This episode is the first that involves actually living in the NYU dorms and hanging out around campus, even if we haven’t seen anyone in class yet (though, now that we think about it, we didn’t see that much class at Constance either). Also a negative on NYU student buildings, and – though we are talking about “Manhattan’s Elite” here – we’re still waiting for our first foray into the dining halls. If that doesn’t happen, maybe it’s Fan Fic time, right Gossips? “Dan and Serena make out after some scrumptious patty melts from Weinstein.” Sounds tasty in more ways than one.
Once again, Gossip Girl has run afoul of NYU policy for the sake of soap opera drama and this week they decided to add an entire building to the campus rather then cover up the real location (like last week’s debut of Ehrlich Residence Hall).
Not as many offenses against New York University reality this week since the plot revolved around a Sotheby’s auction instead of a rooftop dorm party, but that doesn’t mean Gossip Girl has decided to get NYU right. Let’s go!
Season 3 Episode 3: “The Lost Boy”
Aired: 09/28/09
We Went To NYU: 2003-2007
Gossip Girl’s NYU:
Blair starts the episode on the phone with Chuck, wandering through fictional Ehrlich Residence Hall. There’s a window behind her.
At NYU:
Interior windows in dorm room hallways? Not likely. Think about the exterior of New York buildings and all those windows. If you’re going to pack as many students as you can into a building, wouldn’t you make all your hallways windowless, interior corridors? Corridors that kill the soul of the student when they are retuning home or leaving for early class?
More after the jump
Gossip Girl’s NYU:
Dan stumbles, shirt unbuttoned, out of Georgina/Blair’s room. Serena surprises him in the hallway, so Dan lies and says he was hanging out with Vanessa. His lie is discovered when Vanessa exits her room.
At NYU:
There are no surprises in NYU dorm room hallways. NYU has a very stringent sign-in policy for students and socialite-Brown-dropouts alike. While entering most dorms, a resident must sign in each guest (maximum three guests per resident) at the front desk with their student ID and the guest’s student/government-issued ID, which the security guard will keep. You then need to sign out when you leave the building, making any Serena surprise completely impossible. What’s worse, story wise is we see all our NYU-enrolled characters before Serena an no one signed her in.
Da7e: If a semi-famous socialite that looks like Blake Lively wanted to be signed into my dorm as I was leaving or re-entering, I’d totally do it for her. Policy be damned. Although my Freshman Year, some homeless guy wandered into the dorm and molested a girl while she slept, but I doubt a VanDerWoodsen has to stoop to molesting Freshman Year boys. Even if that’s what they all hope.
Muse: To be totally honest, I'd sign her in too. Giiiirrrlll cruuuussshhh. I never did experiment with lesbianism in college. Must have been due to lack of Blake Lively and/or Madeline Zima lookalikes. (Oh come on, as if Zima's "I'm gonna make out with Claire" bit ISN'T the best part about Heroes right now)
Gossip Girl’s NYU:
Vanessa finally gets wise that Scott might not be attending NYU, so she rushes to the Bursar’s office.
At NYU:
The exterior shot is of building 51. It’s hard to make out the writing on the door. It says Quinn [?]bourne Hall: Campus Administration, Office of the Bursar, University Health Center, [something else]. NYU’s main Bursar office is located at the Student Services Center at 25 West Fourth Street, the administrative office is on the 7th floor at 7 East 12th Street, the business school Graduate Program bursar is at 44 West 4th Street, the Dental Program bursar is at 345 East 24th Street, and so on and so on. There is NO bursar office on any street with the address number 51. NYU’s Washington Square Campus listing doesn’t even have ANY building with address 51, nor any halls that start with the letter Q.
Da7e: Not to mention that Vanessa sure knows how to cut through the NYU bureaucracy by going straight the bursar’s office. That’s only where I went to drop off checks, not get any sort of information. And, believe me, the grumpy student assistants who work at NYU offices would be more difficult to deal with then an angry Scott. Just ask the dude. Also, did everyone notice Scott’s last name is Adler? And he’s attending NYU, where Stella Adler Conservatory was one of the first professional schools to align with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts? Huh? Huh? Of course he’s faking, idiots.
Muse: I've never been to any Bursur's office, nor would I have known how to find one, so I don't have much to say on this subject. Only that I guarantee there would have been way more lines and way more red tape. Because it's NYU. And they like to make your life a living hell whenever possible. Like when they make you pay two hundred grand for a BFA.
On Gossip Girl:
Chuck shows up at Blair’s dorm room with champagne.
At NYU:
Besides the sign-in gripe, this could probably happen if Chuck ditched the bag he hid it in somewhere in the hallway. Also, that’s what book bags are for.
On Gossip Girl:
Blair and Chuck multi-task bidding at an auction and making out on the dorm room floor.
At NYU:
Stay off the floors. You think Freshmen make vacuuming a priority? Also, Blair’s chairs are upholstered, which – according to the NYU Housing Handbook – makes them forbidden.
On Gossip Girl:
Scott shows up at Vanessa’s dorm room to make her cry. We see an unclaimed bed in the background.
At NYU:
Does Vanessa have a single? As a Freshman? With Blair Waldorf money, MAYBE you could pull this off, but there is no way Vanessa made this happen. Maybe this is some new character’s way onto the show. Also, she would have had to walk Scott back to the front desk to sign him out since only NYU students can sign themselves out.
Da7e: I can see that the sign-in/sign-out policy is going to be a frequent victim of this show’s need for characters to dramatically enter and exit other people’s dorm rooms. And that picture is actually my Freshman year dorm room. It was supposed to be a single, but they slammed me in there with another dude. We made the best of it...BUNK BEDS! '
Muse: I can't believe I'm only realizing now how obvious it is that Scott isn't a student. He couldn't get in the dorms without Vanessa seeing that he doesn't have an NYU ID. Unless he paid some
Final Thoughts On “The Lost Boy:”
Da7e: Now that I’m watching the show for their NYU gaffs, I was less psyched that it was a Chuck Bass episode. That might be the first time I wasn’t psyched it was a Chuck Bass episode. Oh, wait, scratch that. He had that Eyes Wide Shut rip-off nonsense last season. Drat.
Muse: Something was off this week...new writers? The plot was extremely convoluted. And Georgina is gross. I said it.
Da7e: When is one of Gossip Girl’s episode events going to be an NYU event? Can it at least take place at the Skirball Center or something? Also, where are the Kristen Bell-reading sycophants? My Freshman year we had one of the girls from Spellbound (the spelling bee documentary) living on our floor and we identified her within days. If there really is a website keeping track of these people’s business, where are the inter-dorm clingers-on?
Muse: Oh, I think we get that next week when Hilary Duff joins the show. The GG obsessed NYUers (if they exist yet) will be all over that shit. Speaking of which, I'm actually thrilled they are having a famous person goes to NYU storyline. Duff will fill in the Mary-Kate Olsen-did-coke-off-of-my-suite-mate's-laptop-in-my-dorm-room-Freshman-Year - then-complimented-my-shitty-guitar-playing blank. Or the Chick-who-played-Matilda-is-doing-her-ETW-one-person-show-today-should-we-go-see-it? blank. NYU isn't NYU without random student celebrity sightings.
Da7e: This show had better improve in quality next week.
Muse: I'm counting on it. Don't fuck up, Duff. I almost typed Don't Duck up, Fuff. I think I like that more.
Crossposted from Read It Or Don't
5 comments:
I don't watch this show but I'll continue to read your commentary.
The empty bed in V's room? Duff's gonna take it.
Also, that girl who was molested by the homeless man in 3rd North? She dropped out (naturally). My good friend Shannon was her roommate that year.
Funny, my word verification to post this comment is "rapsist."
Duff's taking the bed? Damn, she's to the rescue for a lot of this week's concerns! That's the way I like it, Gossip Girl :)
I think I remember hearing about that incident, but I didn't know who it was...why was our freshman year so fucked up???
And then, of course, there's this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfAkC01bANk
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