The Lying Game

For the book series, see The Lying Game (book series).

The Lying Game
Intertitle
Genre	Drama
Created by	Sara Shepard
Developed by	Charles Pratt, Jr.
Starring	Alexandra Chando Allie Gonino Alice Greczyn Blair Redford Andy Buckley Helen Slater Kirsten Prout Sharon Pierre-Louis Charisma Carpenter Adrian Pasdar Christian Alexander
Opening theme	"Gun for a Tongue" by Butterfly Boucher
Composer	Pieter Schlosser
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Charles Pratt, Jr. Leslie Morgenstein Gina Girolamo Fred Gerber (episode 11 onward)
Running time	42 minutes
Production companies	Pratt Enterprises Alloy Entertainment Warner Horizon Television
Original release
Network	ABC Family
Release	August 15, 2011 (2011-08-15) – present

The Lying Game is an American teen drama television series produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainment and Warner Horizon Television for ABC Family. The show is based on a series of novels of the same name by Sara Shepard. The network green-lighted the series in February 2011 with a 10 episode order, with the series premiering on August 15, 2011. On September 15, 2011, ABC Family gave the series a 10 episode back order bringing the first season to 20 episodes. The second half of the season began airing on January 2, 2012. On April 24, 2012, ABC Family announced it has been renewed for a second season, slated for a winter premiere. Season two was revealed to premiere on January 8, 2013, right after the premiere of the second half of Pretty Little Liars' third season.

Series overview

Main article: List of The Lying Game episodes

Filmed in Austin but set in Scottsdale, Arizona, the series is about Emma (Alexandra Chando), a foster child who finds out she has an identical twin sister, Sutton (also played by Chando). The girls were separated at birth, with Sutton being adopted by wealthy parents and seemingly living an ideal life. Meeting prior to the pilot episode, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues information about their birth mother in Los Angeles. Initially excited to do this favor for her sister, Emma soon learns that Sutton has many hidden secrets. Now Emma must continue to cover as Sutton continues her search for their birth mother. When Sutton reclaims her identity, Emma's future is unknown, as the twins, along with some of their closest friends, attempt to sort through the secrets of the people around them.

Cast and characters

The main cast of The Lying Game.

Regular characters

• Alexandra Chando as Emma Becker and Sutton Penelope Mercer. Sutton was adopted by a wealthy family while her identical twin sister, Emma grew up in the foster care system. It is revealed that Rebecca is their mother and that Sutton knew all along about her being their mother.
• Allie Gonino as Laurel Mercer, Sutton's adoptive sister and biological daughter of the Mercers. Without Emma's help, she never would've started dating Justin Miller but eventually broke up with him after knowing his real intention to get close to the Mercers. Since then, she started dating her band mate, Baz.
• Blair Redford as Ethan Whitehorse. He is introduced as Sutton's boyfriend at the beginning of the series, but soon falls for Emma after realizing that Sutton was ashamed of their relationship due to class. He was dating Emma, but ended up cheating on her with Sutton when she seduces him causing Emma to break up with him.
• Andy Buckley as Dr. Ted Mercer, adoptive father of Sutton and biological father of Laurel. He knew Annie and Rebecca, Char's aunt, as a teenager. He is close with Alec and the two are often seen scheming, regarding Annie, Rebecca, and secrets from their past. He is most likely to be Emma and Sutton's biological father.
• Helen Slater as Kristin Mercer, adoptive mother of Sutton and biological mother of Laurel. Kristin is oblivious to Sutton's genealogical history and only faintly remembers Annie from school. She becomes good friends with Rebecca when she comes back to town, although she is suspicious of her past with her husband, Ted.
• Alice Greczyn as Madeline Margaux Rybak, known as "Mads". She is one of Sutton's two closest friends. She is the daughter of Alec Rybak and the younger sister of Thayer. She ends her friendship with Sutton after finding out she came on to her boyfriend and becomes friends with Emma.
• Adrian Pasdar as Alec Rybak, the father of Madeline, Abby and Thayer Rybak. He is Ted's closest ally. He also has a history with Rebecca and they are now married. His ex-wife Caroline has been mentioned, although no one knows what happened to her. In the season one finale, he is arrested for the murder of Derek Rogers.
• Charisma Carpenter as Annie Rebecca Sewell (Season 2, recurring previously), Phyllis' estranged younger sister and Char's aunt who had left Phoenix many years ago. She started going by her middle name, Rebecca, as soon as she left town. She is said to know many of Ted and Alec's secrets from the past that they'd rather keep concealed. As of the season one finale, she is married to Alec. It's revealed that Rebecca is in fact the twins' mother and has been in contact with Sutton for quite some time.
• Kirsten Prout as Charlotte "Char" Chamberlin (Season 1, regular for episodes 1–10, recurring afterward), one of Sutton's two closest friends. She is the daughter of Phyllis Chamberlin and the niece of Rebecca Sewell. In the episode "When We Dead Awaken", Char moves to live with her father in Florida and her character has temporarily departed from the show. It is revealed that she is Sutton and Emma's cousin because Rebecca is their mother.
• Sharon Pierre-Louis as Nisha Randall (Season 1, episodes 1–10), Sutton's rival. She attends Arroyo High and is in the same grade as Sutton, Char, and Mads. She is also a competitive tennis player, like Sutton. Although a main character in the first ten episodes, Nisha was absent for the majority of that time.

Recurring characters

• Christian Alexander as Thayer Rybak, the brother of Madeline and son of Alec Rybak. He has had feelings for Sutton since childhood and gets involved with her during their time in L.A., which leads to her and Ethan's breakup. When he realized Sutton didn't want him, he left L.A. and met Emma. Since then he has been helping Emma.
• Tyler Christopher as Dan Whitehorse, a police officer and Ethan's older brother, with whom he lives in a trailer. He used to work for Alec, but is now against him after Alec wanted Ethan to be found guilty of murder.
• Ryan Rottman as Jordan Lyle (Season 2), a mysterious new guy in town who brings a whole new level of secrets with him. He piques the interest of Mads, complicating the situations further.
• Yara Martinez as Theresa Lopez (Season 2, guest star previously), Dan's ex-girlfriend and an attorney. Dan turns to her to defend Ethan when he is put on trial for the murder of Derek. She wins Ethan's case due to not enough evidence to prove he is the murderer. Near the end of the first season, she and Dan began to date again.
• Randy Wayne as Justin Miller (Season 1), Laurel's ex-boyfriend. He breaks up with Laurel without giving her an explanation, although she suspects that her father had something to do with it. In episode 13, it is revealed that his mother died during an operation due to Ted's carelessness when he nicks a vital organ.
• Ben Elliott as Derek Rogers (Season 1), Alec's accomplice and Charlotte's ex-boyfriend. He was hired by Alec to gain information on Sutton and ended up dating Char, whom he developed real feelings for. He was also the one who was in Sutton's car on the night she drove into a lake. He is found dead the morning after Ethan and Sutton interrogate him about what happened.
• Rick Malambri as Eduardo Diaz (Season 1, episodes 1-10), Mads and Char's ballet teacher who had a secret affair with Mads. When Alec learned of the rumor about his daughter and Eduardo, and that Eduardo had been in their home, he paid Eduardo off to get out of town. He got into an accident and was transferred to a new hospital after he fell into a coma and has not been seen since, much to Mads' grief.
• Misha Crosby as Ryan Harwell (Season 1, episodes 11-20), one of the students at Arroyo High. He has a "bad boy" reputation and has been dating Mads. It was revealed that he had hooked up with Sutton back then.
• Adam Brooks as Baz (Season 1, guest star afterwards), part of the band where Laurel plays. Laurel began get attracted to him once she and Justin broke up.

Reception

Critical

TV Fanatic's, Leigh Raines, rated the pilot episode five out of five stars. She went on to say "If the mark of a good show is when it leaves you wanting more, The Lying Game definitely accomplished that goal." Melody Simpson of Buzz Focus, also reviewed the pilot and stated, "While this is not exactly a series one would watch with the entire family, the older audiences will surely enjoy this series as much as the younger audiences." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Rob Owen compared the show as a "lighter, better executed version of the fall CW pilot Ringer."

Ratings

The pilot episode scored a 0.5 adults 18-49 rating and 1.39 million viewers. The second episode scored another 0.5 adults 18-49 rating, steady versus the pilot episode, but was up 98,000 viewers to 1.47 million. The 13th and 14th episodes reached series highs of 0.7 in adults 18-49.

International distribution

Country	Channel	Premiere date
South Africa	MNet	December 16, 2011
Canada	ABC Spark	January 26, 2012
United Kingdom	5* 5USA	January 30, 2012 September 29, 2012
Israel	Yes Drama	February 11, 2012
Norway	FEM	April 16, 2012
Philippines	ETC	June 2, 2012
Latin America	Boomerang	July 22, 2012
Mexico	Televisa Regional	April 2012
Turkey	Dizimax Entertainment	2012
Lithuania	TV1	Coming soon

External links

• Official website
• The Lying Game at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• ABC Spark website