Pretty Little Liars

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Pretty Little Liars is an American teen drama mystery thriller television series. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series is loosely based on the book series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four girls whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named "A" who threatens to expose their deepest secrets. The series features an ensemble cast, headed by Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery, Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis and Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal.

The series premiered on June 8, 2010 on Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, and ended on June 27, 2017. After an initial order of 10 episodes, ABC Family ordered an additional 12 episodes on June 28, 2010. The ratings success of the first 10 episodes prompted the book series to be extended beyond the initial eight novels. Since its debut, the series has received mixed reviews from television critics, but remained a relative success for Freeform, garnering a large fandom, primarily on social media.

On March 26, 2013, a spin-off series was announced, titled Ravenswood. The series was canceled after one season. On June 10, 2014, Pretty Little Liars was renewed for its sixth and seventh seasons. On August 29, 2016, Freeform confirmed that the series would be ending after its seventh season in 2017. Filming of the series officially wrapped on October 26, 2016. The series finale aired on June 27, 2017, garnering a viewership of 1.41 million. The episode was followed by "A-List Wrap Party", a live special featuring the cast and executive producer King discussing the series ending.

On September 25, 2017, Freeform announced that a second spin-off series, titled Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, had been ordered, with Pieterse and Janel Parrish reprising their roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal respectively. In a 2018 panel, Parrish said that some plot points created in Pretty Little Liars will be resolved during the spin-off.

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Premise

Set in the small suburban town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania , the series follows the lives of five girls: Spencer Hastings, Alison DiLaurentis, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin and Emily Fields, whose clique falls apart after the leader of the group, Alison, goes missing. One year later, the remaining estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious villain named "A" and later from "A.D.", who threatens and tortures them for the mistakes they have made before and after Alison's death. At first, they think it is Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls come to a realization that it is someone else who is sending threatening messages to them.

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Production

Originally developed as a television series by book packaging company Alloy Entertainment, the idea was described as "Desperate Housewives for teens." Alloy met with author Shepard and gave her the property to develop into a book series. With Alloy and Warner Horizon Television interested in producing Pretty Little Liars as a television series for years, it was first planned for The WB in 2005 with a different writer until the network shut down in early 2006 and reestablished as The CW later that year. The first novel was published by HarperTeen in October 2006. In June 2008, Alloy noted that it was developing a Pretty Little Liars television pilot for ABC Family, with the novels adapted for television. After the pilot was shot in Vancouver in December 2009, filming for the rest of the series moved to Los Angeles. The series was primarily filmed at the Warner Bros. studio and backlot in the city of Burbank, near Los Angeles. In June 2012, the series was selected by lottery for a California film and TV tax credit.

Casting

ABC Family began casting for a Pretty Little Liars television pilot in October 2009. Lucy Hale was cast as Aria Montgomery in the project, followed by Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings and Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz in November 2009. In December 2009, The Futon Critic confirmed the casting of Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin and Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, as well as the addition of Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin, Nia Peeples as Pam Fields, Roark Critchlow as Tom Marin, and Bianca Lawson as Maya. Mitchell had initially auditioned for the role of Spencer and then tried for Emily. The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Torrey DeVitto and Sasha Pieterse landed recurring roles in the pilot. The Alloy website later confirmed that Pieterse would be playing Alison DiLaurentis and DeVitto would be Melissa Hastings, also mentioning the casting of Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal. On January 27, 2010, ABC Family picked up the series for 10 episodes, set to premiere in June 2010. In April 2010, the role of Aria's father Byron was recast with Chad Lowe, and Holly Marie Combs was cast as Aria's mother Ella. Jenna Marshall is played by Tammin Sursok.

On January 7, 2011, Tilky Jones was cast as Logan Reed. On April 8, 2011, Annabeth Gish was cast for the role of Anne Sullivan, a therapist who tries to find out the characters' secrets. On May 23, 2011, Andrea Parker signed up to appear as Jessica DiLaurentis, Alison's mother. On June 29, 2011, it was announced that Natalie Hall would be replacing Natalie Floyd as Hanna's soon-to-be stepsister, Kate. On January 30, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Tyler Blackburn had been promoted to series regular for the third season. In March 2012, Janel Parrish was also promoted from recurring to series regular for the third season. On March 16, 2016, TVLine reported that Andrea Parker was added as a series regular for the seventh season.

Promotion

Pretty Little Liars was called one of the most spectacular new shows of summer 2010 thanks to heavy promotion by ABC Family, including "spicy promos and hot posters". ABC Family encouraged fans to host a "Pretty Little Premiere Party" for the show by sending the first respondents a fan kit, and selected applicants to become part of an interactive "Secret Keeper Game" played with iPhones provided by the network. The show's official Facebook and Twitter accounts also promoted special fan features, including a "Pretty Little Lie Detector". Los Angeles department store Kitson showcased the show in their shop window.

A tie-in edition featuring the Season 1 poster and logo of the 2006 first novel in the Pretty Little Liars series was released on the date of the show's premiere, as was the final book of the original book series, "Wanted". "Wanted" later decidedly became the eighth book of the series, as Shepard later confirmed she would extend the series. A TV tie-in of the second book "Flawless" featuring an altered Season 3 poster was released on December 28, 2012.

Music

The theme song for Pretty Little Liars is "Secret" by The Pierces, which was suggested by one of the show's stars, Ashley Benson. The pilot episode featured music from artists such as The Fray, Ben's Brother, MoZella, Orelia, and Colbie Caillat. The show has also featured music from Passion Pit, Lady Gaga, Pink, Florence and the Machine, Lykke Li, Selena Gomez & the Scene, McFly and Rachel Platten. Music from Katie Herzig can be heard multiple times throughout the show. A few songs being "Hey Na Na" and "Where the Road Meets the Sun". Madi Diaz has been heard on the show with her song "Heavy Heart", as well as Joy Williams with "Charmed Life" and Foreign Slippers with "What Are You Waiting For?". The last episode of season one featured a song by Alexz Johnson that she originally recorded for the soundtrack of the Canadian hit TV show Instant Star. On June 14, 2011, "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri was featured in the first episode of the second season. The song "Follow Suit" by Trent Dabbs has also been featured on the show. In the episode "The Perfect Storm", Lucy Hale sings a cover of the song "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" by British band Fairport Convention. The official soundtrack was released on February 15, 2011.

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Cast and characters

Troian Bellisario portrays Spencer Hastings, one of the five Liars. Bellisario also portrays Alex Drake in the final season, Spencer's identical twin sister, which is not truly revealed until the series finale. Spencer is an extreme perfectionist who likes to please her wealthy family and her friends. She is very competitive and an overachiever. Spencer is strong willed, smart, and kind towards everyone around her, but isn't afraid to take down someone who is a threat to something she cares about. She was in a relationship with Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen) for most of the first six and a half seasons. Toby later joins the Rosewood Police Force to protect Spencer. Tired of being the victim, Spencer was a brief member of the "A" team after she thinks that she finds Toby in the woods killed by "A", but finds out from Mona that he is still alive and the only way to get to him is to become part of the team. She then learns that the only reason Toby joined the "A" team was to protect her. After the five year jump, Spencer dates Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn) and lives in Washington, D.C. She returns home after the death of Charlotte Drake but ends up staying due to her mother running for the state senate. In the season 7 mid-season finale, it is revealed that she is the biological child of Mary Drake. After the five year time jump, it is shown she has continued with politics and is a paralegal at her mothers law firm. It is revealed that she had a twin sister, Alex Drake, who grew up in London, that became A.D to avenge Charlotte's death.
Ashley Benson portrays Hanna Marin, one of the five Liars. Hanna used to have an eating disorder. She was overweight, with the nickname 'Hefty Hanna'. After Alison DiLaurentis disappeared, Hanna lost weight and changed her style, which seemed similar to Ali's, with the help of her new best friend Mona Vanderwaal. Over the course of the series, Hanna cares more about the people around her and tries to protect herself and her friends. She is loyal and strong. She has had few love affairs through the series and was in a relationship with Caleb Rivers. After the time jump, Hanna was engaged to Jordan and working in the fashion industry, but has moved back to Rosewood and is married to Caleb. In the series finale, it is revealed that she is pregnant.
Holly Marie Combs portrays Ella Montgomery, the mother of Aria and Mike, as well as the wife of Byron.
Lucy Hale portrays Aria Montgomery, one of the five Liars. Aria is the artsy chameleon who is very intelligent, caring, and has a good sense of style. She's the one who keeps her family together. Aria spent some time as a "goth". She wore black, punk-like clothing and had pink highlights in her hair. After Alison disappeared, Aria and her family moved to Iceland for a year (because of Alison's disappearance), before returning to Rosewood. When Aria and her family moved back to Rosewood, she was no longer a "goth" as she used to be, she was a girly-girl. Aria had a relationship with her English teacher, Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding) from the very first episode of the entire show, but they decided to end their relationship before Aria went to college. After the time jump, Aria dates her co-worker, Liam, and then breaks up with him after she and Ezra start dating again. Ezra then proposes to her and they get engaged. Later, Aria joins the A-Team, after being blackmailed by Uber A. In the season finale, it is revealed that she is infertile which leads her to believe that she would never be able to marry Ezra; however, at the end of the episode she and Ezra are married. Aria finds out that she is unable to have children shortly before the wedding and tells Ezra the day before their marriage. He still wants to marry her.
Ian Harding portrays Ezra Fitz, a former English teacher at Rosewood High who begins a relationship with Aria which causes a lot of tension due to her being his student. However they keep a steady relationship until season 4 when it is revealed that he is writing a book about the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis which causes Aria to break up with him. It is also revealed that he had a very brief relationship with Alison before she disappeared after she met him in bar near Hollis with Charlotte Drake. After the time jump, Ezra is in a very bad place due to his girlfriend Nicole being kidnapped and killed in Nicaragua while they were there doing charity work. He is writing a book about his experience which is being published through the company Aria is currently working at which causes them to rekindle their old friendship. In the season 6 finale, they have sex which causes them to talk about their relationship and Ezra proposes to Aria which after some hesitation and a confession about the death of Archer Dunhill, she accepts. They are married in the series finale.
Bianca Lawson portrays Maya St. Germain, a new girl who moves into Rosewood and develops a relationship with Emily, becoming her first girlfriend. She moves into Alison's old house which causes tension with the girls at first but they quickly begin to like her. She is killed in the season 2 finale by Lyndon James who was her stalker from a rehabilitation camp which she was sent to when Pam discovers weed in her bag. Lyndon disguises himself as her cousin who tries to get close to Emily so that he can kill her out of jealousy however, he is killed by Emily stabbing him in mid-season 3.
Laura Leighton portrays Ashley Marin, the mother of Hanna. In the first season she is working as a member of the bank until she is arrested as the suspected murderer of Darren Wilden. She is released when Mona takes the blame for murder and Pastor Ted posts her bail. She then begins working for Mrs DiLaurentis until her death when she chooses to leave as Jason takes over which causes tension due to their past relationship. After the 5 year time jump, she has now turned Radley into a fancy hotel and is working as the manager.
Chad Lowe portrays Byron Montgomery, the father of Aria and Mike, as well as the husband of Ella. He is the center of one of the first story lines due to him having an affair with one of his students at Hollis causing all sorts of issues with his family. Due to this, him and Ella get a divorced but later remarry in season 6 with Aria as their officiator. Chad Lowe was the first cast member to direct an episode of Pretty Little Liars, followed by Troian Bellisario.
Shay Mitchell portrays Emily Fields, one of the five Liars. Emily is the sporty one in the group. She is the best swimmer on the high school swim team, and eventually becomes a coach of the team. Emily's demeanor is kindhearted and very loyal to those she loves. Emily is a shy closeted lesbian in the beginning of the series, in love with Alison DiLaurentis. Over the course of the series, Emily came out to her parents that she was in a relationship with Maya St. Germain. After Maya's murder, Emily develops a relationship with Paige McCullers in season 3. They're together for a while, until Paige betrays Emily's trust. After the time jump, Emily has dropped out of the university she attended in California after the death of her father and she came back to Rosewood with a secret. She ends up donating her eggs in season 6 to help to start a family. As of The Darkest Knight she is now working at Rosewood High School as the swim coach. In Season 7, it is revealed that Alison is pregnant with Emily's baby after A.D stole Emily's eggs after she donated them and impregnated Alison while she was in Welby. Emily confronts Ali about the baby and she agrees to have it for her. Soon after, Alison confesses her feelings for Emily and the 2 enter a relationship. In the series finale, Emily and Ali are raising twin girls, Lily and Grace. Alison proposes to Emily who accepts.
Nia Peeples portrays Pam Fields, the mother of Emily as well as being the wife of Wayne.
Sasha Pieterse portrays Alison DiLaurentis, one of the five Liars and the former "Queen Bee" of her clique, and the most popular girl in school before her disappearance. She enjoys using people's deepest secrets against them to keep them in line. Charming and manipulative, Alison managed to manipulate all four of her friends in one way or another and is skilled at finding ways to blackmail others. It was later revealed that Alison is alive and was on the run from "A". After the five-year time jump, Alison marries a man posing as Dr. Elliott Rollins, who was her sister Charlotte's psychiatrist. In the beginning of Season 7, Alison finds out that he is not the "good" man that she thought she married and with the help of the other girls, they manage to kill him before he kills them. Alison is now an English teacher at Rosewood High. It is also revealed in season 7 that she is pregnant with Emily's baby. Shortly after, she admits to being in love with Emily and enters a relationship with her and intends to raise the baby with her.In the series finale, she is raising twin girls, Lily and Grace, later on in the episode she proposes to Emily.
Tyler Blackburn portrays Caleb Rivers, the high school boyfriend and later husband of Hanna Marin, and a professional hacker. It is revealed in season 1 that he was in the foster care system and slept in school or public places the majority of the time to avoid staying with his foster family. For a brief time he moves into Hanna's basement before moving in with Lucas. He also reconnects with his biological parents. He departs the show mid-season 4 to go to Ravenswood, which was a sister spin-off show of Pretty Little Liars. He returns in the 100th episode with a haunting secret which causes tension between him and Hanna. They both begin drinking, him to forget Ravenswood, her coping with Alison's return to Rosewood. After the time jump, it is revealed that he and Hanna broke up due to them working too much and he begins dating Spencer causing a love triangle between the three of them. In the mid-season 7 finale, he confesses his feeling for Hanna leading to them having sex prompting them to get back together. In "Choose or Loose", they elope in the courthouse and in the finale, Hanna announces she's pregnant.
Janel Parrish portrays Mona Vanderwaal, the original and first "A". She is the person who stalked Alison before her disappearance, and did this as revenge for Alison crowning her "Rosewood's biggest loser". After Alison disappeared she became best friends with Hanna Marin and they transformed themselves into the most popular girls at school, taking Alison's place. In the season two finale she is exposed as "A" and sent to Radley Sanitarium, where she is visited by CeCe Drake (Charlotte), who takes Mona's place in the "A" game. In Season 3, she continues working as "A" and by the end of the season is kicked off the "A" team and becomes a victim of "A" along with the other girls. In Season 4 she helps the girls out with their investigations of the new "A". In season 5 she creates an army so as not to be intimidated by Alison's return. Later in the season, she fakes her own death to ferret out "A" but is kidnapped by "A" and imprisoned in "A"'s dollhouse. After the time jump, Mona is working for Veronica Hastings' rival for State Senator, and is revealed to be Charlotte Drake's killer.
Andrea Parker portrays Jessica DiLaurentis / Mary Drake, twin sisters. Jessica is the mother to Alison and Jason, while Mary is revealed to be the mother of Charlotte and Spencer. Mary was admitted to Radley Sanitarium for most of her life, but has now returned to Rosewood. During the fourth season, Mary kills Jessica and attempts to frame Peter Hastings for it. However, this is not revealed until season 7. She comes back to Rosewood later, now allied with Archer Dunhill. In the nineteenth episode of season 7, she takes the blame for the death of Archer Dunhill so the Liars won't have to go to prison. In the season finale, it revealed that she escaped prison with the help of Mona so that she could ally with Alex Drake, her other biological daughter, Spencer's twin sister who is revealed as "A.D.".

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Setting

Rosewood

Rosewood is a fictional town in the state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal setting of the series and the books. The Liars live in this town along with most of the other characters. It contains many principal locations: the police station, the Rosewood High School, the church, the Rosewood Shopping Center, Hollis College, the Rosewood Community Hospital, the Rosewood movie theater, the mausoleum, the dental office, the Ophthalmology Cabinet, and the Rosewood Court.

Virtually all these locations are actually exteriors on the backlot of the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. Interior scenes are filmed separately on nearby soundstages. For example, different sides of the same building on the backlot are used for the entrances of the Rosewood police station and high school.

Secondary locations

Real towns: New York City, Cape May, Philadelphia, London, Hilton Head Island and Brookhaven.

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Broadcast

Pretty Little Liars premiered on June 8, 2010 in the United States, becoming ABC Family's highest-rated series debut on record across the network's target demographics. It ranked number one in key 12-34 demos and teens, becoming the number-one scripted show in Women 18-34, and Women 18-49. The premiere was number two in the hour for total viewers, which generated 2.47 million unique viewers, and was ABC Family's best delivery in the time slot since the premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

The second episode retained 100% of its premiere audience with 2.48 million viewers, despite the usual downward trend following a premiere of a show, and built on its premiere audience. It was the dominant number one of its time slot in Adults 18-49, and the number one show in female teens. Subsequent episodes fluctuated between 2.09 and 2.74 million viewers. The August 10, 2010 "Summer Finale" episode drew an impressive 3.07 million viewers.

On June 28, 2010, ABC Family ordered 12 more episodes of the show, bringing its total first-season order to 22. On January 10, 2011, ABC Family picked the show up for a second season that premiered on June 14, 2011. During the summer of 2011, Pretty Little Liars was basic cable's top scripted series in women aged 18-34 and viewers 12-34. The second half of season 2 aired on Mondays at 8/7c, beginning on January 2, 2012.

On November 29, 2011, ABC Family renewed the show for a third season, which consisted of 24 episodes. On October 4, 2012, ABC Family announced that the show was renewed for a fourth season, again comprising 24 episodes. The second half of the third season began airing on January 8, 2013 and finished March 19, 2013. Pretty Little Liars returned for Season 4 on June 11, 2013. On March 25, 2013, it was again announced that Pretty Little Liars had been renewed for a fifth season scheduled for a 2014 air date and a new spin off show entitled Ravenswood would begin airing after the season four annual Halloween special in October 2013. The second half of season four premiered on January 7, 2014. It was announced on June 10, 2014 that Pretty Little Liars was renewed for two seasons, making the show ABC Family's longest running original hit series. On August 29, 2016, I.Marlene King announced that Pretty Little Liars would be ending after the seventh season had aired. The second half of the seventh season will begin airing later than previous season, in April instead of January.

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Critical reception

Pretty Little Liars opened with mixed reviews. Metacritic gave the pilot episode 52 out of 100, based upon 14 critical reviews. The New York Daily News gave the show a positive review, commenting that it "makes most popular vampire romances look anemic", while concluding, "Pretty Little Liars could go in several directions, including mundane teen clichés. It's got an equally good shot at making us care about these imperfect pretty girls." A writer on Terror Hook has stated that " 'Pretty Little Liars' gets off to a very promising start. Great production all around, the writing keeps the viewer on their toes, and the acting just reinforces it. The overall mystery of the show in the end is dark and unpredictable, even stepping into the slasher film realm." The New York Post gave the show three out of five stars, stating, "OK, so we've established that there is no socially redeeming value in this series and that your kids shouldn't watch it if they are too young and impressionable. But if you can distract them enough to miss the first 15 minutes, the show isn't half-bad. Actually, it is half-good, if that makes sense." The Los Angeles Times wrote that the series is "one of those shows that manages to mildly, and perhaps unintentionally, spoof its genre while fully participating in it, and that's not a bad thing at all."

Entertainment Weekly had a less favorable review, giving the show a letter grade of "D-", saying, "Imagine the pitch for Liars: It's I Know What You Did Last Summer meets Gossip Girl, but like not so subtle." It went on to say that the plot "hits every racy teen entertainment mark so hard (everyone's hair is so full--of secrets!) that it feels like the only thing missing is a visit from the ghosts of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr." The Hollywood Reporter compared the show to those on The CW and noted, "Sure, there's a lot here that sustains more eye-rolling than interested stares, but a little patience might be warranted."

Ratings

Since the series premiere, Pretty Little Liars has remained popular. In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that the show's "popularity is tilted toward women more than any other show in the data -- over 94 percent of 'likes' come from women".

The series earned its highest rated episode with 4.20 million total viewers, ranking among ABC Family's top 5 telecasts in adult viewers 18-34, total viewers and women viewers. The highest rated episodes include season one's finale, with 3.64 million, and season two's premiere and finale episodes, each yielding nearly 3.7 million viewers. The show stands as the most watched series on ABC Family, maintaining a steady viewership of over 2.5 million and currently standing as the only show to yield an average of over 2 million viewers.

Awards and nominations

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DVD releases

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In other media

Spin-offs

Ravenswood (2013-2014)

Ravenswood is a supernatural teen drama mystery-thriller series, set in the fictional town of Ravenswood, Pennsylvania, the series follows five strangers whose lives become intertwined by a deadly curse that has plagued their town for generations. They have to dig into the town's dark past to solve the mysterious curse.