With help from the PTC, the CW builds buzz for 'Gossip Girl' threesome

What's better than kicking off November sweeps with a boundary-testing threesome between nubile young Gossip Girl characters? Seeing the ultra-conservative Parents Television Council go apeshit over it, call for an affiliate boycott and compare the episode to a porn flick. Jackpot! Gossip Girl has been stuck in the PTC's craw for some time for its depiction of Manhattan prep schoolers gone wild. And the young-skewing network has had a bit of fun at the PTC's expense, using the watchdog group's own scathing review of the show ("mind-blowingly inappropriate") in its marketing. The current flap, which started with a protest letter from the PTC about the episode airing Monday night, has generated the kind of heat for the third-season show that can't be bought. It's golden, especially since the melodrama could use the boost, ratings- and buzz-wise. The three-way sex scene, happening between as-yet unidentified major characters, will get more exposure in next Monday's episode, via flashback. Continued controversy would be a boon. The CW to the PTC: Thank you, sirs, may we have another?

—Posted by T.L. Stanley