The young cast of The CW hit series Gossip Girl is featured in the pages of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The cover, tho, features only the two main girls, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, which all the devilishly fun high school drama swirls around on the show. Here are a few photos of Blake and Leighton (who play Serena and Blair, respectively) that were shot by photographer Terry Richardson for the mag and a portion of the magazine’s coverstory:

It’s been a heart-wrenching month for fans of the CW Network’s sexily subversive drama Gossip Girl while TV’s hottest show took a brief hiatus. But now Blair, Serena, Chuck Bass and Co. are back — and on the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone. To get the dirt on what it’s like starring as beautiful young people in New York while being beautiful young people in New York, Jason Gay hung out with the cast on set and after hours, tagging along to their favorite drinking haunts — where the beverage of choice is the potent Golden Monkey — and catching the action as the show filmed on the streets of the Big Apple. “The outdoor sets were pretty fun, because the fans come out,” Gay says. “There were many kids from local private schools, foreign tourists and tons of paparazzi. It’s strange to to see a mob of paparazzi photograph Blake and Serena in character as they film an outdoor scene. It’s as if the reality of the show exists behind two lenses — in real time and TV time. All the actors enjoy the outside stuff because of the fans, too. It’s like playing on stage or something. More energy, more excitement and the sense that anything could happen. And sometimes it does. There is no such thing as a closed set in NYC!” Despite barely scraping together 3 million viewers a week, the show has become the most talked-about, culturally relevant series on television. “It’s not a conventional TV hit in terms of viewership. Its numbers are low and it loses to stuff like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a far more wholesome show that runs on cable,” Gay says. “But in terms of having a ‘moment,’ however you want to define it, GG definitely is having one. It will be very interesting to see if the show grows, or remains a clubby, small hit. Teen shows seldom have long runs — and I don’t get the feeling this will turn into ER. But it seems to be here to stay as long as the principals involved want to keep doing it.” Part of the show’s appeal is its authenticity. “The show is sharp and connected to modern life, references, music and so on. Gossip Girl doesn’t feel like something that got drummed up in some network focus group by 55-year-old white dudes,” Gay explains. “No one’s going to accuse Gossip Girl of being The Wire or Mad Men, but if you roll with the fantasy/absurdity, it’s fun to watch, from the infighting to the insane clothes and snappy dialogue.” Right now, the stars who bring those tart lines to life — Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, Penn Badgley — somehow haven’t let fame go to their heads, according to Gay. “They’ve all reached the point where they’re in the public eye, but they’re not rolling around in blacked-out SUVs or being chased around like Madonna. A lot of them take the subway and they still complain about the price of rents and monthly car parking,” Gay reveals. “They’re in a nice place in their careers. They’re now recognizable enough to get interest for other things, but not so recognizable that daily life is a drag.” Though he’s now a Gossip guru, Gay admits, “I didn’t jump on the bandwagon immediately. But by the end of the first season, I was getting so annoyed with the fuss I had to check it out.” So what’s his favorite Gossip Girl moment? “The scene in the ‘Non-Judging Breakfast Club’ episode where Blair, Chuck and Nate rally behind Serena after she confesses about her wild night with Georgina. Nate and Blair then confess regrettable things they’ve done, and when Blair asks Chuck to contribute, he just says, ‘I’m Chuck Bass,’ ” Gay says. “It’s the kind of thing that if you watched the show for the first time, it would mean nothing to do you, but if you’re a fan, you’re dying. I think that’s one of the shrewder things about Gossip Girl — it does reward its loyal viewers.”

My, my … what suggestive photos. The second photo, of the girls sharing an ice cream cone, is the one that is used as the magazine’s coverphoto. But, the entire young cast of the series is featured in the mag. After the jump, check out a few more photos of Gossip Girl gang — Blake, Leighton, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Penn Badgley and Taylor Momsen — together in bed …

“They didn’t tell us anything about the concept,” Blake Lively says. “We didn’t know we’d have any props, but we saw this big fun table — like a kid’s birthday party. Um, some of it was a little mature for a kid’s birthday party. Some of the … inflatable items. But it’s all been a surprise; it’s been really fun” … “There’s so many pictures I love,” photographer Richardson says. “The ice cream ones were amazing. The ones inside were awesome with everyone and the pillow fight and all in bed. It’s just been awesome — they’re great, wonderful. Two thumbs up.”

Hahaha … I love that Ed decided to show off his very hairy chest by exposing it almost fully in the bed shot. The photos look like a lot of fun and I bet the gang had a blast at the shoot. I’m actually surprised that it took this long for the cast of GG to make it to the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. They’ve deffo pushed their way into the current pop culture. I love these pics … do you?

[Source, Source]