What is it really about small-town TV shows that makes it so timeless? Probably because it is the perfect canvas for exploring any theme in a way that just engulfs you as an audience.
Over the years, we have gotten so many fictional and sometimes non-fictional small towns that found a special place in our hearts. Here are the top 20 most iconic small-town series of all time that always leave us wanting to pack our bags and move there.
20. Hart Of Dixie (2011-2015)
This charming feel-good series stars Rachel Bilson in the role of Dr Zoe Hart. When Zoe’s dreams of becoming a heart surgeon in New York fall apart, she accepts an offer to work as a general practitioner in the fictional Gulf Coast town of Bluebell, Alabama. As she adjusts to life in the town’s tight-knit community, we follow her fish-out-of-water journey which also explores themes of friendship, love and finding one’s true self.
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19. Virgin River (2019-)
Visually captivating and the perfect cure to the city blues, ‘Virgin River’ is a slice-of-life romance drama. It centres on Mel, an L.A. based midwife and nurse practitioner who decides to start fresh and move to the remote Northern California town of Virgin River. Spanning across seven seasons and still going strong, the show has that charm of a caring, tight-knit community, but it also dives into the residents’ unresolved pasts and traumas.
18. Banshee (2013-2016)
After serving 15 years in prison, an enigmatic ex-con is on the run from a powerful crime lord named Rabbit. He heads to the small town of Banshee in Pennsylvania in search of his former lover and Rabbit’s daughter, Anastasia. When he finds the new sheriff, Lucas Hood, getting murdered on his way to the town, he assumes Hood’s identity and heads to Banshee.
17. One Tree Hill (2003-2006)
With its signature 2000s nostalgia and grainy cinematic vibes, ‘One Tree Hill’ brings the struggles of growing up and high school drama to the heart of Tree Hill town in North Carolina. It primarily tells the story of two estranged half-brothers, Lucas and Nathan, as they vie for a place on the school’s basketball team, going from pure rivalry and hatred to eventually bonding with each other.
16. Everwood (2002-2006)
After the death of his wife, widowed neurosurgeon Andy Brown decides to move from New York City to the idyllic small town of Everwood with his two children to start life afresh. But as they try to adjust to their new life, they are also forced to confront their grief and traumas. The series mixes typical coming-of-age themes with procedural doctor cases as well as close-knit community dramas.
15. Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003)
Set in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, ‘Dawson’s Creek’ follows the 15-year-old aspiring filmmaker Dawson Leery and his close-knit group of friends as they navigate the ups and downs of adolescence. With its unique 90s charm, the series deals with coming-of-age themes in the setting of a small New England town, also diving into heavier themes like coming out, class differences, teen pregnancy, etc.
14. The Durrells (2016-2019)
Based on Gerald Durrell’s memoir about his family’s time on the Greek Island of Corfu, the show chronicles the lives of mother Louisa Durrell and her four children. Following the death of her husband, Louisa has been single-handedly raising her kids amidst a financial crisis. She decides to pack up their lives and move to Corfu to lead a much cheaper but fulfilling life there.
13. All Creatures Great And Small (2020-)
This warm and soothing masterpiece is based upon a series of books about a Yorkshire veterinary surgeon and revolves around a trio of vets working there in the late 1930s. We follow the newly qualified vet James Herriot, who gets hired by a very eccentric countryside man and experiences various adventures by getting acquainted with the locals and their various animals.
12. Dark (2017-2020)
Nominated by the BBC as the 58th greatest TV series of the 21st century, ‘Dark’ uses its small-town setting to create an intricate web of twists that is mind-bendingly brilliant. Set in the fictional town of Winden, Germany, it primarily follows four families in the aftermath of the disappearance of two young children, which unearths the sinister conspiracies that lurk in the town’s dark caves.
11. Anne With An E (2017-2019)
There isn’t a more special show than ‘Anne With An E’. It tells the story of orphaned girl Anne Shirley as she begins a new life in Avonlea after being adopted. The very conventional town is subjected to a range of issues like child abandonment, psychological trauma, gender inequality, racism, religion, homosexuality, and more. From farmlands, dirt roads and town schools, the entire show is drenched in a special kind of glow that leaves you wanting for more.
10. Broadchurch (2013-2017)
No other show has explored how one incident can shatter the fabric of a close-knit society quite like ‘Broadchurch’. Set in the idyllic town of Broadchurch on the coast of Dorset, the show begins when the bloodied corpse of 11-year-old Danny is found on the beach, and the entire community now becomes the focus of police investigation and media madness.
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9. Stranger Things (2016-2025)
With its 1980s nostalgia theme, ‘Stranger Things’ has rightly become a global phenomenon. It is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where a boy named Will Byers suddenly disappears. As his friends seek him out, they end up in a horrifying parallel world called the Upside Down. From shady government institutions and scientific conspiracy theories to a girl with psychokinetic abilities and some very deadly monsters, the series has found a unique aesthetic of its own.
8. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
This show has an iconic legacy, and so does its fictional town of Sunnydale. Set in this small Southern Californian town, it follows the titular Buffy Summers, who is just trying to lead a normal life in high school. Despite its sunny premise, Buffy is actually predestined to become a Slayer, a destroyer of evil forces like vampires and demons. She tries to juggle her responsibilities to save the world with the everyday problems of growing up.
7. Parks And Recreation (2009-2015)
This cult classic sitcom gave us a unique look at the absurd antics and politics of a small town that developed into one of the cleverest mockumentary satires on television. It follows the perky mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope and her life in the Parks and Recreation department of the small town of Pawnee, Indiana, depicting their personal and work lives in their own silly little world.
6. Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020)
This one is a very unconventional small-town series but in the best possible way. When the wealthy Rose family lose all their fortune after an embezzlement case, they have no choice but to move to a motel in the small town of Schitt’s Creek that they once bought as a joke. Here, they meet a unique mix of residents who are eccentric and unpolished, much like the unique iconic humour of this sitcom itself.
5. Derry Girls (2018-2022)
Based on creator Lisa McGee’s own experiences growing up in Derry in the final years of the Troubles, this period teen sitcom follows the lives of a group of friends growing up during a very politically and socially turbulent time in Northern Ireland. Despite the dark background, the show has found the perfect balance between emotional storytelling and genuinely witty humour. It is a nod to the past and the beautiful small town of Derry.
4. Reservation Dogs (2021-2023)
This underrated comedy drama deserves so much praise for being a small-town series like no other. It is set in a town in the Muscogee Nation in rural Oklahoma, and follows the lives of four friends navigating adolescence on a reservation. It is exceptionally moving and hilarious, inviting audiences into a uniquely Native American perspective that resonates with you on so many levels.
3. Northern Exposure (1990-1995)
This enduring classic is a charming fish-out-of-water story about a city doctor in rural Alaska. New York city doctor Joel Fleischman finds his med school tuition written off by the government of Alaska in exchange for practicing medicine in the state for four years. He heads there to find that he is the only general practitioner in the remote town of Cicely and tries his best to adapt to the rural lifestyle.
2. Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Who hasn’t dreamed of living in Stars Hollow one day? ‘Gilmore Girls’ has quite literally everything we can ever want in a small-town TV show. It centres around Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory and their life in the fictional town in Connecticut. From eating in diners to going to video stores, the series is peak 2000s nostalgia and the ultimate feel-good show of all time.
1. Twin Peaks (1990-2017)
The absolute cult classic ‘Twin Peaks’ still feels like a fever dream and in the best way possible. FBI agent Dale Cooper heads to the small town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer. But her tragic death starts to uncover sinister secrets lurking beneath this picturesque town. The show is atmospheric, surreal and brilliantly written, encompassing everything from small-town murder mystery and police procedural drama to philosophical dissection of life and humanity itself.
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