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.