Spotted: Manhattan's favorite Upper East Siders (and Brooklynites) celebrating the 100th episode of 'Gossip Girl' at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. As always, it was a fashionable affair for the cast -- Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Chase Crawford and Ed Westwick were all on hand -- but the real guest of honor, according to executive producer Josh Schwartz? The celebratory cake!

"We've talked about the cake for a long, long time," Schwartz told AOL TV. "'The OC' went to 93 or 92 episodes, so we were close but no cake. It's really a testament to Stephanie [Savage] and her leadership, guiding the show to 100 episodes. We birthed it, but Stephanie's really raised this child. I just send an alimony check."

But it wasn't all cake talk. The cast also teased the highly anticipated 100th episode, and all we can say is OMG! Orgies, dance sequences, a royal wedding and a potential runaway bride? This is one episode you can't miss. And from what we hear, the first 10 minutes see the entire cast doing something they've never done before.

What can it be? Let the gossip commence ...

Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue is joining the cast of CBS' flagship procedural 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' as a replacement for Marg Helgenberger, Deadline reports.

Shue, whom CBS has allegedly been courting for years, is set to become the new female lead opposite Ted Danson, who in turn replaced original cast-member William Petersen last year. Shue will play a new investigator who joins the team amid rumors that D.B. Russell (Danson) fired her when she worked for him in Seattle. Fresh from an anger management course, we expect tensions to flare between Shue's character and her new-old boss.

Helgenberger will no longer be a regular after this season, but she is expected to make occasional guest appearances. Shue's first episode will air on Feb. 15.

In other casting news ...

['Supernatural' - 'Meet the New Boss']

It's so good to have 'Supernatural' back. But it's just as delightful to have 'Supernatural' fans back. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say about the season 7 opener.

So, what if God was one of us? Except he's not really one of us, he's a mutated angel stuffed with millions of souls from purgatory plus lots of scary beasties from Ye Olden Days?

That wouldn't go so well. But it would make for a good hour of television.

There's no disputing that 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' changed the face of television (as a reporter pointed out at the Television Critics Association Press Tour Thursday morning, it's the most written-about TV series of all time in academic circles), so the CW knows that it's on to a winner with 'Ringer,' Sarah Michelle Gellar's triumphant return to TV.

But bringing back Sarah Michelle Gellar and 'The O.C.'s' Rachel Bilson ('Hart of Dixie') in the same season might be the one-two punch that The CW needs to land a knockout to primetime and shake off the assumption that it's a network for teenagers who subsist on the frothy fare like '90210' and 'Gossip Girl.' CW president Mark Pedowitz certainly expressed hope that 'Ringer' might attract a wider crowd and a larger demo than their 18-34 niche, while the good-natured 'Hart of Dixie' should appeal to fans of old-school WB programming like 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Everwood'.

Check out our highlights from the two panels after the jump.

New CW president Mark Pedowitz came to the network's executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday morning in good spirits. Bringing three new scripted shows and the promise of three new reality offerings, The CW seems optimistic that this season will be their strongest yet.

Pedowitz was on hand to assuage the fears of 'Supernatural' fans, revealing that, despite internet rumblings and rumors, the network has "no plans" for Season 7 to be the last year of the spooky drama series, revealing that he and the rest of the network's brass hope the series "keeps on going" and that they'll be examining the show's future on a season-by-season basis, depending on how the ratings hold up.

If you're like most fans of 'Supernatural,' you want more than what you've seen on screen or devoured in Mo Ryan's recaps. More Sam and Dean Winchester! More things that go bump in the night! More monsters and hunting and ... well, 'Supernatural.'

Here's your chance to fill that void. With the approval of creator Eric Kripke, author Rebecca Dessertine has written a new novel that's an exciting original story about Sam and Dean, but also provides a valuable service.

'Supernatural: One Year Gone' fills in the gaps in the TV show's timeline by telling us what we missed in that year-ahead jump from Season 5 to Season 6. Having been privy to an advanced copy of the book -- and as you'll see in our exclusive excerpt after the jump -- it's a must-read for true 'Supernatural' fans.

AOL TV talked to Rebecca Dessertine (fun fact: she's actually Kripke's assistant by day) about her experience writing the novel, which is arriving in stores today (May 24). Keep reading for more details ...

There's big news in the 'Supernatural' realm: Misha Collins, who plays the angel Castiel, won't be a series regular in season 7 of the CW show. 'Supernatural' executive producer and showrunner Sera Gamble told TV Line's Vlada Gelman that though there will be angelic story lines next season, they'll be more "self-enclosed."

"We love Misha. We love and adore the character of Castiel," Gamble said. "His character developed to this extent and went in this unexpected direction because we were so inspired by him."

The unexpected development in Friday's season finale (which I wrote about here): Cas has incredible new powers, which he acquired when he broke open Purgatory and used the souls there to give himself god-like abilities.

['Supernatural - 'Let It Bleed' and 'The Man Who Knew Too Much']

The scope of the 'Supernatural' finale was epic. It was a showdown between not just the Winchesters and Castiel but between Castiel and his enemy, Raphael, and there was a contest between Cas and his former partner, the devious Crowley, thrown in for good measure. Two factions of Heaven, plus the King of Hell, with an added helping of Winchesters: Those are pretty high stakes.

Yet given the titanic nature of these conflicts, why did the Winchesters' world feel so small when the two-hour finale was over?

['Supernatural' - 'The Man Who Would Be King']

All-time great episodes of television, which is what 'Supernatural' fans got Friday night, aren't just entertaining, moving, impressive and/or affecting. They encapsulate and embody what's great about that particular show.

Take 'Mad Men's' 'The Suitcase' versus another episode of the AMC drama, 'Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency.' The latter is one of the most wonderful, entertaining and pitch-perfect episodes of 'Mad Men' ever.

['Supernatural' - 'Mommy Dearest']

Here's a thought exercise for you: What if 'Mommy Dearest' had aired in February or March?

If it had, we'd have almost half a season to explore the issues raised by Castiel's war in Heaven and how he's been using souls in that fight. We'd have half a season to tie that story line to the thread about Sam's soul. We might even have time for a return appearance from a fan favorite -- Death.

Don't get me wrong, I thought 'Mommy' was generally satisfying, nicely atmospheric and teed up some interesting things to come. And I was happy to see a couple of my suspicions confirmed. I'd thought we'd see Crowley again, but I never imagined he'd be in an alliance with Cas. That was a well-played surprise. And as I wrote last week, I thought the Mother plot was really just a diversion and that Cas would occupy center stage toward the end of the season. The fact that we get some more quality time with Crowley is a bonus.

['Supernatural' - 'Frontierland']

Well, even if you're not a devotee of Westerns or an obsessive Clint Eastwood fan, I'm betting you found something to like in Friday's episode of 'Supernatural.'

First and foremost, the show's crew and production team should be praised for doing a bang-up job of putting the Winchesters in a Western. From the opening credits to the costumes to the sets and the sepia-toned colors that suffused the brothers trip to the Old West, 'Frontierland' was a lot of fun to watch.

"No rest for the wicked" is a common enough saying. But what about those who fight wickedness? Well, if they inhabit the 'Supernatural' universe, there's no rest for them either.

The sixth season of 'Supernatural' certainly offered new challenges for Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, the show's stars.

In the first half of the season, Sam Winchester didn't have a soul, Dean Winchester had to recover from losing his little slice of domestic contentment and deal with the scarily unemotional RoboSam, and the brothers had to contend with an unusually difficult array of critters, creatures and demonic meddlers.

"The writing took those kind of reliable tools that we used and shelved them," Ackles said of the RoboSam era. "It was a neat experience. They should never do it again," he joked.

In fact, it became clear in the interview that both actors very much enjoy the challenges that 'Supernatural' throws at them, whether it's gut-churning emotional developments or comedically-tinged episodes like Friday's 'Frontierland,' an enjoyable diversion that finds the Winchester brothers in the Old West. (Laura Prudom previews the episode here.)

['Supernatural' - 'My Heart Will Go On']

So, the Winchesters are finally back from Hellatus and everybody's favorite rogue angel is up to no good.

Add in some Celine Dion and some alternate universe shenanigans and we're all bound to have a good time, right?

Er, maybe not.

['The Vampire Diaries' - 'The Last Dance']

In another world, Matt Davis would've made a fantastic villain.

Alas, though we weren't sure of Alaric's true nature when he first arrived in Mystic Falls last season, Ric turned out to be a pretty good guy (neglecting to tell his girlfriend about his not-so-dead wife being her niece's birth mother notwithstanding).

Thankfully, Davis was able to flex his bad-guy muscles on last night's episode of 'The Vampire Diaries' as the first living embodiment we've seen of the ultimate bad guy: Klaus, the first vampire. It was nice easing into Klaus' wickedness via a friendly face, though he truly is evil -- he made Katherine stab herself in the leg repeatedly just for funsies. Don't worry about her, though, because he doesn't plan on killing her anytime soon -- "I've searched for you for over 500 years. Your death is going to last at least half that long."