Pretty Little Liars is an American teen drama mystery television series created by I. Marlene King. It aired on Freeform from June 8, 2010, to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard, lasting 160 episodes over seven seasons. Set in the fictional Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the plot follows five best friends whose secrets are consistently threatened by the anonymous "A", who begins harassing them after the disappearance of their clique leader. Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, and Janel Parrish lead the ensemble cast, alongside Holly Marie Combs, Ian Harding, Bianca Lawson, Laura Leighton, Chad Lowe, Nia Peeples, Tyler Blackburn, and Andrea Parker.
After an initial order of 10 episodes, ABC Family ordered an additional 12 episodes on June 28, 2010. The ratings success of the first 10 episodes prompted the book series to be extended beyond the initial eight novels. The series premiered to mixed reviews from critics, but garnered positive reception from critics during subsequent seasons, with the acting and tone garnering particular praise, while the series' plot holes were scrutinized. It was a worldwide viewership success, garnering a large fandom. The series finale was viewed by an estimated 1.41 million viewers. It had the second-highest rating of any cable television series that aired that night but received a lukewarm reception from both critics and audiences.
It is the first series in the Pretty Little Liars franchise, with three spin-offs. The first two, Ravenswood and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, were both cancelled after one season. An eponymous spinoff premiered on HBO Max in 2022, which focused on a new cast of characters in a different setting, and was cancelled in September 2024 after two seasons.
Premise Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin and Spencer Hastings are four former best friends who reunite one year after the disappearance of their clique leader, Alison DiLaurentis, and begin receiving threatening messages from a mysterious person who identifies themself as "A" and is aware of the mistakes, lies and secrets they have collected before and after their clique fell apart. Throughout the series, several elements from the night Alison disappeared are revealed, which help the protagonists understand what happened to their friend and how "A" appeared. Moving forward, after the original "A" is revealed, the identity is taken over by other antagonists, prompting new storylines and challenges.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings: the brains of the group who comes from a wealthy lawyer family. Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin: the new it girl after Alison goes missing, and the fashionista of the group. Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery (seasons 1–3; recurring, seasons 4–6; guest, season 7): Aria's mother and later teacher at Rosewood High. Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery: the alternative member of the group and an aspiring writer. Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz: the English teacher at Rosewood High and Aria's love interest. Bianca Lawson as Maya St. Germain (seasons 1–2; recurring, season 3): Emily's love interest who struggles with substance abuse. Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin: Hanna's divorced mother who struggles to support herself and her daughter financially. Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery (seasons 1–3; recurring, seasons 4 and 6; guest, seasons 5 and 7): Aria's father who is an English university lecturer. Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields: the heart of the group who comes out as gay in season one. She is a competitive swimmer in school and later becomes a coach. Nia Peeples as Pam Fields (season 1; recurring, seasons 2–4 and 6; guest, seasons 5 and 7): Emily's mother who initially struggles to accept her daughter, but later comes around and develops a close relationship with her. Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis: the main mystery of the show who goes missing a year before the series begins. She is known for her bullying and manipulative tendencies. Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers (seasons 3–7; recurring, seasons 1–2): Hanna's, and briefly Spencer's, love interest, and later Hanna's husband, who is adept at computer science and cyber hacking. Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal (seasons 3–7; recurring, seasons 1–2): Hanna's best friend who used to be bullied by Alison before her disappearance. She is very smart and cunning. Andrea Parker as Mary Drake: Alison's aunt (season 7; guest, seasons 4 and 6), and Jessica DiLaurentis: Alison's mother (guest, season 2; recurring, seasons 4–7). They are identical twins, though Mary's identity is not revealed until season 6.
Production Development
The Pretty Little Liars series of novels was first published in October 2006 and comprises 18 books, divided into four arcs and companion stories. The project was given to author Sara Shepard by book packaging company Alloy Entertainment following the conception of the idea of a "Desperate Housewives for teens". Shepard was chosen due to her having grown up in a town similar to the fictional Rosewood, where the series take place, and her online presence. The television adaptation was first planned for The WB until the network shut down in 2006. A pilot for ABC Family was announced in June 2008, with I. Marlene King serving as the series' developer and showrunner. The viewership success of the first 10 episodes prompted ABC Family to order 12 additional episodes, finishing the first season with 22 installments. It also led Alloy Entertainment to extend the novel series beyond its original foreseen count of eight books.
A second season was unveiled by ABC Family on January 10, 2011. In June, the network announced that its 13 Nights of Halloween lineup would include a Halloween-themed Pretty Little Liars flashback episode, bringing the second-season episode count from 24 to 25. In December of that year, it was announced that the identity of "A" would be revealed in the second season's finale, which took place on March 19, 2012. The series' third season was confirmed in November 2011 and broadcast between June 5, 2012, and March 19, 2013, consisting of 24 episodes.
The series was renewed for a fourth season in October 2012. It was broadcast between June 11, 2013, and March 18, 2014. The fifth season was commissioned in March 2013, alongside the announcement of the spin-off series Ravenswood, and consisted of 25 episodes, including a Christmas-themed one. The special episode aired as part of the network's 25 Days of Christmas annual event. The season also included the series' 100th episode, which was celebrated by cast and crew in a private party on June 2, 2015. Before the season premiered, ABC Family renewed the series for two additional seasons of 20 episodes each, making it the network's longest running original series.
The sixth season was broadcast between June 2, 2015, and March 15, 2016. It did not include a holiday-themed episode and introduced a new opening sequence for the series. The seventh and final season was broadcast between June 21, 2016, and June 27, 2017. It marked the return of Charlie Craig, who worked on the second season, as executive producer and co-showrunner. The series' ending was confirmed by I. Marlene King and the main cast in August 2016, with the series finale being a two-hour event followed by a tell-all special with cast and crew.
Casting
Casting for Pretty Little Liars began in October 2009, with Gayle Pillsbury and Bonnie Zane as casting directors. In November, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Ian Harding were respectively cast as Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings and Ezra Fitz, respectively. The following month, the cast added Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin, Nia Peeples as Pam Fields, Roark Critchlow as Tom Marin, Bianca Lawson as Maya, Alexis Denisof as Byron Montgomery and Jean Louisa Kelly as a mother, with Torrey DeVitto and Sasha Pieterse in undisclosed recurring roles. Mitchell originally auditioned for the role of Spencer, but was suggested by the production crew to try Emily out, to whom she felt more connected. Louisa Kelly's appearance in the series did not materialize. In January 2010, Alloy Entertainment's website confirmed that Pieterse would portray Alison DiLaurentis and DeVitto would portray Melissa Hastings, and announced the casting of Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal and Igor Hudacek as Mike Montgomery; Cody Christian later replaced Hudacek. In April, Chad Lowe replaced Denisof in the role of Byron, while Holly Marie Combs joined the cast as Aria's mother, Ella.
Two actors were replaced following the pilot episode: Keegan Allen replaced James Neate as Toby Cavanaugh and Ryan Merriman replaced Carlo Marks as Ian Thomas. After the first season was broadcast, three other roles received new actors: Andrea Parker took over Jessica DiLaurentis from Anne Marie DeLuise, Drew Van Acker took over Jason DiLaurentis from Parker Bagley, and Natalie Hall took over Kate Randall from Natalie Floyd. Parker's casting for the second season was announced in April 2011. That month, Annabeth Gish joined the cast as Anne Sullivan, a therapist hired by the girls' parents to help them. Also during the second season, Lawson had a minor starring role, being only credited in the episodes she appeared in. For the third season, Tyler Blackburn and Parrish were promoted to the series' starring cast following their recurring appearances. Blackburn left the cast in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season to star in Ravenswood and returned in the fifth episode of the fifth season.
Filming The series' pilot was filmed in Vancouver in December 2009. Filming for the series moved to Los Angeles from the second episode onward. The Warner Bros. studio and backlot in Burbank, near Los Angeles, were also used. Filming for the second season wrapped on December 16, 2011. In June 2012, the series was among projects selected for a California tax credit. Filming for the fourth season wrapped on November 2, 2013. The fifth season was filmed between March 24 and November 20, 2014. Filming for the sixth season began on March 24, 2015. Production for the seventh season commenced on February 1, 2016, while filming took place between March and October 2016.
Music Michael Suby worked as the series' score composer since its inception. American duo the Pierces' 2007 song "Secret" was used as the series' opening theme, which was suggested by Ashley Benson. WaterTower Music released a soundtrack album titled Pretty Little Liars: Television Soundtrack on February 15, 2011; the release features songs by the Fray, Ben's Brother, MoZella, Katie Herzig, and Colbie Caillat, among others. The show has also featured music by Riley and the Roxies.
To promote the series' third and fifth seasons respectively, American singer ZZ Ward released Pretty Little Liars-themed music videos for her songs "Til the Casket Drops" and "Last Love Song", included on debut studio album, Til the Casket Drops (2012).
Release Season DVD and Blu-ray release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 1 June 7, 2011 September 24, 2012 November 2, 2011 2 June 5, 2012 November 11, 2013 October 3, 2012 3 June 4, 2013 April 21, 2014 June 19, 2013 4 June 3, 2014 September 29, 2014 July 9, 2014 5 June 2, 2015 July 15, 2015 July 8, 2015 6 April 19, 2016 April 18, 2016 April 20, 2016 7 July 25, 2017 July 26, 2017 All seasons July 25, 2017 July 24, 2017 July 26, 2017
Broadcast