An Ode to the Greatest Gossips on TV Right Now
The world could be in its most gossip-fueled era yet. DeuxMoi regularly feeds the celebrity-tabloid landscape. People can’t stop singing We Don’t Talk About Bruno, despite the song’s central refrain. And loose-lipped characters are having a moment on TV—populating the buzziest HBO dramas, network comedies, and bodice-ripping period pieces. Enter the second season of Netflix’s Bridgerton, which debuted on Friday‚ a show that’s framed around Lady Whistledown’s scandalous musings. Of course, her column is written by the oft-overlooked Penelope—who finds freedom in stirring the pot and blowing the whistle on her Regency-era surroundings.
She’s not the only one. Many of this season’s TV shows feature characters with a gift for gossip. Some spill unverified intel after feeling overlooked in their own lives, à la Gossip Girl’s Kate or Euphoria’s Lexi. Others bond over their busybody ways—see: Succession’s Tom and Greg or Abbott Elementary’s Melissa and Barbara. Above all, these characters do a public service for their respective shows, moving the plot along and delivering the goods while they do it. As Bridgerton’s buzzy new season premieres, let’s take a look at the characters keeping blind items alive on TV’s biggest hits.
By Liam Daniel/Netflix.Lady Whistledown aka Penelope from Bridgerton
Penelope (played by Nicola Coughlan) is still going anon in her juicy dispatches from the Ton’s debutante season. But Bridgerton’s second season slowly chips away at her Lady Whistledown persona (voiced by Julie Andrews) as more characters grow suspicious of the newsletter’s veiled author. Penelope’s side hustle presents challenges to her personal life as well, particularly her close friendship with Eloise (Claudia Jessie). But it also gives Penelope a platform from which she can use her voice—something the character struggles to do without a quill in hand.
By Macall Polay/HBO.Tom and Greg from Succession
Everyone on HBO’s Emmy-winning series indulges in speculation about Waystar Royco’s future. Kendall, Roman, and Shiv regularly tattletale in an effort to lead the empire. And Logan himself spreads a rumor about Sandy having syphilis in season 3. But the most consequential behind-the-scenes chatter comes courtesy of Succession’s one true pairing: Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Greg (Nicholas Braun). As outsiders to the core Roy family, this duo is able to glide in and out of the mess with a certain remove. Their shared intel has led to the committing of crimes and covering up of said transgressions, as well as last season’s final power move. When Tom sells out the rest of the Roys (including his wife) to spy for Logan, Greg remains one of the only characters to whom he is loyal.
By Scott Everett White/ABC.Barbara and Melissa from Abbott Elementary
There’s nothing like interoffice gossip to bond a pair of co-workers. And nobody thrills at workplace discourse like Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), two quirky teachers on ABC’s breakout sitcom. The show’s mockumentary style lends itself to the pair’s conspiratorial glances. Barbara and Melissa are the type of educators who trade tidbits over coffee in the break room or whispered sidebars in each other’s classrooms.
By Eddy Chen/HBO.Lexi Howard from Euphoria
Never rule out the quiet ones. After a first season in which Maude Apatow’s character was known only as Rue’s friend or Cassie’s sister, Lexi reclaimed her narrative by staging the most unhinged play in high school theater history. Lexi shed her “sidekick” energy by writing, directing, and casting herself as leading lady in Our Life—an outright tell-all about her friend group. (“Wait, is this fucking play about us?”) The production was proof that Lexi’s always been watching, biding her time until she could mirror observations about her wilder contemporaries back at them. “I like the idea of everyone trusting Lexi,” Apatow told Vanity Fair about the episode. “When she talks to the principal, he trusts her because she’s a good student; she’s never done anything to rock the boat. No one really paid attention, and then she just hit them with something that was crazy.”
By Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO.Everyone on The Gilded Age
“Is anyone going to watch us be shady in corsets?” series star Denée Benton asked on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in January. The answer is a resounding yes, thanks to the deep bench of busibodies on Julian Fellowes’ new HBO show. Whether upstairs, downstairs, or lingering somewhere in-between, every character gossips in late-19th-century New York City. The tea is often very trivial: A man from Wichita, Kansas is posing as a French chef? No one showed up to Bertha’s party?! But delivered with side-eye by Christine Baranski or Carrie Coon, almost anything would sound scandalous. Still, as the show’s first season concludes, the series’ true pot-stirrer may be Benton’s Peggy, given her gifts for observing and reporting on the elite as a burgeoning writer.
By Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu.Oliver, Charles, and Mabel from Only Murders in the Building
The unlikely trio played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez only join forces when they discover a shared love of sleuthing. Keen to solve a murder in their Upper West Side building, the citizen detectives largely rely on their brownnosing abilities to investigate. This reliance on gossip and conjecture only intensifies when Oliver, Charles, and Mabel find a captive audience for their musings via podcasting. In the end, the team’s inability to mind their own business leads to the solving of one crime—but perhaps the committing of another.
By Cara Howe/HBO Max.Kate Keller from Gossip Girl
This list would be incomplete without TV’s most esteemed gossip curator: disillusioned Constance Billard teacher Kate Keller (played by Tavi Gevinson). In the original GG, Penn Badgley’s quiet but inquisitive Dan Humphrey isn’t unmasked as the titular sleuth until the show’s final episodes. But the HBO Max reboot quickly reveals that the teachers are behind an Instagram for crowdsourced gossip about students. Kate’s authority as leader of the @gossipgirl handle is tested throughout the first season by her fellow educators. And the increasingly dubious reason for keeping GG going (keep these privileged rich kids in line!) suggest Kate may walk away from the gig come season 2.