This summer, ABC Family will be bringing another Alloy Entertainment book series to television screens with Pretty Little Liars. Here’s the network press release:
NEVER TRUST A PRETTY GIRL WITH AN UGLY SECRET, IN THE NEW ABC FAMILY ORIGINAL SERIES “PRETTY LITTLE LIARS,”
DEBUTING ON TUESDAY, JUNE 8TH AT 8:00 PM ET/PT
Burbank, CA (May 6, 2010) – When their best friend mysteriously vanishes, four girls believe their secrets are safe forever. But when they begin to receive threatening messages from someone named “A,” the truth may be only one text away when the new ABC Family original series, “Pretty Little Liars,” debuts on Tuesday, June 8th (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT). Based on the bestselling Harper Teen novels and produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television, the 10 all-new scripted hour-long episodes star Troian Bellisario (“JAG”), Ashley Benson (“Eastwick”), Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed”), Lucy Hale (“Privileged”), Ian Harding (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), Bianca Lawson (“The Vampire Diaries”), Laura Leighton (“Melrose Place”), Chad Lowe (“24”), Shay Mitchell (“Rookie Blue”) and Sasha Pieterse (“Without a Trace”).
Set one year after the disappearance of Alison (Pieterse), the manipulative and vindictive queen bee of the group, the series revolves around four 16-year-old girlfriends — Aria (Hale), Spencer (Bellisario), Hanna (Benson), and Emily (Mitchell) — who have lost touch with one another until each begins to receive mysterious messages suggesting that Alison is watching them. Linked by their former bond and the panic and confusion the enigmatic messages cause, the friends are suddenly reunited, though each girl has her own secrets — secrets she wants no one else to know.
In the premiere episode, artsy and eclectic Aria has just returned to town after spending a year overseas, and while she tries to deny feeling hurt over her father Byron’s (Lowe) indiscretion with one of his ex-students at the college, and to keep her mom, Ella (Combs), from finding out, she can’t ignore the intense chemistry with Ezra Fitz (Harding) — Aria’s English teacher.
Once-chubby Hanna has transformed herself into the current “It girl,” but still battles the urge to binge. Shoplifting gives her a less fattening thrill, but when she gets caught, the charges are dismissed only because her mother, Ashley (Leighton), takes matters into her own hands, eager to keep her own reputation and the image of her daughter untarnished.
Spencer is a perfectionist and straight-A student for whom the pressure to stand out in her overachieving family leaves her feeling alone … until she finds understanding in the unlikeliest of places — the arms of her sister’s fiancé.
Emily, an athlete trying to sort out her place in the world, finds herself drawn to her new neighbor, Maya (Lawson), a free spirit who recently moved into Alison’s old house across the street.
When each girl receives a message referencing these most private details that just scratch the surface of what they’re desperate to keep hidden, life in their picturesque suburban community suddenly seems far from perfect as secrets, lies and betrayals threaten everything they hold dear. Even after Alison’s body is discovered, the messages don’t stop….
Pretty Little Liars is executive-produced by I. Marlene King (“Just My Luck,” “If These Walls Could Talk”), Oliver Goldstick (“Lipstick Jungle,” “Ugly Betty”), Leslie Morgenstein (“Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries”) and Bob Levy (“Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries”).
Part of the Disney-ABC Television Group, ABC Family is distributed in over 98 million homes. ABC Family features programming reflecting today’s families, entertaining and connecting with adults through relatable programming about today’s relationships – told with a mix of diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family’s programming is a combination of network defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. ABC Family is also the destination for annual Holiday events with “13 Nights of Halloween” and “25 Days of Christmas!” ABC Family. A New Kind of Family.
