'Gossip Girl' EP on Leighton Meester leaving, ranks Juliet with Georgina

"Gossip Girl" fans worrying about Leighton Meester's comment that she is leaving the show in two years because her contract is up: Relax and take a deep breath.

Zap2it spoke with executive producer Stephanie Savage who addressed the issue of the show possibly ending after Season 6. "It feels really good to know that people are so worried that there might not be a Season 7 or a Season 8," she says. "A six-year contract is just what's standard in TV and for any show like ours if it goes on past six years, there are almost always significant changes. We are just focused on finishing out Season 4 and hopefully getting a Season 5."

If there is a Season 5, fans may see the return of the show's most recent villain, Juliet (Katie Cassidy). When asked if we've seen the last of the poor girl out for revenge (and a penchant for drugging via masks), Savage teases, "We definitely left the door open to bring her back at some point."

So how does Savage think Juliet added to the "Gossip Girl" dynamic? "I think she brought, on the one hand, a great schemer energy of someone who was really driven by an agenda, very smart, very manipulative and really on par with our characters," she explains. "On the other hand, she also brought this tragic backstory and a real vulnerability that when we actually found out what was motivating her agenda against Serena and our other characters, you felt a little sorry for her. We really love the complication of that story."

While most villains on the show get a four or five-episode arc, Juliet lasted eleven, which played a huge part in the casting of Cassidy. "We felt so confident in her abilities that we felt we could commit to a longer arc and tell a story that lasted the first whole half of the season and is going to continue in the second half."

Finally, we asked Savage where she would rank Juliet on "GG's" very long list of villains. "I think she ranks pretty high up there," she says with a laugh. "Certainly she and Georgina (Michelle Tratchenberg) are probably our best all-time villains. At that point it comes down to preference." Later, she adds that dear old Uncle Jack Bass (Desmond Harrington) is also up there with the "epic" antagonists of the show.