This fall, The CW will expand it supernatural-themed lineup with the new show, The Secret Circle. The series features Britt Robertson (formerly of Life Unexpected) as a teenage girl who moves to a new town and finds out that she is a witch. While the series will not premiere until September, fans attending the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con got an advance look at the pilot.

Here are five things you should know about The Secret Circle:

1. Pretty much everybody’s a witch.
If they speak in the pilot, just assume they’re a witch. That makes it easy.

2. There are six families of witches, all hanging out in one little town.
Each of the families is also very good at procreating at around the same time. Thus, Cassie (Britt Robertson) and her witchy cohort are all more-or-less the same age. Based on appearances, it kind of looks like the parental generation all had similar ages as well. As for the grandparents, only Cassie’s grandmother (played by Ashley Crow of Heroes) seems to be left.

3. Don’t look for vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc.
This is a show about witches. They stick to that concept just fine.

4. The show goes for a natural, positive sort of magic.
The witches in The Secret Circle aren’t particularly evil. Honestly, they’re not particularly anything to start with. The pilot implies (and occasionally states) that the families’ magic can be and has been turned to evil in the past, but that’s definitely not the only use.

Magic tricks seen in the pilot include starting fires, stopping fires, locking things, unlocking things, making it rain and stopping the rain.

5. Never, ever forget that The Secret Circle is a teen-oriented show airing on The CW.
In many cases, the “magic” that occurs in The Secret Circle consists primarily of two or more characters staring soulfully into the eyes of another. Usually, the eyes in question belong to Cassie and sweet, sensitive (and taken) Adam (Thomas Dekker).

The CGI-ed magic often kicks in midway through the emotional staring, but it’s kind of secondary at that point. Fortunately, the show is full of highly appealing characters who make staring anything but a chore.

The Secret Circle will premiere on The CW on Thursday, September 15 at 9pm.

(Image and video courtesy of The CW)

Laurel Brown

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include ChuckModern FamilySupernaturalMad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.