ABC Family Renews 'Pretty Little Liars' for Season 5, Orders Spin-Off Series 'Ravenswood'

        Just days after production started on the fourth season, ABC Family has handed an early renewal order to Pretty Little Liars for a fifth season. Additionally, the network has given a straight-to-series order to a spinoff series entitled Ravenswood.

        Ravenswood, from Pretty Little Liars executive producer Marlene King, will premiere in October after the parent series annual Halloween episode special. Ravenswood centers on a town not far from Rosewood, Pennsylvania which has suffered under a deadly curse for generations. Five strangers find themselves connected by this fatal curse and need to dig into the town's mysterious and terrible history before it's too late for each of them. King, Oliver Goldstick, Joseph Dougherty and Leslie Morgenstein will executive produce the project.

        "Pretty Little Liars is brand-defining and demo-defining for ABC Family. We are proud to be able to grow the PLL franchise in two ways - both by adding additional seasons of the original and by extending the storytelling into a spin-off. Ravenswood will become another 'must-tweet-TV' series for us," said Michael Riley, president of ABC Family.

        "Pretty Little Liars has maintained the #1 spot in its cable time period in all core women demos since its premiere in 2010 with fans who are passionate, loyal, social and mobile. Ravenswood will have plenty of mystery, drama, friendships and suspense that will inspire the same dedication from its fans. We are very excited about both series," said Kate Juergens, executive VP, original programming and development, ABC Family.