sometimes described as “Sex and the City” for millennials, “The Bold Type” shares that show’s snappy writing, but takes a more earnest approach to the subject matter. A frothy drama that also features relatable characters and grounded personal issues, the show feels like a sweet treat but not a guilty pleasure. While the writing is good (though it suffers a bit in later seasons), it’s the cast of “The Bold Type,” and the three leads in particular, that make the show great. Fahy is a standout talent, while the trio’s chemistry and the truthfulness of their friendship give the show its sparkle.

Called the “‘Twin Peaks’ of its time,” it’s seriously tough to describe “Riverdale” because it combines so many genres and influences, including “Dawson’s Creek,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “Glee,” and the aforementioned David Lynch classic. The series thrusts the characters from the “Archie” comics into a brave new world, where Archie (KJ Apa) is a jock who wants to be a musician, Betty (Lili Reinhart) is his best friend who’s secretly in love with him, Veronica (Camila Mendes) is the new popular girl, and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is the oddball of the group.

The classic “Archie” love triangle ensues, but so do a whole host of complicated and absurd storylines. While it appears at first glance like a classic teen drama, “Riverdale” is also a mystery. The show begins with the disappearance of wealthy teen Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines), and the wild “Riverdale” storylines only grow bigger from there. Indeed, the entire show gets stranger as it progresses, involving cults, alien abductions, time travel, superpowers, people coming back from the dead, and even organ harvesting. And did we mention almost every season includes a musical episode?

Class issues are a common theme in most teen shows, “Gossip Girl” included, and the Netflix series “Elite” is no exception. The series takes place at Las Encinas, an exclusive private school in Spain. We follow three working-class students, Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), Nadia (Mina El Hammani), and Christian (Miguel Herrán), who get scholarships to attend the school. Their arrival leads to literal class warfare, as one of the students is found murdered and everyone becomes a suspect.

Dark — literally and figuratively — like “Riverdale” and glitzy like “Gossip Girl,” “Elite” combines many elements of your favorite shows. The series tackles topics common in teen shows, like drug and alcohol use, sexuality, and classism. The teenagers face serious issues in their lives, while the show follows a pulpy, fast-paced narrative. Alongside all the characters’ personal problems, there’s also the question of murder. Told in part through flashbacks, the murder mystery element puts it in “Big Little Lies” and “Veronica Mars” territory, adding even more intrigue to an already dishy show. Every season involves a murder or a death, guaranteeing that you’ll never get bored at Las Encinas, which finally closed its doors after eight seasons.

Remember that episode of “Gossip Girl” where they went to the Hamptons and Blair said, “A hot lifeguard is like Kleenex, use once and throw away”? That quote has very little to do with the ABC series “Revenge,” but it does take place in the New York elite’s favorite beach town. Emily VanCamp plays Emily Thorne, who rents a house in the Hamptons for the summer. Her neighbors are the Graysons, a billionaire family and high society royalty.

Emily seems like a nice girl, but her intentions are nefarious. In fact, she knows the Graysons well — in her eyes, they destroyed her family and ruined her life 20 years ago. Emily ingratiates herself into this world of wealth and snobbery to enact revenge on those who wronged her. But, as she gets to know this community better, her loyalties shift, and she begins to question her plan. Like “Gossip Girl,” “Revenge” serves as a titillating exposé of moneyed New Yorkers, and Emily’s desire to take them down gives the show a suspenseful twist.

The characters in the 1800s-set “Bridgerton” have their very own Gossip Girl to contend with, which is one of the reasons the two shows make great companions. In this case, the queen of gossip is known as Lady Whistledown, and she’s voiced by Julie Andrews rather than Kristen Bell. The series follows the eight siblings of the Bridgerton family as they search for love amidst the spectacle of London high society. Eldest daughter Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) is on the hunt for a husband, and she enters into a fake relationship with philandering bachelor Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) while searching for a more suitable match.

“Gossip Girl” fans will appreciate the show’s commitment to romantic melodrama, tangled webs of desire and rivalry, and swoon-worthy declarations of love. Pure fluff that doesn’t pretend to be anything else, millions of viewers made the Shonda Rhimes-produced “Bridgerton” into Netflix’s biggest series launch up to that point. If music is an important part of TV-watching for you, you might enjoy — or hate — the show’s frequent use of orchestral covers of pop songs.

The Mexican series “Control Z” combines elements from several TV favorites, including “Veronica Mars,” “Sherlock,” “Gossip Girl,” and “Elite,” as it follows Sofía Herrera (Ana Valeria Becerril), a loner with keen observational skills. When a trans student at her school is outed by an anonymous hacker, Sofía sets out to find the culprit. She is joined by Javier (Michael Ronda), the son of a soccer star and the Watson to Sofía’s Holmes, who prefers spending time with Sofía over his status-seeking peers.

The show tackles classic high school drama topics—sex, drugs, and violence —but at its core, “Control Z” is a mystery series. Technology also plays an important role in the show, as text messages and phone notifications frequently pop up on the screen. “Control Z” is less interested in shocking viewers with the kinds of dangerous behavior teens get up to, as in “Skins,” than it is in solving the central mystery, which makes it a welcome addition to the high school drama landscape.

One of the best teen shows of the 21st century, “Veronica Mars” features a unique POV, plenty of drama and intrigue, and a lot of questions about class difference. Oh, and it stars the voice of Gossip Girl herself, TV veteran Kristen Bell. She plays the titular character, a teenage girl who attends high school in the beach town of Neptune, California. Veronica used to run with the popular kids at school until a tragic event changed everything. Now, Veronica is an outcast, observing her peers from the sidelines and helping her father (Enrico Colantoni) work cases as a private investigator.

Veronica also solves cases on her own time, cracking mysteries involving her fellow students. At the same time, Veronica is determined to solve her own mystery, trying to uncover what really happened on a traumatic evening the year before. Composed like a neo-noir, “Veronica Mars” features sardonic voice-over narration from Bell (sound familiar?), late-night stakeouts, and allusions to dark events in the past. Veronica describes Neptune as “a town without a middle class,” and the show tracks the divisions between the haves and the have-nots, about which Veronica has unique insights. Fans were lucky enough to see Veronica go to college in Season 3, and got a satisfying Hulu revival that came out in 2019.

“Gossip Girl” follows the exploits of New York City socialites like Serena van der Woodsen, the closest America has to royalty despite our anti-monarchy origins. The Netflix series “Young Royals” takes that moniker seriously. The show follows Prince Wilhelm of Sweden (Edvin Ryding), who is second in line to the throne. After being involved in a fight, Wilhelm’s parents send him to Hillerska, an elite boarding school. Because of his royal status, Wilhelm is immediately accepted into the upper crust.

Wilhelm’s social standing is threatened when he develops feelings for another student, Simon (Omar Rudberg). Simon is a scholarship student and a non-boarder, which means he isn’t treated the same way as his wealthier peers. “Young Royals” tackles some of the same questions about class and cultural differences as “Gossip Girl” does. Wilhelm and Simon are sort of the Serena and Dan of their school, though the series attempts to connect their lives to serious teen issues such as homophobia, mental illness, eating disorders, and addiction. Still, the series has a soapy, melodramatic flair that “Gossip Girl” fans may appreciate.

The teens in “Gossip Girl” technically attend college starting in Season 3, but by Season 5, the topic is dropped entirely, and most agree that the first two seasons are the best. Indeed, teen shows often struggle with the transition from high school to higher education — “One Tree Hill” skipped over those years entirely. “The Sex Lives of College Girls” begins in a college, a rarity since the days of “A Different World.”

The series follows four freshman roommates at Essex College, a fictional school in Vermont. Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is a small-town girl with a lot to learn. Bela (Amrit Kaur) is on a mission to become a comedian, while Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is a rich girl who comes out as a lesbian. Their roommate Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is the daughter of a senator and a star soccer player.

More lighthearted in tone than “Gossip Girl,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls” takes a comedic look at growing up from the perspective of young women exploring their sexuality. Created by Mindy Kaling, the show has a goofy sense of humor paired with an earnest love for its characters.

When you think about it, “The Gilded Age” is kind of like “Gossip Girl” in the 1800s. Set in 1882 New York City, the HBO series follows Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), a young woman who moves from Pennsylvania to the Big Apple and finds herself enmeshed in a class war between old and new money. Her aunts, Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon), come from old money and stubbornly cling to their ways. Meanwhile, their next-door neighbors, Bertha (Carrie Coon) and George Russell (Morgan Spector), made their money through railroads.

The Gilded Age was a period of great social and technical change, and is often considered the precursor to the modern era. Marian represents the outsider (a Dan Humphrey, if you will), seeing the world through fresh eyes like the audience. Through her, we learn about the nuances of the social classes, hierarchies, and etiquette that define New York society. “The Gilded Age” features plenty of soapy drama a lá “Gossip Girl,” but much of it is quite trivial. It’s a very silly show, but it knows it’s silly, which makes it incredibly fun to watch. With a frankly astounding cast of esteemed actresses, the “Gilded Age” is more frills than substance, but when the frills are worn by such a venerable panel of women, who can complain?