<P> "Valley Girls" doubles as both a Gossip Girl episode and the pilot episode of Valley Girls, a possible Gossip Girl prequel . The spin - off television series would chronicle the life of Lily Rhodes while attending high school and living with Carol in 1980s Los Angeles . </P> <P> Discussion about a Gossip Girl spin - off began in 2008 . Despite believing the project was "unlikely," Gossip Girl executives explored potential concepts including an adaptation of the Gossip Girl book series' spin - off, The It Girl . However, they felt that The It Girl's world, centered on character Jenny Humphrey's stay at boarding school, was too small and insular to sustain a television series . They were also concerned about disrupting Gossip Girl's chemistry by taking away any of the show's cast members . In December 2009, Variety magazine reported that while the "Gossip Girl spinoff (was) still in the very early stages of development", CW had begun to consider making a backdoor pilot . Such a pilot would allow the company to evaluate viewer interest in a spin - off while saving money . </P> <P> On January 14, 2009, CW green - lit a back - door pilot for an untitled spin - off series starring a young Lily van der Woodsen . The concept was based on an original idea by Gossip Girl producers Schwartz and Savage . The pilot episode, eventually named "Valley Girls", was written by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz and directed by Mark Piznarski, all of whom had previously worked the same roles for the Gossip Girl pilot . "Valley Girls" was shot on location in New York City, New York and in Los Angeles, California beginning in February 2009 . Flashbacks were set apart from present day scenes through a grainy, sepia tone . A scene in which Lily conceives and carries out an "elaborate plan to kiss a boy, and then lie about it" in order to violate her school's honor code and be expelled, was cut from the final episode . "Valley Girls" aired on May 11, 2009 . </P> <P> On February 5, 2009, Krysten Ritter became the first guest star to be officially cast for the Valley Girls pilot . Brittany Snow was the producers' top choice for young Lily Rhodes and was offered the role in early February 2009 without auditioning . Initially, the series' producers wanted to cast an undiscovered star in the role while Snow was interested in continuing her film career . However, after viewing a reel featuring Snow's work ranging from Hairspray to Nip / Tuck, Savage and Schwartz found her "perfect" and "pulled out all the stops" to convince her to come back to TV . Ryan Hansen had previously starred as "Douche" on Schwartz's web series Rockville CA . Schwartz deemed Hansen's performance there "so unlikable in such a likable way, that we cast him on the Gossip Girl spin - off ." On March 6, 2009, Entertainment Weekly reported that Cynthia Watros and Andrew McCarthy were in final talks to join the show as Lily's parents, thereby filling Valley Girls' last starring roles . </P>

Who played young lily bass in gossip girl