Pretty Little Liars: True Crime/Episode 06 (2024)

Pretty Little Liars Author Shares Her Thoughts On TV Show Adaptation | Ep 06 is the sixth episode of the podcast Pretty Little Liars: True Crime, hosted by Tammin Sursok and Lindsey Shaw. It aired on June 3, 2024, on all podcast platforms.

Synopsis[]

This week we have the mother of all things Pretty Little Liars, author Sara Shepard! Sara gives us all the tea on the origins of the PLL universe, as well as how the tv show came into being. Lindsey and Tammin ask her all the juicy questions, like if she thought any actors didn't fit her vision of the character, and her opinions on the creative licenses the tv show took. We are then joined by Joseph who discusses the Idaho college murder case and how there are always clues left behind at the scene…

What were the Pretty Little Liar live tweet parties actually like? What were Sara's favorite and least favorite changes the tv show made to her books? And why was Tammin always farting on set???

BTS Reveals[]

This is not a recap of the episode, it's a documentation of topics related to PLL. Some topics have been removed as they do not relate to PLL or the actor's experiences on the series.

• A lot of the settings in the books are what Sara saw growing up - creepy woods, corn fields, Wa-Wa's. Sara described the summers as more mysterious then LA or California.
• Sara wanted to be writer from the time she was a kid, as she was always writing stories. She wanted to entertain her sister instead of going outside to play. She never thought she would ever get published. She'd be writing in journals without ever having a book deal.
• Her journey of getting the PLL book deal and the TV series was wild. She was living in NYC when she came up with the idea for PLL. The publisher bought four books, so she could quit her job to write the books. She learned it had been optioned by The WB around 2005, which was amazing to Sara. A long time went by before anything happened. A few screenwriters tried to make it into a show. They aged the characters up and changed the story a few times. By the time Sara got the call about Marlene writing the Pilot, ABC Family had taken over, and Sara had given up on the idea of it being a show. She learned ABC Family was making a Pilot - this was after a few failed PLL Pilots on other networks. Sara was still writing the series at this time. She had written seven books in the series, so the call was "out of the blue." Everything happened fast from there.
• Tammin spoke to Sara about her character, Jenna, being killed off in the books. Sara wishes she would have made Jenna a bigger character in the books, something that stemmed from seeing the TV series. Tammin also wishes Jenna were a bigger character. Sara also wishes she had made Toby a bigger character in the books, or even created Paige.
• Lindsey asked about the creative license Sara had over the series. Sara was so happy at seeing the Pilot. She didn't think it would ever be anything. She loved seeing the scenes from the book and the lines from the book in the show. Overall, she was happy with how it was portrayed. It was what she wanted the series to be from the books.
• Tammin asked if Sara envisioned a character differently from how she had them in the books. Sara remembers when they sent headshots of the four main girls and maybe Alison. The way she described them in the book was very different, but it mattered more to Sara how their body language was and what they brough to character over what they looked like. The two who stuck out the most to her were Maya (Bianca Lawson) and Byron Montgomery (Chad Lowe). She remembered people being upset over Shay's casting as Emily, but it didn't matter to Sara because Shay was such a good Emily. Now, if Sara were to write another book, she would envision the cast as the characters.
• Sara's cameo in episode seven of the first season came as a joke of Sara telling someone she should be on the show. She was surprised when they did give her a role.
• Sara was surprised how nonchalant the main girls acted about the A messages.
• Sara couldn't remember if the Toby-Jenna thing was in the books or not, and didn't think their relationship was a thing. Toby was only in one book because he died at the end of book two. She "kind of remembered" watching that story play out and being surprised.
  • Sara was right that the Toby-Jenna relationship was not in the books. In the books, Toby was in loved with Emily and dated her for a while
• Sara would watch the show live without any foreknowledge. She decided to live tweet each episode after the Pilot because it went so well. She live tweeted every episode until the finale. The Freeform office had live tweet rooms where the cast and some crew would go and live tweet each Tuesday. They were all alone in the rooms on computers and not talking to anyone between scenes. Lindsey and Tammin remembered Freeform having a lot of hummus and fruit. They commemorated over PLL always having a lot of hummus on set so they can't eat hummus anymore. Tammin would get terrible gas from it.
• Tammin broke probably four mic-packs in her time on set because she would forget it was on when she went to the bathroom. They cost about $3,000 USD each.
• Sara questioned hair and makeup choices more then castings.
• Tammin asked if Sara made residuals from the TV series, or if she was only paid for the initial run. She did receive residual payments because people still watch the show.
• Lindsey asked if Sara was happy with the Paige character and twist in the storyline. Sara always liked Paige because she didn't care for Maya that much. She knew people liked Emily and Alison together, but she never understood that. The Alison she wrote was not a nice person and not redeemable. Emily pined over Alison, but she need a Paige or someone that wasn't Alison.
• Sara is a bit tired of being referred to as the "Pretty Little Liars" author when she is a versatile author who doesn't want to be in one lane.

True Crime[]

Only information related to PLL are documented here. The true crime specialist discussed serial killers, crime scene protocol, and more, that wasn't entirely relative to PLL.

Trivia[]

• This episode was filmed before February 2024, as Sara mentions her upcoming book Nowhere Like Home, which was released on February 20, 2024.

External Links[]

• YouTube

References[]

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