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This article is about the television series. You may be looking for The Perfectionists (book).

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is a spin-off and sequel of Pretty Little Liars, based on Sara Shepard's book series, "The Perfectionists". It was adapted by Marlene King. It was green-lit for a pilot order by Freeform on September 25, 2017, and later picked up to series on May 15, 2018. Sasha Pieterse reprises her role as Alison DiLaurentis, and Janel Parrish returns as Mona Vanderwaal as they begin new heights of mysteries.[4]

The show was cancelled by Freeform on September 27, 2019.[5] It can be streamed in the United States on Hulu and Max for South American territories.

Plot

Fans of Pretty Little Liars have a new mystery to solve, and this time it involves a murder in the college town of Beacon Heights, where everything is not as perfect as it seems. Featuring the return of series stars Sasha Pieterse (Alison DiLaurentis) and Janel Parrish (Mona Vanderwaal), the series tells the story of a town of overachievers who are under an intense amount of pressure to succeed. When their high-stakes college environment pushes them to a breaking point, someone snaps and kills someone. As they work together to solve the murder mystery, it soon becomes clear that behind every Perfectionist is a secret, a lie – and a needed alibi. The mysterious drama, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists debuts in 2019.[6]

Cast

Main Cast

  • Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis[7]
  • Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal[7]
  • Sofia Carson as Ava Jalali: A stylish trendsetter with a big personality, Ava hopes to have her own clothing line someday. But she has an edge over her fellow fashionistas: a brilliant technological mind, which she uses to blog and code. Just don’t ask her why her parents recently fled the country — it’s her one big secret.
  • Sydney Park as Caitlin Park-Lewis[8] [9]: The intelligent, motivated and easy-on-the-eyes daughter of two over-achieving mothers, one of whom is a United States senator, Caitlin is an expert at hiding secrets. She hopes to follow in her mother’s political footsteps — that is, if the weight of her own secrets doesn’t crush her first.
  • Eli Brown as Dylan Walker[9]: A prodigious cellist who used his passion for music to escape his small-minded hometown, Dylan loves his music almost as much as he loves his boyfriend, Andrew. (And even that’s up for debate.)
  • Kelly Rutherford as Claire Hotchkiss[9]: The matriarch of the Hotchkiss family, Claire along with her husband is the founder of Hotchkiss Industries and the respected Beacon Heights University. She believes perfection is attainable and is the person who pulls the strings behind the scenes to get what she wants.
  • Hayley Erin as Taylor Hotchkiss[9]: A member of the respectable Hotchkiss family who decided to dedicate her time to help students who were under the high-pressure environment of BHU, Taylor faked her death in a suicide a year prior and has been secretly working against Hotchkiss Technologies ever since.
  • Graeme Thomas King as Jeremy Beckett[10]: A handsome Brit with more abs than you can count with just your fingers, Jeremy is also described as “charming and witty.” (Duh, he’s British!) What’s more, he’s also an intelligent scientist working for Hotchkiss Industries.

Special Guest Star

  • Chris Mason[11] as Nolan Hotchkiss: A natural born leader, Nolan is the heir to his family’s empire. Though he puts forth the image of a golden boy, Nolan is actually a manipulator who uses his friends and family to maintain his image. Not a big fan of authority figures or the word “no,” Nolan isn’t used to losing.

Recurring Cast

  • Evan Bittencourt as Andrew Villareal: Dylan’s supportive and well-adjusted boyfriend who is successfully navigating the world of the Perfectionists – for now.[12]
  • Noah Gray-Cabey as Mason Gregory: A smart and athletic fellow student at Beacon Heights University. Mason is a natural born leader who can charm his way in and out of most situations, but there is something about him that keeps people guessing.[12]
  • Klea Scott as Dana Booker[13]: The new head of security at Beacon Heights University, who is determined and perceptive almost to the point of omniscience. After recent events, she keeps Alison (Sasha Pieterse), Mona (Janel Parrish) and our Perfectionists on their toes.[14]
  • Garrett Wareing as Zach Fortson: a BHU sophomore currently working three jobs to stay in school, and still manages to maintain stellar grades. His tough exterior hides a sensitive soul who can make anyone melt.[15]
  • Phillip Rhys as Michael Jalali: A smart and charismatic businessman who is keeping secrets of his own and has a tie to one of the Perfectionists.[16]

Seasons

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
2019
Teen Choice Award Choice Drama TV Series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Nominated
Choice Drama TV Actress Sofia Carson Nominated

Trivia

  • The show was almost adapted twice, although, both times it was not a PLL spin-off.
    • The first known news of an adaptation came in 2013 before the book itself was published. The CW picked up the rights for the show and planned to air it as a, "drama series project from Alloy Entertainment and Warner Bros. TV". Once the book was released, the plans eventually fell through and the rights were out of their hands by 2014.[17]
    • The second time the series was almost given an order, was in 2014 when I. Marlene King acquired the rights to the show the month the book came out. ABC Family planned to release the series on their network. There was no news of the show for three years.[18]
  • Marlene King teased about a possible spinoff with links to Pretty Little Liars in June, saying "You know there might be some truth to that, but my hands are tied and I'm not allowed to talk about it just yet. So hopefully we will get to share some news soon!"[19]. It was soon revealed that it would be a complete merge of the universes of "Pretty Little Liars" and "The Perfectionists".
  • According to King, filming for the show begun in March[20].
  • In a September 2017 Dancing With The Stars Instagram Live chat, when asked about what show is about, Sasha Pieterse said, "It's about this perfect town... called Beacon Heights, and, um, there's this really rich family that owns the town basically [...] knows everything about everyone, and, um, their daughter is the first person to get, um... the first person to die basically, as an accident or maybe not an accident in the town, and so everyone kinda freaks out."[21]. However, she does state that Marlene "can obviously change it".
  • Production of the show began on February 21, 2018.[22]
  • The show picks up a year or two after the events of the Pretty Little Liars finale.[23]
  • It was initially unclear if Pretty Little Liars would be connected to The Perfectionists as, according to Sasha Pieterse, her and Janel Parrish's characters are, "kinda just being put into it.[24]
  • Janel Parrish, who plays Mona Vanderwaal, knew about the spin-off for a year, and was the first cast member to find out about it.[25]
  • On December 4, 2017, it was confirmed that Alison and Mona were series regulars.[26][27]
  • Caitlin Park-Lewis, Ava Jalali and Nolan Hotchkiss remained the only original characters from the books.[28]. Caitlin's surname was altered slightly, Dylan Walker is a genderbent version of Mackenzie Wright, while Jeremy Beckett is a version of Jeremy Friday.
    • Ava, Caitlin, and Jeremy's personalities have been altered from their book counterparts - Ava's never expressed a major interest in fashion or technology, Caitlin was the athletic girl yearning for a future in soccer while Jeremy was an average teenage boy younger than Caitlin.
    • Nolan is the only character to stay true to his book character. However, he didn't maintain a friendship with either of the book Perfectionists, only with Parker Duvall.
  • When asked by a fan if "Bitchy Ali" and "Murder Queen Mona" would be a duo in the series, Marlene confirmed.[29]
  • In an interview, Marlene revealed that one of the four Perfectionists introduced won't make it to the end of the pilot.[30]
  • A few crew members from Pretty Little Liars have signed on to be part of the spin-off.
    • I. Marlene King created and adapted the series. She is also an executive producer, writer, and the showrunner of the series. She was previously all of those and more on Pretty Little Liars.
    • Charlie Craig joined the "Pilot" episode as the co-showrunner. He was the co-showrunner of Pretty Little Liars during the shows seventh and final season.[31]
    • Lisa Cochran-Neilan joined the series as an executive producer. She was previously a co-executive producer, line producer, and producer on Pretty Little Liars throughout the series.
    • Joseph Dougherty joined Season 1 in an unreleased position. He was a producer, director, and writer on PLL.[32]
    • Ashley Benson who portrayed Hanna Marin directed an episode.[33] She ended up shadowing director Shiri Appleby for the episode "Lost and Found" as preparation for directing her own episode in the potential Season 2.
  • Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum joined the series as both a director and an executive producer of the Pilot episode only.[34]
  • According to Marlene King, the show filmed on location in Portland and the Pacific Northwest as much as possible, to stay true to the books "moody and creepy" weather.[35]
    • The show used Portland’s Lewis and Clark College and Forest Grove’s Pacific University for the fictional Beacon Heights University.[36]
    • They have also shot around areas like Lake Oswego, Oregon.[37]
  • Sara Shepard, the author of The Perfectionists book series, met the main cast in March.
  • A quote from the pilot was revealed by I. Marlene King, either told by Alison or Mona to the other: "What are you doing here?"[38]
    • Another quote was released on July 21, 2018, and also told by either Alison or Mona to each other: "Did you learn nothing in Rosewood? There are no coincidences!"[39]
  • At a recent PLL convention, it was revealed production starts February 21st, and filming starts in March.
  • I. Marlene King and Sara Shepard have confirmed that Emison were together in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, despite Shay Mitchell not confirmed to be appearing.
  • Lily and Grace DiLaurentis-Fields made an appearance.[40]
  • The table read for the Pilot occurred on February 26, 2018.
  • Critter Pierce served as the show's costume designer.
  • The details surrounding what Mona did with Alex Drake and Mary Drake were set to be revealed.[41]
  • The rest of the cast was revealed on March 9, 2018.[42]
  • Filming for the Pilot started on March 5, 2018, according to Sofia Carson in Portland, Oregon.
    • The pilot finished filming on March 27, 2018, according to the casts' social media accounts.
  • After filming for the Pilot wrapped, the cast and crew all received Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists t-shirts.
  • Sofia Carson describes the show as, "it's dramatic, it's dark, it's mysterious, it's romantic and full of secrets as the PLL world goes," as well as, "a sensation of being constantly watched as well, like there was in PLL, so there's the same essence of the story."[43]
  • On May 3, 2018, editing for the Pilot episode was in progress. It was being edited by I. Marlene King and Lois Blumenthal.[44]
  • The show was picked up to series on May 15, 2018, and was given a ten-episode order.[45]
  • In a People magazine interview, Janel Parrish confirmed that the show is "classier than meets the eye" and deep down it's edgier and more risqué than the beginning of Pretty Little Liars.[46]
    • In a later interview with Just Jared Jr., Janel revealed that Marlene stated that the show adaption would be "quite different" from The Perfectionists books.[47]
  • On November 28, 2018, it was announced that Garrett Wareing is set for a recurring role, where Wareing would play Zach, a BHU sophomore currently working three jobs to stay in school, and still manages to maintain stellar grades. He is described as having a tough exterior that hides a sensitive soul who can make anyone melt.[48]
  • Regarding the new opening sequence, I. Marlene King stated that it was all about finding a balance between the PLL world and The Perfectionists world.[49]
  • Every episode will have a slightly different opening sequence, that will include an Easter egg of what is to come in that episode. It is their version of the, "PLL closers".[49]
  • On Friday, March 15, 2019, the official PLL: TP Instagram page revealed a "travel to Oregon Sweepstakes. [50]
  • Despite being credited as a Series Regular in press releases for the show, Chris Mason is actually credited as a Special Guest Star in the pilot episode.
  • The possibility of a Season 2 was left up in the air for months after the finale.
    • On June 4, 2019, I. Marlene King was working on a pitch for Season 2.[51] She pitched Season 2 for FreeForm sometime in June of 2019.
    • On July 21, 2019, Marlene tweeted out that she continued to wait on whether or not this series gets a second season. [52]
    • Finally, on September 27, 2019, the show was cancelled.[53]

Multimedia

Promotional Videos

Promotional Posters

Earlier Logos

References

  1. Hollywood Reporter: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff ‘The Perfectionists’ Picked Up to Series at Freeform
  2. 2.0 2.1 Freeform: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Coming to Freeform
  3. Variety: ‘Pretty Little Liars’: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum Directing Spinoff ‘The Perfectionists’ (EXCLUSIVE)
  4. Variety: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff Lands Pilot Order From Freeform
  5. TVLine: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Cancelled at Freeform After 1 Season
  6. Global News: Corus specialty TV 2018-19: ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists,’ ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ and more
  7. 7.0 7.1 Twitter (@imarleneking): series regulars.
  8. As seen in BTS image plaque.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 EW: Pretty Little Liars spin-off adds Walking Dead and Gossip Girl stars
  10. The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff Casts Newcomer Graeme Thomas King (Exclusive)
  11. Instagram (@imarleneking): And that’s a wrap on Nolan Hotchkiss @chrismason_1 and Dylan Walker @elibrown.jpeg And the entire Portland cast and crew of the #plltheperfectionists pilot. We love you Portland! 💕
  12. 12.0 12.1 Deadline: ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists’: Noah Gray-Cabey & Evan Bittencourt To Recur On Freeform Spinoff
  13. SpoilerTV: Freeform's March 2019 Programming Press Release
  14. Deadline: ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists’: Klea Scott Joins Spinoff As Recurring
  15. Just Jared Jr.: Garrett Wareing To Join 'The Perfectionists' as Zach
  16. Deadline: Bernard White To Recur In ‘Claws’; ‘The Perfectionists’ Casts Phillip Rhys
  17. Deadline: The CW sets drama adaptation of Sara Shepard's Book The Perfectionists
  18. Deadline: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Marlene King To Bring Sara Shepard’s ‘The Perfectionists’ Books To ABC Family As Potential Series
  19. Hollywood Reporter: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Creator Breaks Down the Series Finale and Teases What’s Next for the Franchise
  20. Twitter (@imarleneking): March
  21. YouTube: Sasha Pieterse talk about Emison in PLL Spin off The Perfectionist Ft. Gleb Savchenko
  22. SpoilerTV: Production Dates - Various Shows
  23. 9News: Sasha Pieterse Spoils Perfectionists Details
  24. Teen Vogue: Sasha Pieterse Says "The Perfectionists" Will Not Be a "Pretty Little Liars" Spinoff
  25. Just Jared Jr: Janel Parrish Has Known About 'The Perfectionists' For a Year
  26. TVLine: Pretty Little Liars Spinoff: Meet the Perfectionists Joining Ali and Mona
  27. Twitter (@imarleneking): series regulars.
  28. TV Line: Pretty Little Liars Spinoff: Meet the Perfectionists Joining Ali and Mona
  29. Twitter (@imarleneking): right on.
  30. TVLine: Pretty Little Liars Spinoff: How Will It Differ From the Original Series?
  31. Deadline: ‘The Perfectionists’: ‘PLL’ EP Charlie Craig Joins Spinoff Pilot As Co-Showrunner
  32. Twitter (@Kockenlocker): #PLL Guess what I get to do.
  33. YouTube: Ashley Benson Is 'Very Excited' To Direct An Episode Of The ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff | PeopleTV
  34. Variety: ‘Pretty Little Liars’: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum Directing Spinoff ‘The Perfectionists’ (EXCLUSIVE)
  35. Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/pretty-little-liars-perfectionists-details
  36. KGW: Extras wanted for 'Pretty Little Liars' spinoff shooting in Portland, Forest Grove
  37. Portland Tribune: 'Pretty Little Liars' spinoff filming in Lake Oswego
  38. Twitter (@imarleneking): "What are you doing here?"
  39. Twitter: did you learn nothing in Rosewood? There are no coincidences!
  40. ET: Sasha Pieterse Spills 'Perfectionists' Details: Emison, the Twins & Where It Picks Up Post-'PLL'! (Exclusive)
  41. Instagram (@plltheperfectionists_tv): Janel confirms we are going to find out what happens between Mona and Alex Drake in #PLLThePerfectionists
  42. Twitter (@plltvseries): ANNOUNCED: We have the full cast for the spinoff pilot, “#PrettyLittleLiars: The Perfectionists.” Yes, these pretty faces are joining @SashaaPieterse, @JanelParrish, + @SofiaCarson. #PLLThePerfectionists
  43. ET: 'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists': Sofia Carson Says Troian Bellisario & Lucy Hale May Be Involved!
  44. Twitter (@imarleneking): were up late tonight editing the pilot. Spoiler alert: It’s amazing!
  45. The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff ‘The Perfectionists’ Picked Up to Series at Freeform
  46. Twitter (@people): Janel Parrish Reveals What Type of Drama to Expect on ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spinoff #PeopleNow https://Live.twitter.com/peoplenow
  47. Just Jared Jr: Janel Parrish Opens Up About 'The Perfectionists'! (Exclusive)
  48. Deadline: ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists’ Casts Garrett Wareing; Melissa de Sousa Joins ‘On Becoming A God In Central Florida’
  49. 49.0 49.1 YouTube: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Stars Dish on New Opening Credits & Theme Song (Exclusive)
  50. Instagram: Tag a friend for a chance to win a trip to Portland. How to enter: follow both the @prettylittleliars and @TravelOregon Instagram accounts, comment #PLLTravelOregonSweepstakesEntry, and tag a friend.
  51. Twitter (@imarleneking): Well it’s not really a summer off. Working on several movies, tv shows and PLL:PERFS season 2 pitch.
  52. Twitter (@imarleneking): I’ve had a 7 season show, a 2 season show, a 1 season and another we are still waiting to hear about season 2... the best part of all of these shows are the people who made them and became friends who are like family. Cast, writers and crew=family.
  53. SpoilerTV: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists - Cancelled by Freeform
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