# Pretty Little Liars (2010)

> Four former friends in a Pennsylvania suburb are pulled back into the mystery of their vanished queen bee when an anonymous tormentor begins exposing their secrets.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/29383

## Facts

- Seasons: 7
- Episodes: 161
- Episode runtime: 44 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery
- Created by: I. Marlene King
- Network: ABC Family, Freeform
- Cast: Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, Ian Harding, Tyler Blackburn, Laura Leighton
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578873/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: breathless, soapy, suspenseful, glossy, dread-filled

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively overall, with the early seasons' mystery and friendship drama praised and the later seasons seen as weaker.

## Synopsis

Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017) is an American teen mystery series created by I. Marlene King for ABC Family and later Freeform, adapted from Sara Shepard's young adult novels. Four former friends, Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Hanna (Ashley Benson), Aria (Lucy Hale) and Emily (Shay Mitchell), drift apart after the disappearance of their queen bee Alison (Sasha Pieterse). A year later they begin receiving messages from a figure calling themselves A, who threatens to expose secrets only Alison once knew. Ian Harding plays Ezra, a figure entangled in the girls' lives, while Janel Parrish's Mona adds further menace. The engine of the show is a steady stream of cryptic texts, suspicious deaths, and reveals that reframe earlier episodes, with each week pushing the girls deeper into a small town web of lies. Running seven seasons across 161 episodes, it is one continuing serialized saga rather than a case of the week. The tone is soapy and breathless, with dread, glossy suburban cover-ups and the sting of teenage betrayal. Set in a present day Pennsylvania suburb, it is a glossy teen drama with a whodunit core. Fans of Gossip Girl, Riverdale and The Vampire Diaries will find resonance in its mix of high school romance and buried secrets.

## Shows like Pretty Little Liars

- [Cruel Summer (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/82584)
- [Riverdale (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/60542)
- [The Lying Game (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/35116)
- [Light as a Feather (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69969)
- [Scream: The TV Series (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55821)
- [Ravenswood (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/42522)
- [Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/92242)
- [Desperate Housewives (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/656)
- [Teen Wolf (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/31775)
- [Gossip Girl (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/80428)

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