My picks for Monday are all about new beginnings. That’s pretty appropriate for the first day of the work week, no? Several of my favorite shows are embarking on new adventures.

Whether it’s the end of Carrie’s (AnnaSophia Robb) double life on The CW’s The Carrie Diaries or a world with dangerous Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) back in it like on FOX’s The Following. And what could be more of a new beginning than a marriage proposal — even if the odds are against Sean Loweand his picks?

Click through the gallery to find out what else I’ve recommended for Monday night.

Agree with me, judge me, or offer up your own picks for Monday. Whatever it is, tell us in the comments section below.

Switched at Birth set records in its first season for the number of episodes, but also the amount of drama it packed into such a relatively short on-screen time frame. But now that the show is returning to ABC Family for Season 2, things are only going to get more intense.

Surprisingly, though, the big first season finale reveal that Angelo (Gilles Marini) has come into major money and learned he has another kid out there, is far from the juiciest conflict to come on the next season.

Celebuzz was on-set with the cast of Switched at Birthto get you excited for their all-new episodes! Here’s six things to expect from Season 2:

1. Bay switches schools and faces lots of new troubles there. Due to a new pilot program at Carlton, a select amount of hearing students can join the student body there, and Bay (Vanessa Marano) is eagerly one of them. Only when she gets there she finds challenges with other students, as well as the academics.

“She expects that because she signs and she knows so much more about deaf culture now, it’s going to be great. [Her] experience has been Daphne, who’s this completely acclimated girl who lives almost seamlessly and perfectly between both worlds and Emmett, who also didn’t talk and thought hearing people were selfish but then ended up dating Bay. So, clearly she was like, ‘I can win the hearts of everyone!’ Even [Melody] — she started out not liking her, but won her heart in the end. And then here she doesn’t. She does not at all. She’s basically bullied. She’s not expecting it to be as difficult as it is, and she ends up realizing she doesn’t know as much sign language as she thinks,” Marano said.

2. Bay’s bully is a deaf girl named Natalie from Carlton, played by model and up-and-coming actress Stephanie Nogueras. “In the beginning my perspective is that coming from a deaf school, I don’t want to see a hearing person come in. What’s the purpose of that? So that’s why I’m mean to her, and she starts to get involved in my program, and I realized we have some cuts. Art class is cut, but they’re adding these new kids, and I’m mad about that,” said Nogueras, speaking for her character.

3. Angelo does not take his money and run, but instead bestows lavish gifts on loved ones to win them over. Surprisingly? It works! The absentee father tries to buy the love of his children to a certain degree by gifting Daphne (Katie Leclerc) with a food truck and Toby (Lucas Grabeel) with a recording session, to name a few things.

“It’s a surprising gift and definitely shocking for everybody, but I think Daphne’s mind is always changing about Angelo. Sometimes I think she’s really happy, and sometimes I think she’s like, ‘Oh, this guy…’ I think he’s making an effort, and I think she sees that,” Leclerc said.

4. New love interests abound, but old flames die hard. With Chef Jeff (Justin Bruening) out of the picture, Daphne and Travis (Ryan Lane) have ample room to grow closer. “She starts this season definitely sort of lost, and she needs to find her footing, and she makes closer friends with Travis. They have a great friendship, and he’s a great ally to her, but she has to figure out what she wants,” Leclerc said.

Meanwhile, Bay isn’t truly ready to face her feelings for Emmett (Sean Berdy), and she ends up bonding with a new guy Noah (Max Lloyd-Jones). “[Emmett] wants to get back together with her, and she’s in that pushing forward, pulling away… She loves him so much and wants to be back together with him, but she’s not ready,” Marano said.

5. Though Nikki (Cassi Thomson) and Toby are together when the season begins, their relationship isn’t without bumps in the road. “Musically — that was our whole reason for getting together in the first place. We enjoyed playing together. And unlike a husband and wife who work together and then see each other at home all the time, we can go home and spend time apart. But there is something that is uncovered about her past that definitely raises a red flag to me,” Grabeel said.

6. New guy Noah has a secret of his own.“I think he’s more the nice, sweet guy so far, from that I’ve seen, but he does have a secret that’s going sort of bubbling inside of him and makes him different than the hearing and the deaf kids. That’s going to come up in the next few episodes, and there’s going to be some confrontation. He’s kind of at a crossroads,” Lloyd-Jones said.

Switched at Birth returns to ABC Family on Monday at 8PM.

What are you most excited to see on Switched at Birth Season 2? Let us know in the comments below!

– Danielle Turchiano

ABC Family’s Switched at Birth introduced the beauty of sign language — not only to its audience but also to a slew of hearing actors who were asked to learn American Sign Language (ASL) as part of their roles.

The Kennish family learned their daughter had actually been switched in the hospital just after she was born. And when they reunited with her years later, they learned she had fallen deaf as a result of an illness as a toddler. She was fluent in sign language, as was her mothe.  And as the Kennishes got to know her, they learned to communicate that way, too.

Though Katie Leclerc, who plays Daphne was fluent in ASL before getting the role, everyone else has been learning as the show has been unfolding.

“It’s great because it’s kind of like a dance,” Switched at Birth‘s newest cast member Max Lloyd-Jones told Celebuzz when we caught up with him on-set.

“You’re so focused on the movements that you can be a little freer in your attitude and your dialogue, and it’s an added layer in the scene.”

Like any language, there is a slang to ASL that one only picks up on after getting comfortable with it. But that kind of shorthand is only the tip of the iceberg of fun that the Switched at Birth cast has had with ASL. The cast now boasts secret, silent conversations on-set — and during press conferences– using the language.

So, what are some of the Switched at Birth‘s cast favorite signs?

Watch Celebuzz‘s exclusive interview featurette above to see which ones Leclerc, Vanessa Marano, Lucas Grabeel, Constance Marie, Lea Thompson, and more selected!

Switched at Birth returns to ABC Family on Jan. 7, 2013.

Has Switched at Birth inspired you to learn sign language? What’s your favorite sign? Tell us in the comments below!

– Danielle Turchiano

Mark your calendars folks, ABC Family has set the 2013 return dates for four of its original shows. The channel has also revealed some upcoming plot twists, so spoilerphobes, beware.

Addictive mystery Pretty Little Liars will start the second half of its insane third season on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 8 PM. Season 3B will start off with a bang as “A” — we mean Mona (Janel Parrish) –  will make her return to Rosewood High after being released from Radley Sanitarium.

The episode is titled, “She’s Better Now,” but is she really? It’s up to her to prove that to the Liars. But first they must make it through Tuesday night’s special Halloween episode, where someone in Rosewood will die.

ABC Family also spilled details of the returns of The Lying Game, Switched at Birth and Bunheads..

The Season 2 premiere of The Lying Game will debut following the new episode of PLL and find even more surprises and secrets in store for our favorite twins. According to the network’s teaser for the show, “The girls’ recently revealed birth mother Rebecca (Charisma Carpenter) lures Sutton (Alexandra Chando) into her plans for the Mercer family. Emma (Chando) grows closer to Thayer, while still being drawn to Ethan, who has started to reconnect with Sutton.” Got all that?

Meanwhile, Switched at Birth and Bunheads will both return on Monday, Jan. 7 at 8 PM and 9 PM, respectively.

Switched at Birth’s second season will see “dramatic changes in the lives of the Kennish and Vasquez families as a result of the verdict in the baby switch trial,” the network says. The Season 1 finale, airing Monday is expected to have a massive cliffhanger.

In addition, Gilles Marini, who plays Angelo on the emotional drama, has been upgraded to series regular status for Season 2.

The new episodes of Bunheads premiering in January will feature Michelle (Sutton Foster) attempting to return to her life in Las Vegas.

Switched at Birth‘s Season 1 finale airs Monday at 8 PM, and Pretty Little Liars’ Halloween episode, “This Is a Dark Ride,” airs Tuesday at 8 PM on ABC Family.

Which show’s return are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments below!

ABC Family went all out to celebrate their hit show Switched at Birth and the launch of the accompanying book, Switched at Birth: The True Story of a Mother’s Journey at the Redbury in Hollywood on Thursday.

Switched at Birth, currently in its first season on ABC Family focuses on two families whose daughters were sent home from the hospital with other families at birth. The twist, one of these daughters, Daphne (Katie LeClerc) is deaf.

This groundbreaking show also features scenes shot entirely in American Sign Language and explores the deaf culture with many deaf and hard-of-hearing actors.

The series also stars Lea Thompson, Vanessa Marano, Lucas Grabeel, Constance Marie, D.W. Moffett, Marlee Matlin and Gilles Marini.

So what’s their new book all about?

The book, written by Thompson’s character Kathryn Kennish, furthers the series by detailing the inside story of her experiences as a mom of her child who was switched at birth from the big reveal of the switch to the aftermath.

It reexamines her family in the wake of Daphne and Regina’s (Marie) move into the Kennish household. Carrying a theme of acceptance for differences, it is a must read for any fan.

Not only is the book available in stores, but it’s also a key plot point as the show continues Season 1C.

Coming up next on Switched at Birth, Kathryn will become upset when Regina gets all the attention for her book. Meanwhile, Daphne will bond with her boss even though she felt like she was going to be fired. Bay will also try to evade John’s (Moffett) rules by using Angelo (Marini).

You can purchase the Switched at Birth: The True Story of a Mother’s Journey book on Amazon.com.

Switched at Birth airs Mondays at 8 PM on ABC Family.

Switched at Birth had the biggest premiere in the history of ABC Family — thanks in part to breakout star Katie Leclerc, who’s own hearing disorder helped her secure the role of Daphne. 

Celebuzz talks to the young star about her personal struggles and success through diversity.

What got you into acting?
When I was in 7th grade I was Annie in Annie and fell in love with the stage, and the lights and the applause. Later, I was living in San Diego and I heard an ad on the radio and begged my mom to take me in for an audition. From there I got a manager and an agent and worked for about 10 years before being cast in Switched at Birth.

How long have you known sign language and was it difficult to learn?
I learned ASL at 17 as a high school elective. For me, it wasn’t incredibly difficult. It sort of just clicked right away.

Can you explain Meniere’s disease and give our readers some insight about it?
Menieres is a genetic disorder and causes the inner ear to retain fluid. There are four main symptoms. Ringing in the ear, pressure in the ear, fluctuating hearing loss, and vertigo. There are times when it’s very challenging to work through the symptoms but for me, it’s hard to complain, because without it, I wouldn’t have this job.

What is some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
Before a big acting competition, my dad sent a fruit basket to my hotel room with a card that said “define the moment, don’t let the moment define you.” I still have the card.

Everybody has bad days, how do you get over yours?
By reminding myself that it can always be worse and that I’ve been through worse.

What are your favorite TV shows?
Fringe, Breaking Bad, Community, and classics like Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development.

Do you have any celebrity crushes?
I don’t see how people can help to be in love with Joseph Gordon Levett.

What would you like to say to all the people who tuned into the show, making it such a huge success?
Thanks for watching – and hold on to your hats because we’ve got a lot more in store this season!

Catch Switched at Birth Monday nights on ABC Family.