Freeform Orders 'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Pilot

Freeform has ordered a pilot spinoff of its popular Pretty Little Liars series starring two characters from the original show, the network said Monday.

 The series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, will star Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish reprising their roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal respectively and is based on the popular book series The Perfectionists, written by Sara Shepard, who also penned the bestselling book series Pretty Little Liars.

According to Freeform, the series revolves around characters in the town of Beacon Heights where everything seems to be perfect until the stress of needing to be perfect leads to the town’s first murder.

“Pretty Little Liars was a cultural phenomenon so it's no wonder fans wanted more." said Karey Burke, executive vice president, programming and development, Freeform in a statement. "We can't wait to continue Marlene King's rich and revolutionary storytelling with a new crop of leading ladies from Beacon Heights who will hold just as many secrets and lies as Rosewood did."

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.