‘Gossip Girl’: Series finale, ‘Carrie Diaries’ preview date unveiled

The end of “Gossip Girl” is very much near. How closer are we talking about? Let’s just say that you will be seeing the end of Serena, Blair, and the rest of the cast before you even reach the end of 2012.

In a new press release on Wednesday, The CW confirmed that the end of the long-running series, which has hardly been a revelation in the ratings this year, will come on Monday, December 17 courtesy of a two-hour spectacular. The first hour of the show are going to be a retrospective looking back at some of the most notable moments over the course of the show. This is a rather wonderful tribute to a show that has not always been a juggernaut for the network, even if it has done a stellar job attracting young viewers and making a star out of one Blake Lively, who has also recently married a major movie star in Ryan Reynolds.

The series finale date is actually a little earlier than expected in some ways, mostly because we were not sure how deep into the holiday season The CW wanted to get with their programming. The reason behind the tribe doing this may simply be due to the fact that the network wants to launch “The Carrie Diaries” as their new Monday-night staple in the new year. This seems to be a rather smart move for the network, especially since they are also planning to preview the prequel series for “Sex and the City” during the “Gossip Girl” finale.

What do you think about this being the series finale date?