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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Happy Town – A Show with Promise


Last year there was a well liked show called Harpers Island, which was a horror-drama that played like a slasher movie. It was a very fun show and had a horror concept that is seldom seen or done properly on television. On April 28th 2010, Happy Town premieres on ABC, a new show with a similar premise that looks promising, and anyone who enjoyed Harpers Island should check it out. It centers on a small town named Haplin which has been tormented by a mysterious killer who made one person disappear every year until he stopped for five years but now suddenly kills again with the arrival of a young woman. It is made by same people who made Twin Peaks. It has very well known actors in the cult television world, Amy Acker (who played Doctor Saunders on Dollhouse) and Robert Wisdom (who was in The Wire as the police commander who legalized drugs). The promotion hasn’t been very heavy with this show, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people pass it by. It’s one of the very few horror based shows that isn’t an anthology. Although there is no guarantee that it’s good, it does look promising enough to check out. So here are some pros and cons for the show, from what we’ve seen so far.

Pros:

1. The killer’s name is “The Magic Man”. Best name ever.
2. The horror genre for television has always been less than great until the last few years. Since Harper’s Island and Supernatural they’ve seen some leaps in quality. This has the makings of a good horror series.
3. The Creators of Twin Peaks are behind Happy Town.
4. Cool death scenes: a victim is killed by nailing a railroad spike into his head in the first episode.

Cons:

1. The killer’s name is “The Magic Man”. Gayest name ever.
2. It might be too weird like Twin Peaks.
3. 1 out of 10 is any good. For every great addition to the horror genre, there’s a laundry list terrible additions. There are very few good horror centered TV series in existence, and that’s stretching back over 30 years.

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