It’s appropriate that Brittany Snow spells her name the normal way, rather than “Britney,” “Brittani” or “Britni.” The actress strikes me as an old-fashioned girl, because I first saw her as Meg Pryor in the 1960s-set “American Dreams,” that 2002-05 NBC series where Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” played in the background during every episode.
As Meg, Snow flawlessly transported herself to a time of knit sweaters and innocent “American Bandstand” dance moves, but since she was actually born in 1986, I assume she must just be a good actress. That’s why she’s the perfect choice to go back to the 1980s as a young Lily Rhodes van der Woodsen Bass (a.k.a. Serena’s mom, or “S’s mom”) on a potential “Gossip Girl” spinoff. Snow stars in the Lily flashback episode at 8 p.m. Central Monday on The CW, and you can see it later in the week at The CW Web site .
Also, Snow looks similar to the adult Lily, played by Kelly Rutherford. And that’s important — see Latika in “Slumdog Millionaire” for a jarring example of poor casting of a character at different ages.
The flashback episode will also feature Krysten Ritter, who you know by her face if not her name — she was Gia on “Veronica Mars” and Lucy on “Gilmore Girls.”
“Gossip Girl” has been inconsistent this year after being my No. 1 show of 2008. Lily, for one, is hard to pin down: She gives Serena a nice bracelet one minute, then has her arrested for disobeying her the next minute (and to set up Monday’s “when Lily went to jail” tale).
But “Gossip Girl” has always been more about style than substance (Can’t you just smell the Upper East Side in every episode? It smells like flowers and phoniness), and that’s why this Lily spinoff is a good idea even though I don’t particularly give a rip about Lily. I watch the show for Chuck and Blair. And Georgina because she was Dawn on “Buffy.” And Vanessa because she was Laura on “What About Brian.”
You can get away with a lot in a present-day yarn (a decade doesn’t get “defined” until a decade or so later), but when you go back to the past, you have to get it right. “American Dreams” got the ’60s right, “Swingtown” nailed the ’70s, and I think the style-conscious “Gossip Girl” staff might just do justice to the ’80s.
What do you think of this season of “Gossip Girl?” Are you excited about Monday’s episode and the potential spinoff?