For fans of Pretty Little Liars, TV has not been the same since the show aired its final episode in 2017. Nowadays, most series’ plots are built only to be revealed by the mid-season finale. However, with PLL, the main intrigue lasted a solid six seasons before the great reveal. Viewers were left on the edge of their seats weekly, and, when the final bomb dropped, they were left wanting more.
But, with the failed experiment of the spinoff Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, these same fans are grasping for something to hold their attention. Here are 10 shows to watch if you love Pretty Little Liars.
10 Gossip Girl
Welcome to the big city lights of New York, where anything goes if you have the right bank account credentials. Gossip Girl is the city version of Beverly Hils 90210 with a twist of mystery and death mixed in. Socialites of the big city are thrown together to discuss their hopes and dreams as they maneuver through life after high school.
But nothing is as it seems. Everyone has a mysterious past, and dark secrets are in danger of being revealed which puts the main cast in tough situations. It’s the same as the Liars fighting off the threats of “A.”
9 How To Get Away With Murder
The essence of Pretty Little Liars was the mystery of it all. Each storyline still revolved around the identity of there “A” or “AD.” How To Get Away with Murder is the same. But, here, the murders are done by the main cast. Their job is to protect themselves by way of the law. It’s a cat and mouse game.
How To Get Away With Murder focuses on a lawyer, her student, and a handful of people who either want to help Analise Keating or taker her down for good. PLL fans will not be disappointed.
8 One Tree Hill
A coming-of-age story surrounding a group of teenagers in a small community in North Carolina. There was not much mystery to any of the storylines in One Tree Hill, but the build-up to possible relationships, deaths, and sometimes murder kept viewers coming back for more.
One Tree Hill was one of the first teen-based shows to do a time jump and one of the first where some of the main characters departed and the show still survived. Relationships, family, and life seasons were the true essence of OTH. Family dysfunction was at the core of the show, much as it was for Pretty Little Liars.
7 The Vampire Diaries
Think Twilight on a weekly basis. The Vampire Diaries centers around a female lead, Elena Gilbert, who lost both her parents in a car crash. Much like Bella, she falls in love with a 162-year old vampire named Stefan. The plot thickens when a plan is devised to bring back an old love who looks exactly like Elena.
The inner-conflicts are still the same. Family drama and outside forces doing their best to unravel the truth. What was once a quiet town is now being looked at as much more. There’s a history there that the resident would like to keep buried.
6 Riverdale
To turn a happy-go-lucky kids’ comic into a sinister drama was a stroke of genius on the part of the CW Network. Riverdale is not the normal Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica laugh-out-loud comic some if its viewers grew up on.
That Town of Riverdale no longer exists. The laughs have been replaced with death, drugs, and sexual content that would put some Pretty Little Liars scenes to shame.
5 Desperate Housewives
Suburbs across America were never viewed the same once Desperate Housewives hit the air. A group of friends and their families became the talk of a small town where murder and lies became a norm of everyday life. Each character had their past dug up while trying to fight through their present.
No one was safe in Fairview. As the mystery of what happened to Alison DiLaurentis was the driving force of Pretty Little Liars, so was what happened to Mary Alice. Desperate Housewives taught viewers not to judge a book by its cover.
4 Revenge
What happens when a town destroys a family and, years later, one member returns under a new identity to take them all down? Revenge is on the same level as if “A” returns unbeknownst to others in the town and seeks revenge on the people who drove her family away. Oh wait, that did happen.
Revenge aired the same years that Pretty Little Liars did but was seen as a more mature show with an older cast. The storylines are not that far apart, but each show provided their fans with enough mystery and plot guessing that Pretty Little Liars fans should enjoy.
3 Ravenswood
While Ravenswood was on the air all of one season, the town still was a major part of the success of Pretty Little Liars. Caleb ventures to the small town to help some friends, but he soon gets caught up in the town’s history. With Caleb being the helper that he is, he’s now caught in a storyline that centers around death, more secrets, and just enough intrigue to keep his head spinning.
Ravenswood was set up to provide a side storyline to Pretty Little Liars. Caleb learned about his past and one secret that could have harmed his relationship with Hanah.
2 Veronica Mars
A kid with a grudge to pick. Veronica Mars, the once-popular girl in school, was cast aside once personal and family issues came to light in her town. No longer the one people looked to for leadership, Veronica was now the one on the outside looking in.
Her father owned a P.I. firm where he and Veronica took jobs that forced them to dig into the lives of the same people who destroyed theirs. Secrets were uncovered—some that were meant to stay in the closet or buried forever.
1 13 Reasons Why
A teen kills herself, and the mystery begins. A series of tapes show up at the doorstep of Clay, who must make the decision to either listen or not. But, in doing so, he may just get the answers everyone wants to know: why did Hannah do it? As with Pretty Little Liars, nothing is ever as it seems.
13 Reasons Why is told through two different points of views. There is Hannah’s, and then there’s Clay’s. Viewers are taken through a wild trip of emotions, lies, and, eventually, the truth.
About The Author
