The OC vs Gossip Girl

Here in Australia, accessibility of the hottest show of the season, Gossip Girl, is as exclusive as it's content. Unfortunately, I'm not one of lucky few who gets to revel in it's fashionable wonders each week, but I have seen my fair share of episodes. Enough to have decided that the list of similarities I can spot between former IT show The OC and Gossip Girl can't stay in my head any longer. I'm pretty sure People.com made a list (as well as every other GG/OC fan on the planet) ages ago, but I found myself disagreeing to certain comparisons - so I made my own.
Everyone is talking about Gossip Girl now that the second season is so close to airing, so what's one more blog, eh? Lol.

Marissa vs Serena

The similarities are pretty obvious, not just personality wise but these two bad-girls sort of look alike too, don't you think? Both are beautiful, stylish, troublesome rich girls who seemingly have it all, but deep down would like nothing more than to escape the lifestyle they were brought up in.

Summer and Taylor vs Blair
Everyone else is comparing Blair to Summer without a second thought, but, what about Taylor? Yes, Blair and Summer are rich, brunette and effortlessly chic, dressed-to-impress 24/7, but Taylor and Blair share similar family situations - pushy, over-bearing mother who pretends to want the best for their daughter but really just gets off on the power. But Blair's mother is way nicer than Taylor's was.

Ryan vs Nate vs...
I figured these four boys had a little similarity circle (or square, rather, lol) thing going on, therefore they're all in comparison with each other. Ryan + Marissa, Nate + Serena; Seth + Summer, Nate + Blair and squeeze Dan + Serena in there somewhere: a complicated love hexagon to boot.

Seth vs Dan
All four of these boys were turned into instant heartthrobs after their shows became IT, and none of their characters buy into the lifestyles that they were born into/brought into.

Julie vs Kirsten vs Lily
Both Julie and Lily can be nasty and downright evil, as well as putting alot of pressure on their daughters; but deep down (in Julie's case: really far down, lol) both are good people - hence the Kirsten link.

Anna vs Vanessa
They're practically the same character, really. Quirky, friends of the outsider guy who's secretly in love with him at one point and try to express this by giving him advice on his love life. But, as far as I know, Vanessa never actually gets with Dan, unlike Anna with Seth.

Sandy vs Rufus
Both are seen as uncool dads, but give some of the best advice on the show. Sandy's wife Kirsten used to date Marissa's dad Jimmy, and Dan's dad Rufus used to date Serena's mum Lily.

Luke vs Chuck
The similarities here seem obvious but when you really get down to it, they're not that similar. At first, Luke is Newport's resident bad-boy (aside from Ryan) as with Chuck in the Upper East Side. But Luke redeems himself once his vulnerable side is shown, but as far as I know, Chuck hasn't fully had his chance at redemption...yet. All Chuck wants is approval, from anyone, this being the deep down motivation for all his wicked ways; but is it the same for Luke?

Got any other similarities or differences to add?

Catch.

Romany

[photos courtesy of gossipgirlonline.net, au.movies.ign.com, remote.lohudblogs.com and theoconline.com]