China getting its own 'Gossip Girl'

The US television team that created the hit teen drama series Gossip Girl on the CW Network is working with Chinese production companies to create a version of the show in China to possibly be called 'China Girl'.

Gossip Girl, starring Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, follows the lives of wealthy young adults living in New York City's Upper East Side and is narrated by the Gossip Girl blogger, played by Kristen Bell.

The creators of the American show, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, will be consultants with Warner Bros TV on the Chinese version being produced by Mei Tian Mei Yu, a sister company of Metan, along with Chinese-based H&R Century TV.

With 30 episodes on order, the show will be in Mandarin and launch this coming November on satellite television, according to the report in the LA Times. Chinese actress Yang Mi, of the TV series Palace, will reportedly have a recurring role.

Though the US version of Gossip Girl has sexual content, the Chinese government's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television will have to approve scripts in advance of production.

This arrangement is a first for Warner Bros as it seeks to expand its television series around the globe. The studio already produces versions of its popular reality show The Bachelor for other countries.