At 21, Leighton has been acting for almost ten years, but her new TV gig as prep-school socialite Blair Waldorf in The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz's Gossip Girl could make her famous. "Next time you see me," she says, "I'm going to be in sunglasses with bodyguards. Just kidding! I just hope that people watch the show."

Penn, 20, stars as Dan, Gossip Girl's outcast, but it's not easy. "I've played nerdy guys before, but I try to make them cool," he says. "Now I'm going to embrace what Dan is." It shouldn't cost him too many admirers: "I get fan mail," Penn admits. "Though I'm not sure how to handle it. If I only answer some letters, is that morally right?"

This year, Taylor, fourteen, plays two very different girls named "Jennifer," with the premieres of director Gus Van Sant's new film, Paranoid Park (as "a status-obsessed cheerleader"), and The CW's Gossip Girl (as a naive New York high school freshman). "I started acting when I was three," she says. "My first major gilm was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And it all kind of went from there."

roybetter, can you please tell me where I can find the pilot, and if it is available in Canada?

(it was all about Chuck's date raping skills)

FASHION VICTIM Blair (Leighton Meester) is thrilled when her mother, Eleanor (Margaret Colin), chooses her to be the new face of her clothing line. However, Blair's happiness soon turns to feelings of betrayal and jealousy when Serena (Blake Lively) moves into the spotlight and Blair is finds herself back in Serena's shadow. Meanwhile, Serena and Dan (Penn Badgley) are reminded once again that they come from two very different worlds, and Nate (Chace Crawford) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) indulge in a boys' weekend to blow off steam after Ivy Week. Taylor Momsen, Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle also star. The episode directed by Patrick Norris was written by Joshua Safran (#103).

Are they really thinking of dropping the show so soon?

This week's print issue of Entertainment Weekly lists Gossip Girl on its Must List (10 Things We Love This Week)

"The Handmaiden's Tale"
MASQUERADE BALL, ANYONE? Dan (Penn Badgley) is torn between two girls when his childhood friend, Vanessa (Jessica Szohr), returns home and declares her feelings for him, just as he and Serena (Blake Lively) are trying to figure out what they mean to each other. At the infamous masked ball, Blair (Leighton Meester) sends Nate (Chace Crawford) on a scavenger hunt, but Nate is ultimately still distracted by his feelings for Serena. Although Blair makes it perfectly clear that outsiders are not welcome, a disguised Jenny (Taylor Momsen) and Dan sneak into the ball. Finally, Lily (Kelly Rutherford) asks Rufus (Matthew Settle) to accompany her to an Eleanor Waldorf (Margaret Colin) event in order to make Bart Bass (Robert John Burke) jealous. "Americas Next Top Model" winner CariDee English makes a cameo as Bart Bass date. The episode was directed by Norman Buckley and written by Jessica Queller (#105).