Why is everyone making such a fuss over a show that cracks only 3 million viewers on a good day? Therein lies the mystery of The CW’s sexy and stylish sophomore drama — and we have some answers

About forty-five minutes outside of Manhattan, in an upscale Oyster Bay, Long Island, enclave, the cast and crew of ”Gossip Girl” are filming their second-season premiere in one of the neighborhood’s most elaborate McMansions. In the backyard, production has created a version of Diddy’s exclusive White Party. Stars Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester take their marks on the pool patio for a squabble between their characters, rivals-turned-lovers-turned-rivals Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf. Off camera, a group of local girls watch while deliriously thumbing their BlackBerries, perhaps live-blogging the experience to their friends at home:

”OMG! Ed is so much cuter in person,” or ”Leighton’s shoes are sooo fugly.” Watching the teens, many of whom are decked out in gladiator sandals and toting posh D&G purses, you get the sense that they don’t just watch Gossip Girl, they live it.

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