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Pretty Little Liars

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Pretty Little Liars is an American teen drama mystery thriller television series developed by I. Marlene King and is loosely based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four high school 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.[1] 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, but 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.[2] Filming of the series officially wrapped on October 26, 2016.[3] The series finale was viewed by an estimated 1.41 million viewers. It had the second-highest rating of any cable TV series that aired that night.[4] 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 Parrish reprising their roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal respectively.[5] On May 14, 2018, Freeform picked up the series for a 10-episode first season, set to air in 2019.[6][7] In a 2018 panel, Parrish said that some plot points created in Pretty Little Liars will be resolved during the spin-off.[8]

Premise
Set in the suburban town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of five high school 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 realize it’s someone else who wants revenge. 
Cast and characters




Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, 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. Bellisario also portrays Alex Drake in the final season, Spencer's identical twin sister, who is not truly revealed until the series finale.
Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin, a girl who 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 Alison'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.
Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery, the mother of Aria and Mike, as well as the wife of Byron.
Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery, an 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 and her father's infidelity, 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.
Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz, an English teacher at Rosewood High who begins a relationship with Aria which causes a lot of tension due to her being his student.
Bianca Lawson as 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.
Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin, Hanna's mother. 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 as Byron Montgomery, Aria and Mike's father, and Ella's husband. 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, he and Ella get a divorce but later re-marry in season 6 with Aria as their officiator. Chad Lowe was the first cast member to direct an episode of the series, followed by Troian Bellisario.
Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, 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.
Nia Peeples as Pam Fields, Emily's mother and Wayne's wife.
Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis, 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".
Janel Parrish as 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.
Andrea Parker as Jessica DiLaurentis and Mary Drake, twin sisters. Jessica is the mother to Alison and Jason, while Mary is revealed to be the mother of Charlotte, and Spencer and Alex. Mary was admitted to Radley Sanitarium for most of her life, but has now returned to Rosewood.
Episodes


Production
Development

Originally developed as a television series by book packaging company Alloy Entertainment, the idea was described as "Desperate Housewives for teens."[14] Alloy met with author Shepard and gave her the property to develop into a book series.[14] 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.[15] The first novel was published by HarperTeen in October 2006.[16] In June 2008, Alloy noted that it was developing a Pretty Little Liars television pilot for ABC Family,[14] with the novels adapted for television.[15] After the pilot was shot in Vancouver in December 2009, filming for the rest of the series moved to Los Angeles.[17][18] The series was primarily filmed at the Warner Bros. studio and backlot in the city of Burbank, near Los Angeles.[19] In June 2012, the series was selected by lottery for a California film and TV tax credit.[20]
Casting
ABC Family began casting for a Pretty Little Liars television pilot in October 2009.[15] 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.[21] 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.[22][23] Mitchell had initially auditioned for the role of Spencer and then tried for Emily.[24] The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Torrey DeVitto and Sasha Pieterse landed recurring roles in the pilot.[23] 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.[25] On January 27, 2010, ABC Family picked up the series for 10 episodes, set to premiere in June 2010.[26] In April 2010, the role of Aria's father Byron was recast with Chad Lowe,[27] and Holly Marie Combs was cast as Aria's mother Ella. Jenna Marshall is played by Tammin Sursok.[28]
On January 7, 2011, Tilky Jones was cast as Logan Reed.[29] On April 8, 2011, Annabeth Gish was cast for the role of Anne Sullivan, a therapist who tries to find out the main characters' secrets.[30] On May 23, 2011, Andrea Parker signed up to appear as Jessica DiLaurentis, Alison's mother.[31] On June 29, 2011, it was announced that Natalie Hall would be replacing Natalie Floyd as Hanna's soon-to-be stepsister, Kate.[32] On January 30, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Tyler Blackburn had been promoted to series regular for the third season.[33] In March 2012, Janel Parrish was also promoted from recurring to series regular for the third season.[34] On March 16, 2016, TVLine reported that Andrea Parker was added as a series regular for the seventh season.[35]
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.[36] The series featured music from artists such as Sara Bareilles, Rachel Platten, OneRepublic, Jessie J, McFly, Passion Pit, Lady Antebellum and Florence and the Machine. 2AM Club made a guest appearance in the first season episode "There's No Place Like Homecoming", with some of the songs appeared on their album, What Did You Think Was Going to Happen?[37][38] and ZZ Ward performed with two songs "Til the Casket Drops" and "Last Love Song" from her debut album, Til the Casket Drops to promote the series' third[39] and fifth[40] seasons. The series' soundtrack was released by WaterTower Music on February 15, 2011.[41]
Release

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.[55] 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.[56] Subsequent episodes fluctuated between 2.09 and 2.74 million viewers.[57][58] 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.[59] 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.[60][61] The second half of season 2 aired on Mondays at 8/7c, beginning on January 2, 2012.[62]
On November 29, 2011, ABC Family renewed the show for a third season, which consisted of 24 episodes.[63][64] 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.[65] The second half of season four premiered on January 7, 2014.[66] 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.[67] 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.[68]
Marketing
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".[69] ABC Family encouraged fans to host a "Pretty Little Premiere Party" for the show by sending the first respondents a fan kit,[70] and selected applicants to become part of an interactive "Secret Keeper Game" played with iPhones provided by the network.[71] The show's official Facebook and Twitter accounts also promoted special fan features, including a "Pretty Little Lie Detector".[72] Los Angeles department store Kitson showcased the show in their shop window.[73]
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,[74] as was the final book of the original book series, "Wanted".[75] "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.
Reception
Critical response
Pretty Little Liars opened with mixed reviews. Metacritic gave the pilot episode 52 out of 100, based upon 14 critical reviews.[76] 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."[77] 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."[78] 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."[79] 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."[80]
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."[81] 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."[82]
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".[83]
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.[84] 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.[85][86][87] 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.

Pretty Little Liars: U.S. viewers per episode (millions)Audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research.[92]
Accolades


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.
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is an upcoming teen drama mystery series, based on the novel The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard. Set in another fictional town of Beacon Heights, Washington, where everything seems perfect, from their top-tier college to their overachieving residents and the stress of needing to be perfect leads to the town’s first murder.  Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish will return to their roles as Allison DeLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal.  The series will also star Sofia Carson, Sydney Park, Eli Brown, Kelly Rutherford and Hayley Erin.[119]
Web series
Pretty Dirty Secrets (2012)

Pretty Dirty Secrets is a web series, which taking place between the events of two episodes "The Lady Killer" and "This Is a Dark Ride". Set in a Rosewood's costume store, as the residents of Rosewood prepared for Halloween.[120]
Turkish adaptation
An Turkish adaptation was titled Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar premiered on Star TV on July 6, 2015.[121] The Turkish series served as a remake to the American series. The series ran for one season.





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