2017 has already been a heck of a year for TV and it’s just going to keep getting crazier. Both Pretty Little Liars and Teen Wolf are wrapping up soon (WAH!!) and while Riverdale has completely swept us off of our feet, there’s still going to be a little hole in our hearts where our two faves used to be. But it’s not all doom and gloom — another television show is coming in to help quell the heartache and it’s starring one of our fave Disney actresses, Bella Thorne!
Famous in Love is based on the YA-hit by author Rebecca Serle, who we recently chatted with to get the deets on what we can expect from the new book-to-TV adaptation, why the 19-year-old was perfect for the lead role and much more!
“There are pieces of [Bella] that are Paige,” Rebecca said. “The truth is that she found fame at a young age and so she really understands the trials and tribulations of trying to find yourself in a very public spotlight and in a very public way. So in that way, she’s so perfect for the role.”
While they’ve got that in common, the writer says that she and the teen agree that there are differences everywhere else.
“[Bella is] a little more outgoing, a little more…maybe…adventurous? She’s perhaps a little spunkier [than Paige]. I’m not saying anything that Bella wouldn’t tell you herself.”
The series, which follows an everyday college girl named Paige Townsen who lands a role in a huge Hollywood movie, is “really fun and really juicy” and has “the Pretty Little Liars twisty-turvy breakneck speed of storytelling.” Funny she should mention that, because I. Marlene King, the mastermind of the beloved Freeform drama, is an executive producer of FiL, too!
“It’s the kind of show that I would want to watch and it’s the sort of show that I loved growing up,” Rebecca continued.
So, will any of the Little Liars make an appearance on the network’s upcoming hit? The author was fairly tight-lipped about any character crossovers, saying, “I can’t blow up our cameo spots just yet. You’ll have to wait and see who makes a step into our universe.”
You don’t need a crystal ball to know that this show is going to be an instant success. Famous in Love debuts on Freeform on April 18th and we’re BEYOND excited!
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These kick-butt YA books also inspired Freeform shows:
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
TV Show: Shadowhunters (2016 - )
The Mortal Instruments was initially intended to be a film franchise in line with other popular YA movie series this decade, like The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games. However, when the first movie, called The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, starring Lily Collins as Clary Fray, didn't perform as well as expected, the film sequel got the axe.
Luckily, people still believed in the story of The Mortal Instruments and decided to turn it into a TV show for Freeform.
Unlike the flick, the television series has been really successful and has attracted a lot of viewers. Although the show has a different cast than the big-screen adaptation, it features new fan favorites, like Kat McNamara, Dom Sherwood and Matt Daddario.
Photo: Freeform
Famous in Love by Rebecca Sterle
TV Show: Famous in Love (Coming April 2017!)
Disney Channel star Bella Thorne is set to star on this upcoming TV adaptation on Freeform. Tyler Posey's GF will play a college student who unexpectedly gets cast in the movie adaptation of a mega-popular book series (LOL!) and her world gets flipped upside down.
The author, Rebecca, worked with I. Marlene King (you probably know her as the creator of PLL) to transform the book for the network. Neither writer has spoken about how far they'll stray from the book's plot line, but you still have a couple of months to pick up the YA favorite from the bookstore before the show comes out — then you can compare yourself!
Photo: Snapchat (@BellaThorne)
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
TV Show: Pretty Little Liars (2010 - )
This show is a huge hit and Freeform's longest-running original series. The story of Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily is one that fans cannot seem to get enough of. It's going on to Season 7 and has 16 books in the series with three companion novels! Only the first six books were written prior to the beginning of the series — the other thirteen were written after I. Marlene King started to develop the books for the small screen.
Photo: Freeform
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
TV Show: The Lying Game (2011 - 2013)
Sara Shepard did it again when she created another interesting and dramatic written story that translated great onto TV. There were six books written by Sara, but, unfortunately, the show got canceled after just two seasons and left things off with a MAJOR cliffhanger. So that sucked. There is also one major difference between The Lying Game as a book series versus its TV remake: The main character, Sutton Mercer, is dead in the books, but very much alive on the TV version (which is why actress Alexandra Chando had to play multiple characters on the same program!).
Photo: Freeform
The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell
TV Show: The Nine Lives of Chloe King (2011 - 2011)
Liz's book was picked up by Freeform in 2011, but, unfortunately, only lasted a few episodes before it got nixed. There were three books that followed Chloe as she explored her cat-like superpowers and tried to solve the mystery of her missing father. While its debut was pretty popular, attracting around two million viewers, the show had decreased in popularity after just a few episodes, which explains its cancellation.
Photo: Freeform
Recovery Road by Blake Nelson
TV Show: Recovery Road (2016 - )
This book-turned-TV-show is a little bit more serious than the others on this list and follows a young woman named Maddie Graham, who goes to a rehab facility to get over a drug and alcohol addiction. She winds up meeting another person in recovery with whom she begins a romantic relationship. In the book, Maddie's love interest, Stewart, is not as committed to his sobriety as her TV love interest, Wes Stewart, is. While there is a lot of TV documentation about people struggling with drug addiction, this Freeform show has a much more optimistic take on the whole situation.
Photo: Freeform
Huge by Sasha Paley
TV Show: Huge (2010 - 2010)
The same creator of popular '90s teen show My So-Called Life, Winnie Holzman, adapted this YA novel for the small screen with her daughter, Savannah Dooley. Nikki Blonsky from Hairspray brought Sasha's main character, Willamena "Will" Rader, to life on the show about a young woman who goes to a weight-loss camp for the summer. Despite thinking that "fat camp" is for people who hate their bodies, the book and TV show use Will's perspective to explore some serious issues facing teens, including eating disorders, body image and mental health.
Photo: Freeform
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