Must we TV?

If you’re not yet hip to Pretty Little Liars, here are three words that could possibly change your mind: weed-smoking lesbians. The ABC Family show may only be five episodes deep, but all the ridiculousness — it’s being marketed rather accurately as a sort of Desperate Housewives for teens — appears to be working.

Based on a series of novels by Sara Shepard, the scripted drama revolves around Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily, four BFFs with heads of hair that suggest a ton of secrets. It’s been a year since Alison, their very own Regina George, mysteriously vanished. A string of creepy texts, IMs and e-mails, however, threatens to lift the lid on whatever is it they’re trying to hide. And these include things only their missing queen bee knew.

Admittedly, the soapy premise reeks of pastiche. Eagle-eyed viewers will instantly divine a strong I Know What You Did Last Summer vibe; they’re also likely to recognize the raciness of early-period Gossip Girl and the camp of Jawbreaker.

But Pretty Little Liars is packaged so attractively that you tend to overlook how derivative it is, Marissa Cooper-style shenanigans and all. Lucy Hale, formerly of Privileged, looks to be the breakout starlet, though Shay Mitchell, who plays Emily Fields, also deserves some attention. The Canadian owes her Pocahontas good looks to her Filipino mother and Irish/Scottish father. Rounding out the ensemble are alumni from past primetime triumphs: Bryce Johnson from Popular, Holly Marie Combs from Charmed and Laura Leighton from the original Melrose Place. If Pretty Little Liars continues bucking the trend by sucking in more viewers, its home network may have its first hit for 2010.

Transatlantic translations

For a year or so, hardcore Skins-heads have been up in arms at MTV US’s plan to remake the beloved British teen dramedy. “With series creator Bryan Elsley on board to write and produce, there’s a fighting chance that the Bristol-to-Baltimore exchange could succeed,” wrote The Guardian. But Skins works precisely because it is quintessentially British, which would be completely lost in a transatlantic translation. Since the American television industry is tame and puritanical, it’s difficult to imagine nudity, foul language or an Osama bin-Laden musical on Skins US, which is already set for a 10-episode run.      

And as if the lessons gleaned from dumbing down UK gems such as Coupling, The IT Crowd and Cath and Kim weren’t enough, an Americanized version of the BBC3 hit Being Human is also in the pipeline. “The $25-million US version of Being Human will go into pre-production this month, with Anna Fricke (Everwood, Privileged) and Jeremy Carver (Supernatural) as the lead writers,” said the official BBC Being Human Twitter account. “It will retain the ‘chemistry’ of the original, and start the same way as the pilot — with a vampire and werewolf moving into a ghost’s flat because it is going cheap — but will take a different course from there, according to executive producer, Rob Pursey.”

In the Syfy revision, due in 2011, the three main characters will roam around Boston instead of Bristol. That said, I sometimes wonder why some people are too narrow-minded to enjoy the real thing.

It’s showtime!

Now that Gossip Girl has jumped the shark, what else can we watch?

The comeback kids: Vampire Diaries (so good) and 90210 (a guilty pleasure) return in September, along with Supernatural and Life Unexpected. The second season of HBO’s How To Make It In America, which has my heart, is all set for a 2011 release.

The midseason replacement: The promising Perfect Couples, with Worst Week’s Kyle Bornheimer and Attack of the Show’s foxy Olivia Munn, could be our generation’s Friends. I hope it’s funny.

The up-and-comer: In this fall’s My Generation, a documentary crew follows a group of seniors from Greenbelt High School’s class of 2000, then revisits them in Austin, Texas 10 years later to see how they’ve changed. It could succeed where the underappreciated The Class failed in 2006. It stars Michael Stahl-David, Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) and Jamie King, among others. 

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