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[COLOR= #1f497d]
[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]gossip [/COLOR][COLOR= #ffc000]girl[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]the complete third season[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Studio: Warner Bros.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Original Airing: 2009-2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Length: 22 Episodes (930 minutes)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Genre: Teen Soap Opera[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Color/B&W: Color[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Audio:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]English Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 kbps)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rating: Unrated (Sexuality, Suggestive Language)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Release Date: August 24, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rating:[/COLOR] [COLOR= red]3[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Starring: Blake Lively,Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr with Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Executive Producers: Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Based Upon the Books by Cecily von Ziegesar[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Directed by: Various[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is a 5-disc DVD set encompassing the third year of the CW network’s adaptation of Cecily von Ziegesar’s bestselling series of teen soap novels about the romantic ins and outs of upper class young women in New York. I still can’t say I’m a fan of the series, but I must again disclose that my roommate is now completely hooked on it. (I actually lost control of the TV remote, the TV and my DVD player for a full 12 hours while she and her friends did a marathon of the episodes. Every 40 minutes, when I would try to break in, I would be told I could have the TV back after the current episode was done. And then I’d hear that same opening of ‘XO XO Gossip Girl!’ and they’d be off into a new episode. The series continues to be handsomely produced and recorded on HD media, with appropriately ritzy New York locations and fashions getting a great showcase. When you get down to the actual dialogue and story, it’s a complete soap opera, with many of the same situations repeated to the same effect throughout the season. Most of the situations involve attractive young women and their adventures in love, lust and everywhere in between. And the young men tend to be there to be appropriately dashing and/or dastardly, with the usual mugging going on to convey that idea. Of course, by the end of the season, one of the guys does a completely different kind of mugging, but that’s a whole different story…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The DVD set includes all 22 episodes in anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 sound (albeit at a lower bitrate than I am accustomed to hearing), with some deleted scenes included along the way, as well as a smaller passel of extra features than were available on the Second Season sest. Fans of the series likely already have this set and have already been poring over it in preparation for the now-airing Fourth Season. (The first episode aired two nights ago – and it all begins again…)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]VIDEO QUALITY[/COLOR][COLOR= red] 3/5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is presented in a 1.78:1 Anamorphic transfer that nicely displays the series’ HD photography, just as the Second Season did. The New York day and night photography comes across well, and flesh tones are accurate, with Taylor Momsen’s lovely pale features continuing to be a good barometer. (The wardrobe designers take this a step further in some early episodes this season by constantly dressing her in black, which makes for a nice accent.)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]AUDIO QUALITY[/COLOR] [COLOR= red]3/5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is presented in an English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that lives in the front channels and provides music in the rear channels. Strangely enough, I noticed that the bitrate here is only 384 kbps, rather than the usual 640 kbps for a 5.1 mix. I’m not sure why this is the case – but given the limited demands this series places on the sound system, the lower bitrate does not appear to have an impact.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC BY DISC[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]As I regularly do with television series sets, I’ll account for what can be found on each disc, in order. To save time, I’ll note here that all episodes and the deleted scenes are presented in anamorphic widescreen, and while the episodes themselves have the 5.1 sound mix, the deleted scenes are presented in 2.0, and are accessed from the episode selection menu.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC ONE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes: [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Reversals of Fortun [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Season Premiere, and also the annual summer vacation catch-up episode.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Freshman [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:38) (In every episode where there is a deleted scene, the scene is actually presented via the main episode menu. Deleted scenes are not part of the episode proper.) [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Lost Boy [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Dan de Fleurette [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:26)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rufus Getting Married [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 2 deleted scenes (1:25)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC TWO:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Enough About Eve[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]How to Succeed in Bassness[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Grandfather Part II [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:45).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]They Shoot Humphreys, Don’t They? [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:01)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Last Days of Disco Stick[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC THREE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes-[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Treasure of Serena Madre[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030] – Includes 1 deleted scene (0:34)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Debarted[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:16).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Hurt Locket[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Lady Vanished[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Sixteen Year Old Virgin [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– The annual episode about a young woman debating losing her virginity centers around Taylor Momsen’s character. Includes several deleted scenes (4:28)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC FOUR:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes: [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Empire Strikes Jack [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:26). This episode also has an option to watch it via “Gossip Girl Mode”. This is listed in the packaging as “an interactive viewing experience.” That’s not quite accurate. What it is, actually, is a separate copy of the episode that has several moments of pop-up trivia (which appear via text updates on an on-screen cell phone) and several branched featurettes about the episode at hand and the onscreen fashion show. There’s about 20 minutes of material here, not counting the “texted” pop-ups. But the material isn’t interactive. All you have to do is turn this version of the episode on and the pop-ups and featurettes automatically appear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Inglourious Bassterds[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030] (I’ll allow that this is one of the best conversions of a movie title used for the series.)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Unblairable Lightness of Being[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC FIVE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Dr. Estrangeloved [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]Includes deleted scenes (1:23).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]It’s a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](Okay, I take back what I said about the earlier episode. THIS title is funnier...)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Ex Husbands and Wives[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Last Tango, Then Paris[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:49)[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030].[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]This disc also contains:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]LOL: Gag Reel [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](10:14, Anamorphic) – As with the prior season set, over ten minutes of bloopers are presented here. I particularly enjoyed Blake Lively’s mispronunciation of “Europe”…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]A Gossip Girl Fabulous Affair[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]: Throwing a Party Gossip Girl-Style [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](14:21, Anamorphic) – This featurette includes interviews with art department and wardrobe designers, and everyone else they can get regarding the social events and parties regularly presented on the series.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Music Videos [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](3:08 and 3:11, Anamorphic) – Two special music videos are included here, using footage from the series intercut with shots of the singer. The first one is Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, and the second one is The Plastiscines “Bitch.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French. Standard chapter menus are included for quick reference. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]I should also note that the packaging includes a $1.00 coupon for Nicole Nail Lacquer.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]IN THE END...[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is a good way to catch up on the last season of the series as the new Fourth Season kicks off this week. As I’ve said about this series before, be careful about watching too long with this show. You may well find yourself getting hooked…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Kevin Koster[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]September 15, 2010.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]gossip [/COLOR][COLOR= #ffc000]girl[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]the complete third season[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Studio: Warner Bros.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Original Airing: 2009-2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Length: 22 Episodes (930 minutes)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Genre: Teen Soap Opera[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Color/B&W: Color[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Audio:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]English Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 kbps)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rating: Unrated (Sexuality, Suggestive Language)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Release Date: August 24, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rating:[/COLOR] [COLOR= red]3[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Starring: Blake Lively,Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr with Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Executive Producers: Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Based Upon the Books by Cecily von Ziegesar[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Directed by: Various[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is a 5-disc DVD set encompassing the third year of the CW network’s adaptation of Cecily von Ziegesar’s bestselling series of teen soap novels about the romantic ins and outs of upper class young women in New York. I still can’t say I’m a fan of the series, but I must again disclose that my roommate is now completely hooked on it. (I actually lost control of the TV remote, the TV and my DVD player for a full 12 hours while she and her friends did a marathon of the episodes. Every 40 minutes, when I would try to break in, I would be told I could have the TV back after the current episode was done. And then I’d hear that same opening of ‘XO XO Gossip Girl!’ and they’d be off into a new episode. The series continues to be handsomely produced and recorded on HD media, with appropriately ritzy New York locations and fashions getting a great showcase. When you get down to the actual dialogue and story, it’s a complete soap opera, with many of the same situations repeated to the same effect throughout the season. Most of the situations involve attractive young women and their adventures in love, lust and everywhere in between. And the young men tend to be there to be appropriately dashing and/or dastardly, with the usual mugging going on to convey that idea. Of course, by the end of the season, one of the guys does a completely different kind of mugging, but that’s a whole different story…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The DVD set includes all 22 episodes in anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 sound (albeit at a lower bitrate than I am accustomed to hearing), with some deleted scenes included along the way, as well as a smaller passel of extra features than were available on the Second Season sest. Fans of the series likely already have this set and have already been poring over it in preparation for the now-airing Fourth Season. (The first episode aired two nights ago – and it all begins again…)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]VIDEO QUALITY[/COLOR][COLOR= red] 3/5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is presented in a 1.78:1 Anamorphic transfer that nicely displays the series’ HD photography, just as the Second Season did. The New York day and night photography comes across well, and flesh tones are accurate, with Taylor Momsen’s lovely pale features continuing to be a good barometer. (The wardrobe designers take this a step further in some early episodes this season by constantly dressing her in black, which makes for a nice accent.)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]AUDIO QUALITY[/COLOR] [COLOR= red]3/5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is presented in an English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that lives in the front channels and provides music in the rear channels. Strangely enough, I noticed that the bitrate here is only 384 kbps, rather than the usual 640 kbps for a 5.1 mix. I’m not sure why this is the case – but given the limited demands this series places on the sound system, the lower bitrate does not appear to have an impact.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC BY DISC[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]As I regularly do with television series sets, I’ll account for what can be found on each disc, in order. To save time, I’ll note here that all episodes and the deleted scenes are presented in anamorphic widescreen, and while the episodes themselves have the 5.1 sound mix, the deleted scenes are presented in 2.0, and are accessed from the episode selection menu.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC ONE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes: [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Reversals of Fortun [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Season Premiere, and also the annual summer vacation catch-up episode.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Freshman [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:38) (In every episode where there is a deleted scene, the scene is actually presented via the main episode menu. Deleted scenes are not part of the episode proper.) [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Lost Boy [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Dan de Fleurette [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:26)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Rufus Getting Married [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 2 deleted scenes (1:25)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC TWO:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Enough About Eve[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]How to Succeed in Bassness[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Grandfather Part II [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:45).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]They Shoot Humphreys, Don’t They? [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:01)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Last Days of Disco Stick[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC THREE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes-[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Treasure of Serena Madre[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030] – Includes 1 deleted scene (0:34)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Debarted[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes 1 deleted scene (0:16).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Hurt Locket[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Lady Vanished[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Sixteen Year Old Virgin [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– The annual episode about a young woman debating losing her virginity centers around Taylor Momsen’s character. Includes several deleted scenes (4:28)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC FOUR:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes: [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Empire Strikes Jack [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:26). This episode also has an option to watch it via “Gossip Girl Mode”. This is listed in the packaging as “an interactive viewing experience.” That’s not quite accurate. What it is, actually, is a separate copy of the episode that has several moments of pop-up trivia (which appear via text updates on an on-screen cell phone) and several branched featurettes about the episode at hand and the onscreen fashion show. There’s about 20 minutes of material here, not counting the “texted” pop-ups. But the material isn’t interactive. All you have to do is turn this version of the episode on and the pop-ups and featurettes automatically appear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Inglourious Bassterds[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030] (I’ll allow that this is one of the best conversions of a movie title used for the series.)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]The Unblairable Lightness of Being[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]DISC FIVE:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Episodes:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Dr. Estrangeloved [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]Includes deleted scenes (1:23).[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]It’s a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](Okay, I take back what I said about the earlier episode. THIS title is funnier...)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Ex Husbands and Wives[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Last Tango, Then Paris[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]– Includes deleted scenes (2:49)[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030].[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]This disc also contains:[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]LOL: Gag Reel [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](10:14, Anamorphic) – As with the prior season set, over ten minutes of bloopers are presented here. I particularly enjoyed Blake Lively’s mispronunciation of “Europe”…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]A Gossip Girl Fabulous Affair[/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]: Throwing a Party Gossip Girl-Style [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](14:21, Anamorphic) – This featurette includes interviews with art department and wardrobe designers, and everyone else they can get regarding the social events and parties regularly presented on the series.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Music Videos [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030](3:08 and 3:11, Anamorphic) – Two special music videos are included here, using footage from the series intercut with shots of the singer. The first one is Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, and the second one is The Plastiscines “Bitch.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French. Standard chapter menus are included for quick reference. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]I should also note that the packaging includes a $1.00 coupon for Nicole Nail Lacquer.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]IN THE END...[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season [/COLOR][COLOR= #303030]is a good way to catch up on the last season of the series as the new Fourth Season kicks off this week. As I’ve said about this series before, be careful about watching too long with this show. You may well find yourself getting hooked…[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]Kevin Koster[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #303030]September 15, 2010.[/COLOR]
