ABC Family Plans Spinoff of ‘Pretty Little Liars’

Here’s a way to make fans of your television series very happy: announce another season of the show and a new spinoff series at the same time. That’s what the ABC Family channel did on Tuesday when it renewed “Pretty Little Liars” for a fifth season (before the fourth one even starts), and revealed plans for a spin-off called “Ravenswood.”

The announcements were made via the social media accounts for “Pretty Little Liars” in a nod to the fact that the drama ranks higher than most other TV series in terms of Twitter and Facebook interaction. True to form, the name of the new show was a nationwide trend on Twitter within minutes.

The fourth season of “Pretty Little Liars” will start in June, and a fifth season has been picked up, according to the channel’s announcement. The move is a no-brainer since the show routinely ranks No. 1 in its time period among young women.

ABC Family will introduce “Ravenswood” on the back of “Pretty Little Liars” in October. The series will be led by the same creative team as “Liars” and will linger on some of the same themes, like an unsolved mystery. (“Pretty Little Liars” involves the death of a young woman; “Ravenswood” will involve a deadly curse in a town.)

Kate Juergens, an executive vice president for the channel, said in a statement that the new show “will have plenty of mystery, drama, friendships and suspense that will inspire the same dedication from its fans.”