'The Secret Circle' (9PM Thursday, the CW) does exactly what you expect it to do, yet that efficiency ends up being refreshing rather than maddening.

Slightly refreshing, mind you. 'The Secret Circle' will not redefine your idea of what a supernatural drama can be, what a CW show can be or what a program about witches and warlocks can be. All the pieces laid out here eventually end up in the exact places that you expect them to occupy.

Young woman discovering previously untapped abilities? Check. Dreamy guy to whom she is strangely drawn? Check. Bad girl determined to stir up trouble? Check. Layers of conspiracy and secrets in a small town with a dangerous history? Check. (Don't forget the poppy-yet-emo-ish soundtrack, which is also present and accounted for.)

Yet from its opening scenes, 'The Secret Circle' demonstrates an admirable confidence in its pace and destination, and it also has the excellent Britt Robertson ('Life Unexpected') giving the journey of Cassie Blake an emotional grounding that is likely to make the whole affair satisfying to genre fans and 'Vampire Diaries' devotees.

Fans of the NBC soap Passions who felt sad and neglected when the network announced that the show was ending after eight years take note: the show is going to live on!

The show is going to return this fall in a new home: DirecTV. NBC and the satellite system are about to finalize a deal that will keep the quirky soap opera (which includes, I believe, a character who is a witch, and used to have a character that was a doll brought to life) on the air for four days a week. They'll have to cut the budget, too, but at least the show will live on in some form.

This is the another move in DirecTV's plan to increase the amount of original programming they have.