Pretty Little Liars
ABC Family | Freeform | Release Date: June 8, 2010
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: A new ABC Family series built around four teenage friends and an ominous hint of supernatural forces that mean no good, makes most popular vampire romances look anemic. Read full review
75
NewsdayVerne GayJun 13, 2011
Season 2 Review: Competent soap, and the new season is frothier than ever. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: The ridiculously expensive wardrobes, the fabulous hair and makeup, plus a high school with not a single fatty is well, yes, the stuff of teen fantasy. And that is exactly what Pretty Little Liars is: a glamorous, spooky, adolescent fantasy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: What the show lacks in this kind of irreverence it makes up for in plain old addictive soapiness. Read full review
67
Boston HeraldMark A. Perigard
Season 1 Review: This is a series with no redemptive value. It barely qualifies as entertainment, but sexy summer trash will always find an audience. That's the inescapable truth at the heart of Pretty Little Liars. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: Fun enough, but the nastiness could be applied more heavily.
60
HitfixDaniel FienbergJan 5, 2011
Season 2 Review: Pretty Little Liars only has a couple more episodes to become a guilty pleasure for me. You might not believe it based on the amount of programming I watch, but I've only got room for so much bad TV. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Pretty Little Liars is one of those shows that manages to mildly, and perhaps unintentionally, spoof its genre while fully participating in it, and that's not a bad thing at all. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: The mystery makes Pretty Little Liars more entertaining than the tedium of Gossip Girls, and many parents might actually enjoy watching along with their young adults, who can explain why this sort of thing is so alluring to them. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredSamantha WhiteJun 22, 2016
Season 7 Review: As the series plows towards its conclusion, audiences can certainly expect all of the jump-scares, carefully-crafted sassy texts, and makeout sessions that the show has become known for. But, here’s hoping that amidst the flashy reveals, Pretty Little Liars takes a moment to breathe and pay service the characters we’ve spent seven seasons rooting for. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: Pretty Little Liars doesn't have the sense of humor -- or the wardrobe -- of "Gossip Girl." In fact, a surprising number of scenes call for bikinis. But the ongoing mystery (not to mention a secret referred only to "the Jenna thing") may prove irresistible to young people. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterRandee Dawn
Season 1 Review: Sure, there's a lot here that sustains more eye-rolling than interested stares, but a little patience might be warranted. Only with future episodes can Liars prove whether it's "Desperate Housewives" for tweens or just another trashy, pretty little error. Read full review
40
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: Pretty Little Liars is entitled to its version. If only it could have resisted some of the other cliches. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Written by I. Marlene King ("Just My Luck"), Tuesday's premiere is a generally predictable introduction that too often plays like a bad "Saturday Night Live" parody of a teen soap. Read full review
40
VarietyAndrew Barker
Season 1 Review: Appropriately for a pilot with so many threads, there's little time invested in establishing basic character before delving into their particular peccadillos. Read full review
40
SlateTroy Patterson
Season 1 Review: While no one beyond the show's target audience--teens in need of something to squeal over until Gossip Girl returns next season--would claim that Pretty Little Liars has a voluminous body, I must concede that it has a lustrous shine. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyLG
Season 1 Review: It hits every ''racy'' teentertainment mark so hard (everyone's hair is so full - of secrets!) that it feels like the only thing missing is a visit from the ghosts of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. Read full review
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