Episode 626: New TV Shows!

Just when I thought it was safe to get on with revision, I discovered that the pilot for Pretty Little Liars has aired. This is yet another book-to-TV series, but don't dismiss it just because of that. The basic premise is intriguing enough, and I can see why the show has been described as I Know What You Did Last Summer meets Gossip Girl, and Desperate Housewives for tweens. I think the series has potential, even if some of the controversial elements are completely unnecessary (like that passionate teacher-student kiss at the end) and make this an odd choice for ABC Family to air. I will say though, it's nice to see Holly Marie Combs back on a television series. If there's one thing strange about this show, it's how flat-out unattractive some of the cast members are. Lucy Hale (from Privileged) is really pretty, but the other girls in the clique are better described as 'striking' or worse, 'ordinary'. If they'd been more uniformly attractive, I'd say this series was a better fit for The CW, although the apparent target demographic may be too young for that network. The pilot for NBC's Persons Unknown has also aired, but I think I'm going to save that one for summer viewing when I'm home. Am still waiting for the new season of Hung to air, but I'm glad Royal Pains is back, as well as Lie To Me and Three Rivers, the latter finally brought back to burn off its remaining episodes after being cancelled earlier in January.