Thursday, June 10, 2010

Eavesdropper: We Like the Pretty Little Liars Pilot

H: Are we seriously watching another teeny bopper show?
D: But this one's suppose to be really GOOD!
H: That's what you said, when you duped me into watching that effed up remake of Melrose Place.
D: OMG! You didn't just say that. I'm still mourning that show. Shut up! It's starting.
And as they say, the rest was history? Anyway, Dovey was able to lure me into watching this show from ABC Family. The only other show I followed for a short time in that network was GREEK, which was not that bad at all. And this new show from them is not that bad at all! It must be because I had such low expectations.

More goodies after the jump!

It does boast of an interesting mix of supporting actors, who come from previously successful shows. There's Laura Leighton, who's best known for playing the role Sydney in Melrose Place. Ahh...those brings back memories of staying late at night just to get a taste of a sexy TV show. Here, she's just as scheming (and decidedly slutty), as her previous character, except now she's the mother of one of the main girls of show.
Photo from her IMDB profile
D: Of course, you had to start with her!
H: That show was legendary! The whole craziness she brought to the stable couples in that show was legendary.
D: Fine. To befair, she does look like she aged a bit, but really looks good!
They have Charmed Holly Marie Combs, who seriously trumps Laura Leighton with that non-ageing look. It did seem like she was pregnant, in her scenes. And is it wrong that we both have that feeling that she'd either freeze or blow up stuff when she panics? Oh, and she's the wife of the philandering character of Chad Lowe, who is the famous brother of the other one who made a deal with the gods to look forever young, Rob Lowe.

Photo by Danny Feld c/o IMDB.com

But let's go back to the show itself. This was pitched according to its Wiki entry, as the "Desperate Housewives for Teens," which is partly true. I was quite surprised that this was on ABC Family, when we have Aria Montgomery, played by Rachel Bilson 2.0 a.k.a Lucy Hale, sucking face with the school's new English teacher, Ezra Fitz, played by James Marsden 2.0 a.k.a.Ian Harding, after their short share-session in the bar. They were talking probably for about five minutes, and all over each other after that. The chemistry and sexual tension was palpable though, so it wasn't as incredulous as I make it seem. Sex seems to play a large part in the series with almost every main character having some sexual tension with the forbidden ones, like an older sister's boyfriend or someone of the same sex (gasp).

The following clip shows Ezra's reaction, when he finds out something about Aria in school.



I would say it's a mix of Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, and a bit of the look of The Vampire Diaries. It has the raciness, and the OMFG-shit Gossip Girl tries to pull off, and it delivers better than this once great teen drama on the CW. The Desperate Housewives comparison is obvious with the premise of a good friend gone missing (i.e. dead), and uncovering the mystery of her death and the secrets she kept (and ultimately making sure their own dirty little secrets are kept a secret). The Vampire Diaries treatment of the shots and the whole creepy dead friend sending them messages about their misdeeds adds a nice touch. So why isn't this on the CW? *cue devilish laugh*
 
 Photo from a fansite of Pretty Little Liars
They've set this up with a very quick pace, which I definitely like. It has a dark and edgy feel to it, which again I like. It's not as petty as I would've expected a teen drama to be. The girl who plays Emily, Shay Mitchell, is hot. The music they use is pretty current and definitely something we'll listen to. I still need time though to memorize and familiarize myself with the names and characters, which means I'll definitely catch the next couple of episodes of this new show.

H&D says, "It's worth to watch! 3/5"

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