You know how the saying goes: when one successful TV show ends, a spin-off will inevitably take its place. And this time, Pretty Little Liars fans are in for a treat.
Shay Mitchell, who played Emily Fields on the beloved show, is going to be reuniting with PLL showrunner I. Marlene King and PLL‘s author Sara Shepard on a new series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Based on Shepard’s book The Heiresses, the show will follow the wealthy Saybrooks as they find themselves in the midst of a family tragedy that may be more sinister than it appears.
Though THR notes that Shay will serve as the show’s headliner, it’s unclear what her character will be. There are four Saybrook heiresses in the book, according to Shepard’s author website: Aster, Corinne, Natasha, and Rowan, all of whom could be seen as suspects following Poppy Saybrook’s death — or maybe potential next victims. Add in the book’s cover image of Central Park, and this basically sounds like Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl.
Of course, it’s possible that Shay could play someone else entirely — TV has taken liberties with adaptations from books in the past. Either way, this isn’t the only show with Pretty Little vibes in the works. Shay is also working on a show called You, which will star Gossip Girl himself — as in Dan Humphrey, as in Penn Badgley. The actress will play a rich socialite named Peach Salinger who is the mean girl character of the series. She told Teen Vogue that while Emily Fields “will always hold a place in my heart, it’s also fun to be able to play somebody close to my age. And Peach… although we don’t have a similar personality whatsoever, our style is very similar.”
What’s more, it was announced last week that Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish would be joining The Perfectionists, a new show also by I. Marlene King and based on Shepard’s book of the same name. While they’ll be joining the show as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal, respectively, the show won’t be based in the PLL town of Rosewood itself. If you really need a true PLL binge-watch, we’ll always have reruns for that.