ABC Family TCA Press Tour: 'Pretty Little Liars' is mind blowing and 'Bunheads' delivers diversity
ABC Family
Pretty Little Liars producers Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick sat down along with series stars Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, and Keegan Allen to discuss the direction of the series at the Winter TCA Press Tour this morning. What makes this show so addicting? How will they top the biggest shocker yet (Toby as the betrAyer)? What about the longterm longevity of the show?
On Toby being a member of the A-Team: One thing that was made totally clear; none of these people care if teen girls everywhere smash their television sets out of anger. After Allen's Toby Cavanaugh was revealed to be a member of the A-Team on the midseason finale of season 3, many fangirls cried their eyes out after having invested time in his charming routine. "His darkness isn't coming out of nowhere. It's actually a reminder of where we started." True, Toby did time prior to the plot of season 1 because the girls zipped their lips to protect Alison. Toby was always a dark character. What's up next? A "Mind blowing" story arch surrounding his relationship with Spencer. Could she be on the A-Team as well? It has been hinted that a Liar could possibly be the next A reveal!
On How long the series can legitimately last: With twelve books and counting, the show has plenty of material to work off of. Plus, they have four stellar female leads who share the spotlight equally. The possibilities are seemingly endless, and very little has been solved to date. Having said that, the team behind Pretty Little Liars knows what they're doing, everybody. "I don't think we could be successful doing what we're doing if we don't know the final answer." Plus, fans can look forward to a few homage episodes. Think North by Northwest and Misery.
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Bunheads creator Amy Sherman-Palladino also spoke at the Winter TCA Press Tour regarding the initial criticism of the show's lack of diversity.
On diversity in ballet: Basically, ballet tends to be a very white world. Bunheads is making a good effort to care about creating a diverse world that is still legitimate. To do so, they use actual dance students from the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet in Los Angeles. That's a cool idea. Sherman-Palladino stated, "I wanted kids who all have the same technique. You look around that class -- when I was in class it could be white sheet Aryan nation. Ballet was a white, white world. This class is not like that. They've got kids from all over the world."
On legitimate diversity on television: Sherman-Palladino said, "I think the networks still need to develop shows. Being a writer who has pitched shows for diverse actors and has not been able to sell shows like that because they're just for whatever reason not on the agenda, the pressure can not only be 'Make sure that everybody who plays a plumber on the show is diverse.' It's a little weird. They need to develop those shows. Where is 'The Cosby Show'? There should be a 'Cosby Show'!" True; is forcing a show to add ethnic characters truly diversifying if it isn't organic? It's a start, I guess.
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