Loosely deriving inspiration from the novel series by Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars is a mystery thriller series that aired on Freeform from June 8, 2010, to June 27, 2017. I. Marlene King developed the teen drama series for television.
The show was initially supposed to have only ten episodes in its debut season, but ABC Family ordered an additional twelve episodes seeing the show’s popularity. Even the book series got extended beyond the eight novels, following the popularity of the initial ten episodes.
Pretty Little Liars had seven seasons and had 160 episodes altogether.
Cast
The series had an ensemble cast of actors. The show’s lead cast had Troian Bellisario playing Spencer Hastings, Lucy Hale playing Aria Montgomery, and Shay Mitchell playing Emily Fields. Ashley Benson played Hanna Marin, Sasha Pieterse played Alison DiLaurentis, and Janel Parrish played Mona Vanderwaal.
Premise
The show has suburban Rosewood, Pennsylvania, as its backdrop. It follows the lives of five high school best friends- Spencer, Alison, Aria, Hanna, and Emily- and how their group falls apart after the group’s leader, Alison, disappears.
The four friends reunite after a year when they start receiving threatening messages from an anonymous identity named ‘A,’ who tortures them for the lies they have told before and after the death of Alison.
Reception
Pretty Little Liars has always received mixed reviews from television critics but has received much acclaim from the fans, making it one of the favorite shows on Freeform.
The critics gave the show reviews ranging from positive to harsh negatives. However, the critic reviews did not affect the fans who created a fandom around the series plot, characters, music, merchandise, and novels.
The series finale had over 1.41 million viewers, making it the second-highest ratings for any cable television series on that day. However, the series finale received a lukewarm response from the audience and critics.
Accolades
Pretty Little Liars has received several awards and nominations during the seven years of its run. The cast of the show also enjoyed a different fanbase.
Pretty Little Liars’ prominent awards were the Teen Choice Awards, NewNowNext Awards, Young Hollywood Awards, People’s Choice Awards, Gracie Awards, MTV Fandom Awards, and Break Tudo Awards.
Spin-offs And Future
The 2010 Pretty Little Liars was the first of the Pretty Little Liars franchise.
The show’s success led to two spin-offs- Ravenswood and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Despite all the hype, the two shows could not replicate the success of Pretty Little Liars and had to end after the first season.
A web series titled ‘Pretty Dirty Secrets’ aired on ABC Family’s website from August 2012 to October 2012. The storyline of the web series showcased the events between the third season’s episodes- The Lady Killer and This Is A Dark Side.
HBO Max announced a new series titled ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ in September 2020. The series will focus on new characters in an altogether different setting.
For fundraising, two virtual reunions took place in May 2020, coinciding with the original show’s tenth anniversary.