“Got a secret, can you keep it?” is the first line of ABC Family’s hit show, “Pretty Little Liars.” The TV show is based off of Sara Shepard’s book series, “Pretty Little Liars.” The series includes eight books so far, with a rumor of a plan to extend the series to 12 books in total to complete the series. The television series, created by Marlene King, has been argued to be one of the best adaptations of a book series brought to the small screen. Besides a few changes to the looks of the characters and the fact that some of the plot lines are mixed from the first four books, ABC Family has done a great job at creating these characters and bringing the audience to their knees in anticipation of what the mysterious “A” is going to do next.
The book series follows four best friends while they cope with the sad disappearance and death of their friend, Alison. All four friends have deep secrets that they each have shared with Alison. Believing that Alison took their secrets to the grave, the four friends are surprised and frightened when a mysterious “A” starts harassing them with text messages, emails, and hand written notes, taunting them with their individual secrets.
But it is not just the great adaptation that has made this TV series one of the most watched on Monday nights (the last episode as of 1/17/2011 was the number one episode on Hulu), but also the fact that the show deals with real life issues. “Pretty Little Liars” has joined other popular “teen” shows such as “Glee” and “90210” in showcasing LGBT story lines.
The executive producer of “Pretty Little Liars,” Oliver Goldstick, commented to Time magazine that fans have not been offended or shocked by the LGBT issues that have been brought forth in the show. If anything, the diversity of the characters has made the show an even bigger hit than many of ABC Family’s TV series.
Angela Thomas is a third-year student majoring in English and minoring in web technology. She can be reached at AT683005@wcupa.edu.