Still of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester in Gossip Girl. (CW)

What can you say about a TV show that airs its series finale - not season finale, series finale! - eight days before Christmas?

Well, it would appear not even Gossip Girl's network of origin, CW, considers the series finale to be a marquee event.

TV viewership, of course, tends to plummet around the holidays, with people busy doing other things. So putting the Gossip Girl series finale on Monday (CW, MuchMusic) sort of sends the message, "Let's just get this over with."

For a year or two following its debut in 2007, teen-targeted Gossip Girl was a big deal, buzz-wise. And considering the way it set itself up, I'd venture to say Gossip Girl stands as one of the most "calculated" shows in TV history.