Most people think of the book series when they hear the phrase Pretty Little Liars, and they wouldn’t be wrong. The books introduced this intriguing story to the public, but it wasn’t intended that way.
Originally, Alloy Entertainment, even though they themselves are a book packaging company, had to sell the rights to what was originally intended as a TV show to author Sara Shepard in 2006, and only after the whole series had gone to print, did it find the popularity that it needed to make it’s way onto TV. It was written and published by HarperTeen between 2006 and 2010, and the books, in order, were Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable and Wicked.
In response to their success, the story in it’s original form (TV script) was picked up by ABC Family for a 10-episode first season, which was again, due to the success of the show, promptly extended another 12 episodes to round off the 22-episode first season.
The story itself is a simple one (for those familiar with the genre of teen drama, at least), and revolves around a clique of girls who’s friendship fell apart when their leader, if you will, disappeared mysteriously. Her name was Alison, and when the girls start receiving messages from somebody calling herself “A”, and when those messages start threatening to expose their darkest secrets (the ones they thought only Alison knew), things start to heat up.
While the critical reviews were mixed (the show isn’t aimed at pleasing them, after all, but rather 12-16 year-old girls) the show cleaned up at this year’s Teen Choice Awards.