Gossip Girl will likely be renewed for a sixth and final season, according to an individual close to the production, but it may be a shortened season featuring an abbreviated number of episodes.

The CW drama is expected to return, but for a reduced number of episodes like fellow CW drama One Tree Hill did for its final season this winter, according to the source quoted by The Wrap.

A spokesman for the network said that the CW has not yet made any decisions about picking up any of its scripted programming for next year, or how many episodes of those shows would air.

Given its ratings, the show is perpetually on the bubble. Gossip Girl averaged 1.7 million viewers, and a 1.9 rating in the women 18-34 demo, this year, well under the ratings in its debut season.

A renewal could be more palatable to the network because the stars - Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester - are under contract for one more year.

That will spare CW the potentially costly ordeal of re-negotiating salaries, but whether or not the show gets a full season or an abbreviated one may hinge on what else the network has on tap.

Simply put, if it has new shows it thinks could outperform Gossip Girl, a shorter season could be inevitable. However, that has not been made official, and it looks like GG will be back in some form.

"We're not writing a series finale this year," Executive Producer Stephanie Savage said recently.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.