Townish Fantasies

Last night, I was watching the first episode of The Secret Circle. The show seems to be another teen-angst clone along the lines of The Vampire Diaries. But that is not what I want to talk about.

What I want to talk about is the use of a small town.

Why is it that so many television shows have the supernatural showing up in small towns?

A short list of suspects:

Smallville (ok, it was mainly superheroes and supervillians, but there was some magic also)
Supernatural
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Vampire Diaries
True Blood (if I am not mistaken---I am guilty of not paying much attention to that show)
Roswell (ok, aliens, but it fits the theory I am about to expound upon)

I am quite sure that I missed some. Compare these shows with series that have the supernatural and unusual happening in big cities.

Another list:

New Amsterdam
Highlander the Series
Forever Knight
Moonlight
Angel

(I am not sure if Charmed happened in a small town or city.)

So from this information, we can make a guess. If you are a teenager and stumble across a secret that humanity is not meant to know, odds are that you are living in a small town where everyone knows everyone. And if you are an adult who just figured out that vampires and immortals are real, then odds are that you are living in a big city.

I am quite sure that there is a deeper literary theory to this...but I will be damned if I am going to come up with it given the fuzzy state of my mind tonight.

Is is just me? Doctor Who filler vs core arc stories

Last night, I watched the Doctor Who episodes Night Terrors and The Girl Who Waited. Maybe it is just me, but I think that the random filler stories are more entertaining than the episodes of the core story arc (Doctor's Death/River Song). But then again, I am an old fashioned type of Whovian.

Previous to the modern era (in my opinion), Doctor Who did long story arcs much better. Or at least, they were more entertaining.

I found Let's Kill Hitler pretty lame in places. I was not fooled for a second by the whole Mel ploy. The instant I saw the red car, I knew it was stolen and that there was only one person who regularly helps herself to other people's stuff in this particular season (Series 6 or 32 depending on how you want to count it).

Even the most under-rated long story arc of the previous era, Trial of a Time Lord, was more interesting. But that may just be me. After all, I am a Colin Baker fan.

(Note that I like Matt Smith; it is just that I can't help but compare the current episodes to Trial of a Time Lord which was the first long arc Doctor Who story I ever saw.)