There is no Blair or Serena, but the new "Gossip Girl" on HBO Max is similar to the original series at its core. Showrunner and creator Joshua Safran tells Salon that recreating the same show wouldn’t work today because privilege and wealth are interpreted differently. But at its core, the shows are similar. “If you look at season one of the original ‘Gossip Girl.’ it's actually more realistic than you would think,” he said. “That first season is very much about being lost in a world that expects you to have everything. Like, if you have everything, how can you be lost? That's the show, too. It's just different generationally.”

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