The trailers that run on Viva (our free-to-air MTV spin off station) for PLL are a bit confusing to me in their context – they are in the pink and green/yello branding of VIva – and are a series of whispered read outs of onscreen status messages in US accents in the vein of ‘OMG, can you believe what’s happening’. I’ve always assumed these were US ones grafted in, as the dates of the status don’t match the UK airings and its general promos are -as a sexy older lady – a rare US ‘voice’ on Viva, which usually goes for E4 rip-off blustery male style VOs.

Although PLL is wrapped in more conventional trappings, it’s arguably more subversive in presenting multiple female protagonists, such that female agency can be more broadly asserted.

That’s absolutely what I think is going on, and I’m fascinated by how PLL is wrapped in these conventional trappings (although still connected to a noir-like mystery about sexual violence…) and yet still potentially quite subversive, arguably (dare I say it?) more so than Buffy and VM. Buffy shared her power with the potential slayers only at the very end of the series, as an act of closure, shifting the series from its predominant focus on female empowerment as exceptionalism to a more collective sense of female power that the series could imagine but not depict long term–PLL uses that female network as its starting point.

I don’t mean at all to undermine or oversimplify VM and Buffy, two shows that I love dearly. But I do feel that because of PLL’s conventional trappings (as you so rightly put it) the series’ place in this trajectory of 3rd wave feminist shows could be overlooked.

Thanks for commenting!

I’m also quite fascinated by the trend toward teacher/student romance; there are currently three (count them, three!) currently-airing TV shows featuring teacher/student romance. Gossip Girl even went out of its way to retrofit a teacher/student romance into its primary mythos.

I’d love to hear about the UK marketing and trailers that are emphasizing the networked teen girl aspect!

As wonderful a show as VM was, there was a lot of exceptionalism built into the strong female role at its center. Although PLL is wrapped in more conventional trappings, it’s arguably more subversive in presenting multiple female protagonists, such that female agency can be more broadly asserted. (If we’re comparing seminal female-centered teen shows, it’s kind of like how Buffy shared her power with all the potential Slayers! That was awesome.)