10 Ways "Pretty Little Liars" Would've Been Different in 2003

What the hit ABC Family show would look like without smartphones and MacBooks.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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If you've ever seen Pretty Little Liars, you'd know just how much the ABC Family series relies on the latest technology. The show centers around four best friends, known as the titular Liars (played by Shay Mitchell, Troian Bellisario, Lucy Hale, and Ashley Benson), attempting to decode the mystery of who killed their best friend Alison (Sasha Pieterse) by following the clues of the ominous A-team, a malevolent group of spiteful suburban kids led by A (Janel Parrish) conspiring to bring Alison and everyone associated with her down. And the way A drops Easter eggs for the liars to find isn't as simple as slipping notes into lockers or writing threats on locker room mirrors. Rather, A shoots the girls untraceable texts, sends them cryptic video messages and blackmails the foursome with her camera phone—all standard stuff in 2013.

That said, we got to thinking about how things would be different if the murder mystery series was set in different time period, one where the popular forms of communication weren't as sophisticated, yet still entirely familiar. Thus, we decided to rewind time back 10 years and set PLL in 2003, where AIM, MySpace and Tracfones prevailed. Here are 10 ways Pretty Little Liars would've been different in 2003.

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The Liars would all be using basic cell phones instead of smartphones.

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Clay Aiken would perform at their Halloween bash instead of Adam Lambert.

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A would leave a threat on their TI-84 calculator.

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The heartthrob of the show would have spiky hair, bleached tips and wear a puca shell necklace.

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A's screenname would be oXxAxXo.

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The Liars' phones would run out of minutes, so they wouldn't receive an important threat.

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A would hack the Liars' chatroom.

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To get all their friends against them, A would rearrange their Top 8 on MySpace.

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The cast would be rocking Uggs, jean skirts, popped collars and variations of baby blue/pink colors.

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A would create a Xanga and threaten the Liars by crossing out Internet dolls.

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