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 by	Sara Shepard
Original work	Pretty Little Liars (2006)
Owners	Books: HarperCollins Television: Warner Bros. Entertainment (Warner Bros. Discovery)
Years	2006–present
Print publications
Book(s)	Pretty Little Liars (book series) The Perfectionists (book series)
Short stories	Various short stories
Films and television
Television series	Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) Ravenswood (2013–2014) The Perfectionists (2019) Pretty Little Liars (2022–2024)
Web series	Pretty Dirty Secrets (2012)
Television special(s)	"A Liars Guide to Rosewood" "We Love You to DeAth" "5 Years Forward" "A-List Wrap Party"
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	Pretty Little Liars (2011)
Official website
Pretty Little Liars book series The Perfectionists book 2022 television series

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.

Literature

Pretty Little Liars

Main article: Pretty Little Liars (book series)

Set in the suburbs 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.^[6][7][8] The franchise has been licensed by Amazon.com's Kindle Worlds range of non-canon ebooks.^[9] An audio podcast series titled The Liars, which served as a sequel to the series and was released on Audible on June 16, 2022.^[10] The series' audiobook version was later released on February 14, 2023.^[11]

The Perfectionists

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.^[12] The second novel, and sequel to the first, titled The Good Girls was released on June 2, 2015.^[13] 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.^[14]

Television

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.

Series	Season	Episodes		Originally aired			Average viewers (in millions)	Average adults (18-49)	Showrunner[15][16][17]	Status
				First aired	Last aired	Network
Pretty Little Liars	1	22		June 8, 2010 (2010-06-08)	March 21, 2011 (2011-03-21)	ABC Family	—	—	I. Marlene King	Concluded
	2	25		June 14, 2011 (2011-06-14)	March 19, 2012 (2012-03-19)				I. Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick
	3	24		June 5, 2012 (2012-06-05)	March 19, 2013 (2013-03-19)		2.59[18]	1.1[18]
	4	24		June 11, 2013 (2013-06-11)	March 18, 2014 (2014-03-18)		2.53[19]	1.1[19]
	5	25		June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10)	March 24, 2015 (2015-03-24)		2.01[20]	0.9[20]	I. Marlene King
	6	20		June 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)	March 15, 2016 (2016-03-15)	ABC Family Freeform	1.72[21]	0.8[21]	I. Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick
	7	20		June 21, 2016 (2016-06-21)	June 27, 2017 (2017-06-27)	Freeform	1.11[22]	0.6[22]	I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, and Charlie Craig
Pretty Dirty Secrets	1	8		August 28, 2012 (2012-08-28)	October 16, 2012 (2012-10-16)	ABCFamily.com	—	—	Kyle Bown and Kim Turrisi
Ravenswood	Backdoor pilot			October 22, 2013 (2013-10-22)		ABC Family	3.18[23]	0.9[23]	I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, and Joseph Dougherty
	1	10		October 22, 2013 (2013-10-22)	February 4, 2014 (2014-02-04)		0.5[24]	1.29[24]
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists	1	10		March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	May 22, 2019 (2019-05-22)	Freeform	0.1[25]	0.26[25]	I. Marlene King and Charlie Craig
Pretty Little Liars (2022)	1	10[26]		July 28, 2022 (2022-07-28)	August 18, 2022 (2022-08-18)	HBO Max	—	—	Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring
	2	8		May 9, 2024 (2024-05-09)	June 20, 2024 (2024-06-20)	Max	—	—

Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017)

Main article: Pretty Little Liars

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.^[27] On August 29, 2016, Freeform confirmed that the series would be ending after its seventh season in 2017.^[28] 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.^[29]

Pretty Dirty Secrets (2012)

Main article: Pretty Dirty Secrets

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.^[30]

Ravenswood (2013–2014)

Main article: Ravenswood (TV series)

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.^[31] 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.^[32][33][34]

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019)

Main article: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists the third series in the franchise, is an American television series created by I. Marlene King. The series premiered on Freeform on March 20, 2019^[35] 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 includes some of the main characters with Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish reprising their roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal, respectively.^[36] 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–present)

Main article: Pretty Little Liars (2022 TV series)

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. With Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring took over as showrunners from I. Marlene King.^[37]

The premise of the series see the main characters paying for their parents' sin nearly 20 years ago.^[38][39] The first season, titled Original Sin, consists of 10 episodes and stars Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco.^{[40][41][42][43]} A second season, titled Summer School, premiered in 2024.

Cast and characters

See also: List of Pretty Little Liars characters

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[lower-alpha 1]	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

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

Notes

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

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