Entertainment

ABC Family Series or Crazy News Story?

ABC Family's summer is heating up — not only did the network already premiere one critical darling, 'The Fosters,' but it will debut another new series ,'Twisted,' the same night its beloved 'Pretty Little Liars' premieres. And, naturally, all of the network's new shows feature ABC Family's patented dramatic log lines about teens, angst, pregnancy, adoption, and more — the ones that seem straight out of weird news stories your mom emails you on a weekly basis. But would you be able to tell the difference? Scroll through to see if you can guess which of the following are ABC Family series log lines and which are real-life news stories. And we're not going to (pretty little) lie — it's harder than you think! [Image: ABC Family]

by Kate Ward

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A desperate college student becomes a runaway after failing out of school. The real drama begins, however, when the student decides to fake his own kidnapping to escape his troubles.

Real News Story!

Aftab Aslam, 19, hoped his kidnapping plot would help him avoid his parents’ wrath. Instead, he invited the police’s wrath, being charged with making a false report, tampering with evidence, and more after he confessed to his kidnapping plot. We give that plan an F.

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A young wife with a heart condition is told she can’t have children. Good thing she’s found the perfect surrogate: Her 49-year-old mother. [Image: Sergey Novikov on Flickr]

Real News Story!

Angel Hebert’s mother, 49-year-old Linda Sirois, should be named an angel herself. It didn’t take much for Sirois to agree to be her daughter’s surrogate (she even offered herself up), but several fertility clinics refused the arrangement because of Sirois’ age. Once the duo found a doctor willing to perform the procedure, Angel had a son in nine months time. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mother,” Hebert told press. Or a more open-minded one.

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A troubled teen is given the chance to start over when a bi-racial lesbian couple welcome her into their home.

Image: Bustle Stock

ABC Family Series!

‘The Fosters,’ which is produced by Jennifer Lopez, stars Maia Mitchell, as the troubled teen, and Teri Polo as her new foster mother. And, because subtle goes together with ABC Family about as well as a teen and an 8-track, their last name is Foster. [Image: ABC Family]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

Given up for adoption as a baby, a young woman decides to reconnect with her past, using only the Internet to locate her biological parents.

Real News Story!

When Jenessa Simons turned 21, she took to Facebook to share what information she knew about her parents. After 133,000 shares, she located her biological mother. Definitely a story you can “Like.” [Image: KSL-TV]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A 16-year-old returning home from a youth detention center tries to acclimate to his hometown five years after murdering his own aunt.

ABC Family Series!

‘Twisted’ focuses on Danny Desai, who quickly finds himself under the microscope shortly his release after a classmate is killed. Twisted, indeed. [Image: ABC Family]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A pregnant teenager unhappy with her baby’s real father finds herself in trouble after she tries to convince another classmate that he fathered her child.

Image: Fotolia

ABC Family Series!

If you didn’t watch ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager,’ then you at least saw clips on ‘The Soup.’ But no more — the series’ fifth season was its last. [Image: ABC Family]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A young, single artist wonders if life really does imitate art when she meets a man that looks uncannily like the dream future husband she painted on canvas years ago.

Real News Story!

Thirty-one-year-old Chloe Mayo worried what her tall, bearded husband might think if he saw her painting featuring herself hugging a tall, bearded man. “I thought that if he saw the picture he would think I was a stalker,” she told the Daily Mail.

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

A foster child tries to locate her biological mother with the help of her identical twin sister… who was raised by another family.

ABC Family Series!

‘The Lying Game’ stars Alexandra Chando as both Emma and Sutton, and just wrapped up its second season. When does the third season premiere? Ask ABC Family — the network put ‘The Lying Game’ on hold. No lie — we’re counting down the days until we discover its fate. [Image: ABC Family]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

Five teens bond over a curse afflicting their hometown.

ABC Family Series!

The network’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’ spin-off, ‘Ravenswood,’ premieres this October. And, based on its “cursed” description, things won’t be too pretty. [Image: ABC Family]

ABC Family Series or Real News Story?

Twenty years after being abducted as a child, a 20-something uses a smart phone to make the long journey home.

Real News Story!

Luo Gang, who hailed from China’s Sichuan province, was kidnapped and abandoned at five years old. After being raised by another family, Gang found his way home using only his memory and Google Maps’ satellite app. And what have you done with your smart phone today?

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