Pretty Little Liars is a teenage drama, thriller and mystery series all rolled up into one. It is loosely based off the books that were written by author Sara Shepard. The show first began in June of 2010 when ABC Family first ordered just 10 episodes of the show but later ordered 12 more for the season when the show did so well. Season 1 ended in March of 2011. In June of 2014, PLL was renewed for seasons 6 and 7, with the 7th season being the final one of the series. We may not know how it will end, but we do know how it all started on Pretty Little Liars!
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How it All Started on Pretty Little Liars
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Pretty Little Liars takes place in the fictional town of Rosewood, a quiet and pristine Pennsylvania town filled with many secrets. Fun fact: I actually live within 2 hours of the fictional town, based on clues throughout the seasons! For all I know, it could actually be within a few minutes drive! They mention a lot of places near me: Allentown, Scranton, Delaware Water Gap. Yes, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where this imaginary place is.
Most of the secrets belong to four friends in town: Emily, Spencer, Aria and Hanna. These secrets start to come to light when the clique’s leader, Alison suddenly vanishes during a slumber party on Labor Day. A year goes by, the girls grow apart. In Aria’s case, REALLY far apart: she moves to Iceland with her family. When she moves back, though, things get dicey.
The four girls begin to get mysterious text messages from someone known as A. The girls face roadblocks as their friendships are tested and deep dark secrets are revealed. The show stars Shay Mitchell playing the role of Emily, Troian Bellisario playing the role of Spencer, Lucy Hale playing the role of Aria, Ashley Benson playing the role of Hanna and Sasha Pieterse playing the role of Alison. Did you know that, at the time of the first episode, Sasha was the only one out of the group that was actually still a teenager?
Alloy Entertainment developed the series as a sort of Desperate Housewives for the younger crowd. The first book of the series came out in October of 2006 and Alloy Entertainment announced in June of 2008 that they were crafting a TV pilot of the show for ABC Family. The pilot episode of PLL was shot in Vancouver, with the rest of the episodes taking place in Los Angeles. Most of the shows are filmed at Warner Bros. studio.
Casting for the show began in October of 2009 with Lucy Hale (Aria) being cast first, followed by Ian Harding (Ezra) and Troian Bellisario (Spencer), all being cast in November of 2009. It was confirmed that Shay Mitchell (Emily), Ashley Benson (Hanna), Bianca Lawson (Maya), Roark Critchlow (Tom), Laura Leighton (Ashley) and Nia Peeples (Pam) were all cast in December of 2009. Later that month, Sasha Pieterse (Alison), Torrey DeVitto (Melissa) and Janel Parrish (Mona) were all cast for the show.
Pretty Little Liars was picked up by ABC Family in January of 2010 for 10 initial episodes. In April of 2010, Holly Marie Combs (Ella), Chad Lowe (Byron) and Tammin Sursok (Jenna) were cast. The show premiered in June of 2010. In January of 2011, the role of Logan was given to Tilky Jones. In April of 2011, Annabeth Gish was cast for the role of Anne. In May of 2011, Andrea Parker was cast for the role of Jessica. In June of 2011, Natalie Hall was cast for the role of Kate, replacing Natalie Floyd. In 2012, Tyler Blackburn (Caleb) was upgraded to a main character as was Janel Parrish (Mona).
Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? Who is your favorite character?
I have heard of the books but didn’t even know they had a TV series! That sounds like fun. I’m a sucker for Teen shows.
How funny!! I am watching this right now. It’s such a great show.
I’ve never watched this show, but have heard that it’s really good. I’ll totally need to tune in and start watching.
I haven’t seen it, but I have heard of it. For me, that’s really big. 😉 Rosewood was the name of the fictional street we made in a play for high school. 🙂
I’ve heard of this show, but never seen it. It sounds like a good show.
I have never watched this. Does look entertaining
I love shows on Netflix. My aunt keeps telling me about this but I just haven’t been able to get there to actually find myself wanting to watch it. Good post though so perhaps I might!
I hadn’t been watching it, but based on this, I think I’d like it and will try it!
I’d love to read the book and watch the series too. I guess I have been missing out on a lot of shows lately!
My daughter loves this show and has been watching it religiously! I’ve seen a few and it’s definitely caught my attention. There are SO many episodes!
I always loved Aria and as I followed the seasons, Spencer has been one of my faves. I really like this show, aside from the chills that A is giving me, there is a certain truth to how the girls live their everyday lives.
This looks like an awesome. Stories about girlfriends sharing secrets has to be a great show indeed. I have seen previews but have not see it and It is one I would probably enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
Looks like an interesting series with so much of drama, thrill and mystery. Shows like this are the ones which my husband loves so much. I would love to watch with him.
I have watched a few. Guess I will need to get caught up.
I need to check this out! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve heard a lot about this show but have never watched it. It sounds like something I’d really like.
I totally admit I love Pretty Little Liars – I am interested to see where they take it next. x
My daughter watches PLL and was so mad when she found out who A was. So so mad!
I have never watched Pretty Little Liars, but it sounds like a good show. I will have to check it out.
I hate the title of this show, but I have never seen it. I may check it out.
I don’t watch PLL but I know a lot of people who do. It is really popular.
Looks like an interesting show. I have only seen the commercials but it looks amazing. Maybe one of these days I will watch an episode.
I have not seen it. There are so many great shows out there that it is hard to find time to see them all. I think I will have to see if I get start from the beginning with this on Netflix.
I’ve never seen the show but I have been intrigued to watch it. It seems really good.
My best friend and her teenaged daughters watch this show religiously. It always seems to have the same thing going on week after week so I never quite got into it
I don’t watch pretty little liars, my 18 year old step daughter does. I just couldn’t get into the whole show for some reason.
My Daughter and i love watching Pretty Little Liars together. I can not believe the last episode. My favorite character is Hannah.
This looks like a fantastic show. I know they have it on Netflix. I will have to try watching a few episodes.
I have not seen Pretty Little Liars or read the book, but I guess it would be worthwhile to watch. I’d tell my nieces about this too, or maybe they are already hooked on it. 🙂
I do watch Pretty Little Liars! It’s one of my faves. I love Hanna she’s my fave. I can’t wait for season 6 to hit Canadian Netflix!
I started watching the first episode and never made it through. I can’t tell you what happened. Maybe I’ll gives it another try.
My daughter loves The Pretty Little Liars. This helped me understand a bit better because I couldn’t tell exactly how it all started since I didn’t watch the first few seasons.
I have been meaning to watch this show, but I have not gotten around to it.
I have never heard of this show before. But looks like a great series filled with full of thrill & mystery. My husband loves watching such shows & I am sure he is going to love it.
If I remember it is on I try to catch it. My teenager girls however never miss an episode.