How Much Do You Know About Gossip Girl?
Was originally pitched as a feature with Lindsay Lohan as Blair Waldorf. When that fell through, its backers (who had the rights to the stories) approached Josh Schwartz about turning it into a series.
The name of Rufus' band, "Lincoln Hawk", is also the name of Sylvester Stallone's character in the movie Over the Top (1987). That movie is mentioned several times as being a cult-classic in "The O. C." (2003), the previous show from Josh Schwartz, the creator of this series.