The new CW show stars Lucy Hale as Stella, a young woman who finds out she has gone into remission from what she thought was a terminal cancer diagnosis. In the wake of the announcement, Stella finds out that all of the people in her life have been hiding their own struggles from her in an attempt to make her final months and years happy. “I initially thought it was such a great idea and something that I had never seen or heard before,” said Hale, who chose the CW pilot as her first TV project following the end of Pretty Little Liars. “It’s very interesting. Where we pick up in the pilot, you meet this girl who is pretty impulsive anyway. But if she’s living like she’s dying, she’s going to do some pretty crazy like marry a guy she’s known for three days in Paris. Who knows what else she’s gotten herself into?” As the show progresses, Hale teases that Life Sentence will further explore the dysfunctional aspects of her family in what feels like as much a show about progressing into adulthood as it is a show about illness—if not moreso. “We’re telling this story, and it’s not about the cancer so much…. it’s about how that affects each characters,” continued Blair. Stella’s parents (Dylan Walsh and Gillian Vigman) are struggling financially following years of medical bills, and their marriage is in ruins. Meanwhile, Stella’s older sister, Elizabeth (Brooke Lyons), gave up her own academic future so that she could help take care of her sister. Blair muses: For Knight, the “funny and heartwarming” elements of the script by Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith were what drew him to the story. “During pilot season,” said Knight, “you read so many shows, all the time, trying to set up this dynamic and get you hooked and invested, and it was one of the only ones that I read… it was the first one that I read where I felt so engaged instantly.” In some ways, Life Sentence is a high-concept show, but, at its heart, it’s a family dramedy on a TV landscape where there aren’t many series that center family issues and dynamics so centrally. It used to a mainstay of The WB/CW line-up. With Life Sentence, the tradition continues. Life Sentence premieres tonight on The CW at 9 p.m. ET.
