Pretty Little Liars (franchise)

Pretty Little Liars is a multimedia franchise consisting of two book series, four television series and one web series. The initial novel of the same name was first published in 2006.[1]

Pretty Little Liars
Franchise logo
Created bySara Shepard
Original workPretty Little Liars (2006)
OwnersBooks: HarperCollins
Television: Warner Bros. Entertainment (Warner Bros. Discovery)
Years2006–2024
Print publications
Book(s)
Short storiesVarious short stories
Films and television
Television series
Web seriesPretty Dirty Secrets (2012)
Television special(s)
Audio
Soundtrack(s)Pretty Little Liars (2011)
Official website

The first television series also entitled Pretty Little Liars began airing on ABC Family in June 2010; meanwhile, additional books continued to be published.[2] Pretty Dirty Secrets, a web series was released on ABC Family's website in the fall of 2012 alongside the third season of Pretty Little Liars.[3] The second series to make it to television, Ravenswood, aired on ABC Family from 2013 to 2014 and was cancelled after one season.[4] Pretty Little Liars later ended and aired its final episode in June 2017.

The first book of The Perfectionists was released in April 2014 and a second book in 2015. A television series for The Perfectionists was developed and later reworked into a spin-off and stand-alone sequel of Pretty Little Liars with the title Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, which became the third series in the franchise. It aired on Freeform from March to May 2019 and was cancelled after one season.[5] In 2022, a fourth series in the franchise premiered on HBO Max and was cancelled after 2 seasons.[6]

Literature

edit

Pretty Little Liars

edit

Set in the fictional Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, the book series follows the lives of four teenage girls whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their queen bee leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years after her mysterious disappearance, the girls begin receiving intimidating messages from an anonymous character named "A", who threatens to expose their secrets, including long-forgotten ones they thought only Alison knew. Shortly after the messages begin, Alison's body is discovered buried in her yard. The books progress with the four girls trying to figure out the identity of "A" and facing many dangerous obstacles and twists as they do so.

Pretty Little Liars is a series of young adult novels by Sara Shepard. It consists of 21 books split into 4 arcs of 4 books each, the remaining 5 are made up of short stories and companion novels. The novels have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.[7][8][9] The franchise has been licensed by Amazon.com's Kindle Worlds range of non-canon ebooks.[10] An audio podcast series titled The Liars, which served as a sequel to the series and was released on Audible on June 16, 2022.[11] The series' audiobook version was later released on February 14, 2023.[12]

The Perfectionists

edit

The Perfectionists is a series of young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The first book of the same name was released on October 2, 2014.[13] The second novel, and sequel to the first, titled The Good Girls was released on June 2, 2015.[14] Five high school girls jokingly plan the perfect murder for a boy who has hurt them in different manners. When the boy is found dead in the exact way they thought, the girls become prime suspects and start a quest to find the real murderer. A television adaption for the series had been in the works at The CW since 2013, but the rights were later sold to Freeform.[15]

Television

edit

Five television series, including one made for web, make up the bulk of the Pretty Little Liars franchise: Pretty Little Liars, Pretty Dirty Secrets, Ravenswood, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, and Pretty Little Liars (2022). The five series in total amount to 206 episodes across 12 seasons of television.

SeriesSeasonEpisodesOriginally airedNetworkAverage viewers
(in millions)
Average adults
(18-49)
Showrunner[25][26][27]Status
Pretty Little Liars122June 8, 2010 (2010-06-08)March 21, 2011 (2011-03-21)ABC FamilyI. Marlene KingConcluded
225June 14, 2011 (2011-06-14)March 19, 2012 (2012-03-19)I. Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick
324June 5, 2012 (2012-06-05)March 19, 2013 (2013-03-19)2.59[16]1.1[16]
424June 11, 2013 (2013-06-11)March 18, 2014 (2014-03-18)2.53[17]1.1[17]
525June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10)March 24, 2015 (2015-03-24)2.01[18]0.9[18]I. Marlene King
620June 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)March 15, 2016 (2016-03-15)ABC Family
Freeform
1.72[19]0.8[19]I. Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick
720June 21, 2016 (2016-06-21)June 27, 2017 (2017-06-27)Freeform1.11[20]0.6[20]I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, and Charlie Craig
Pretty Dirty Secrets18August 28, 2012 (2012-08-28)October 16, 2012 (2012-10-16)ABCFamily.comKyle Bown and Kim Turrisi
RavenswoodBackdoor pilotOctober 22, 2013 (2013-10-22)ABC Family3.18[21]0.9[21]I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, and Joseph Dougherty
110October 22, 2013 (2013-10-22)February 4, 2014 (2014-02-04)0.5[22]1.29[22]
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists110March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)May 22, 2019 (2019-05-22)Freeform0.1[23]0.26[23]I. Marlene King and Charlie Craig
Pretty Little Liars (2022)110[24]July 28, 2022 (2022-07-28)August 18, 2022 (2022-08-18)HBO MaxRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring
28May 9, 2024 (2024-05-09)June 20, 2024 (2024-06-20)Max

Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017)

edit

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. 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 ABC Family, and ended on June 27, 2017. The ratings success of the first 10 episodes prompted the book series to be extended beyond the initial eight novels.[28] On August 29, 2016, Freeform confirmed that the series would be ending after its seventh season in 2017.[29] 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.[30]

Pretty Dirty Secrets (2012)

edit

Pretty Dirty Secrets is an American mystery web series from the television series Pretty Little Liars. The web series takes place between the events of the series' third season episodes, "The Lady Killer" and "This Is a Dark Ride". Set in the Rosewood Halloween Spooktacular Store, as the visitors of Rosewood prepared for Halloween.[31]

Ravenswood (2013–2014)

edit

Ravenswood is an American supernatural teen drama, mystery-thriller television series created by I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick and Joseph Dougherty. The show aired on ABC Family from October 22, 2013, until February 4, 2014.[32] It is the first spin-off series of Pretty Little Liars and the second series in the franchise. 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. Starring Nicole Gale Anderson, Tyler Blackburn, Steven Cabral, Brett Dier, Britne Oldford and Merritt Patterson. The series was cancelled due to low ratings after one season.[33][34][35]

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019)

edit

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists the third series in the franchise created by I. Marlene King. The series premiered on Freeform on March 20, 2019[36] and was concluded on May 22, 2019. The series is a stand-alone sequel to Pretty Little Liars and was loosely based on the novel The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard. It is the second spin-off series of Pretty Little Liars, which included Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish reprising their roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal, respectively.[37] In the 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. It stars Sofia Carson, Sydney Park, Eli Brown, Hayley Erin, Graeme Thomas King and Kelly Rutherford. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists was cancelled after one season.[5]

Pretty Little Liars (2022–2024)

edit

Pretty Little Liars is the fourth series in the franchise, centered around a new cast of characters. Initially announced as a reboot, the series was later confirmed to be taking place within the existing chronology of the previous television series, while introducing new characters and storylines. The series was first announced as being in development at Warner Bros. for HBO Max in September 2020. Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring took over as showrunners from I. Marlene King.[38]

The premise of the series see the main characters paying for their parents' sin nearly 20 years ago.[39][40] The first season, titled Original Sin, consists of 10 episodes and stars Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco.[41][42][43][44] A second season, titled Summer School, premiered in 2024. The series was cancelled in September 2024. [45]

Cast and characters

edit
List indicator

This section includes characters who have appeared in each television series.

  •   A green cell indicates the actor is a main cast member.
  •   A red cell indicates the actor is a recurring cast member.
  •   A light blue cell indicates the actor is a guest or special guest cast member.
  •   A dark gray cell indicates the actor has not participated in the respective season.
Series Character Appearances Actor
PLL PDS RW PLL: TP PLL (2022)
Pretty Little Liars Spencer Hastings Main Does not appear Troian Bellisario
Alex Drake
Hanna Marin Main Does not appear Guest Does not appear Ashley Benson
Ella Montgomery Main Does not appear Holly Marie Combs
Aria Montgomery Main Does not appear Lucy Hale
Ezra Fitz Main Does not appear Ian Harding
Maya St. Germain Main Does not appear Bianca Lawson
Ashley Marin Main Does not appear Laura Leighton
Emily Fields Main Does not appear Shay Mitchell
Pam Fields Main Does not appear Nia Peeples
Alison DiLaurentis Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Sasha Pieterse
Caleb Rivers Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Tyler Blackburn
Mona Vanderwaal Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Janel Parrish
Jessica DiLaurentis Main Does not appear Andrea Parker
Mary Drake Main Does not appear
Pretty Dirty Secrets Shana Fring Recurring Main Does not appear Aeriél Miranda
Jason DiLaurentis Recurring Main Does not appear Drew Van Acker
Charlotte Drake Recurring Main Does not appear Vanessa Ray
Noel Kahn Recurring Main Does not appear Brant Daugherty
Garrett Reynolds Recurring Main Does not appear Yani Gellman
Lucas Gottesman Recurring Main Does not appear Brendan Robinson
Ravenswood Miranda Collins Guest Does not appear Main Does not appear Nicole Gale Anderson
Caleb Rivers Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Tyler Blackburn
Raymond Collins Guest[a] Does not appear Main Does not appear Steven Cabral
Luke Matheson Guest Does not appear Main Does not appear Brett Dier
Remy Beaumont Does not appear Main Does not appear Britne Oldford
Dillon Sanders Does not appear Main Does not appear Luke Benward
Olivia Matheson Does not appear Main Does not appear Merritt Patterson
Pretty Little Liars:
The Perfectionists
Alison DiLaurentis Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Sasha Pieterse
Mona Vanderwaal Main Does not appear Main Does not appear Janel Parrish
Ava Jalali Does not appear Main Does not appear Sofia Carson
Caitlin Park-Lewis Does not appear Main Does not appear Sydney Park
Dylan Walker Does not appear Main Does not appear Eli Brown
Taylor Hotchkiss Does not appear Main Does not appear Hayley Erin
Jeremy Beckett Does not appear Main Does not appear Graeme Thomas King
Claire Hotchkiss Does not appear Main Does not appear Kelly Rutherford
Pretty Little Liars (2022) Imogen Adams Does not appear Main Bailee Madison
Tabby Haworthe Does not appear Main Chandler Kinney
Faran Bryant Does not appear Main Zaria
Minnie "Mouse" Honrada Does not appear Main Malia Pyles
Noa Olivar Does not appear Main Maia Reficco
Karen Beasley Does not appear Main Mallory Bechtel
Kelly Beasley Does not appear Main
Sidney Haworthe Does not appear Main Sharon Leal
Marjorie Olivar Does not appear Main Elena Goode
Sheriff Beasley Does not appear Main Eric Johnson
Shawn Noble Does not appear Main Alex Aiono
Elodie Honrada Does not appear Main Lea Salonga

International adaptations

edit
Country Local title Network Original release Notes
  India Best Friends Forever? Channel V India December 3, 2012 – May 25, 2013 Non-official adaptation
  Turkey Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar Star TV July 6, 2015 – October 3, 2015
  Indonesia Best Friends Forever Trans TV August 7–27, 2017 Non-official adaptation
Pretty Little Liars Viu April 22, 2020 – May 18, 2022

References

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ In the Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode "Grave New World", Collins was portrayed by Vince Lasaliva. In Ravenswood, he was later played by Cabral in the role.

Citations

edit
  1. ^ "Pretty Little Liars". Goodreads. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  2. ^ "Shows A-Z - pretty little liars on freeform". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Anthony Hernandez, Brian (August 29, 2012). "'Pretty Little Liars' Spawns Web Series, Breaks Social TV Record". Mashable. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 14, 2014). "ABC Family's 'Ravenswood' Cancelled After One Season". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Porter, Rick (September 27, 2019). "'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Canceled After Single Season on Freeform". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Rice, Lynette (2024-09-20). "'Pretty Little Liars: Summer School' Canceled After Two Seasons On Max". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  7. ^ "Children's Series Best Sellers". The New York Times. June 22, 2008. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  8. ^ "Children's Series Best Sellers". The New York Times. July 26, 2009. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  9. ^ "Children's Series Best Sellers". The New York Times. February 5, 2012. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  10. ^ "Kindle Worlds: Pretty Little Liars". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  11. ^ "The Liars, an Audible Original Podcast Series Available 6/16". March 28, 2022. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  12. ^ "The Liars by Sara Shepard". Amazon. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  13. ^ Shepard, Sara (May 12, 2015). The Perfectionists. ISBN 978-0062074508.
  14. ^ Shepard, Sara (April 26, 2016). The Good Girls (Perfectionists). ISBN 978-0062074539.
  15. ^ The Futon Critic staff (October 29, 2013). "Development Update: Tuesday, October 29". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: Season Three Ratings". TV Series Finale. March 26, 2013. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: Season Four Ratings". TV Series Finale. March 20, 2014. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  18. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: Season Five Ratings". TV Series Finale. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: Season Six Ratings". TV Series Finale. March 16, 2016. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  20. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: Season Seven Ratings". TV Series Finale. June 28, 2017. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  21. ^ a b Kondolojy, Amanda (October 23, 2013). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: 'Sons of Anarchy' Tops Night + 'Pretty Little Liars', 'Snooki & JWOWW', 'Tosh.0', 'Ravenswood' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  22. ^ a b "Ravenswood: Season One Ratings". TV Series Finale. February 15, 2014. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  23. ^ a b "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists: Season One Ratings". TV Series Finale. September 29, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  24. ^ "Pretty Little Liars: HBO Max Orders 'Horror-Tinged' Reboot — Watch Teaser". 24 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  25. ^ "Pretty Little Liars - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  26. ^ "Ravenswood - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  28. ^ Armstrong, Jennifer (December 8, 2010). "'Pretty Little Liars': Four new books on the way, starting in July". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  29. ^ Petski, Denise (August 29, 2016). "'Pretty Little Liars' To End With Season 7". [eadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  30. ^ Welch, Alex (2017-06-28). "Tuesday cable ratings: 'Pretty Little Liars' series finale scores high". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  31. ^ Ng, Philiana (October 4, 2012). "'Pretty Dirty Secrets': Inside the Web Series That Keeps the Rosewood Mystery Alive". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  32. ^ ""Ravenswood" to Premiere on ABC Family on October 22". The Futon Critic. August 23, 2013. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  33. ^ Ng, Philiana (February 14, 2014). "ABC Family Cancels 'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff 'Ravenswood'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  34. ^ Seidman, Robert (February 14, 2014). "'Ravenswood' Canceled By ABC Family". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  35. ^ Bowman, Sabienna (February 15, 2014). "'Ravenswood' Cancelled by ABC Family". TV Equals. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  36. ^ "'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists' Gets Premiere Date & First-Look Trailer". Deadline Hollywood. 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  37. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 25, 2017). "'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Starring Sasha Pieterse, Janel Parrish a Go at Freeform". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  38. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 24, 2020). "'Pretty Little Liars' Reboot From 'Riverdale' Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Gets Series Order At HBO Max – Watch The Teaser". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  39. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 2, 2020). "'Pretty Little Liars' Reboot in the Works From 'Riverdale' Boss (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  40. ^ Handore, Pratik (July 27, 2022). "Is Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin a Sequel, Prequel, or Spin-Off?". The Cinemaholic. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  41. ^ Ausiello, Michael (September 24, 2020). "Pretty Little Liars: HBO Max Orders 'Horror-Tinged' Reboot — Watch Teaser". TVLine. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  42. ^ Petski, Denise (2021-07-02). "'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin': Chandler Kinney & Maia Reficco To Star In HBO Max Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  43. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (2021-07-27). "'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' Sets Bailee Madison To Star In HBO Max Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  44. ^ Petski, Denise (2021-08-18). "'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin': Zaria & Malia Pyles To Star In HBO Max Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  45. ^ https://deadline.com/2024/09/pretty-little-liars-summer-school-canceled-after-two-seasons-1236095975/