Editing Approved Television (section)

==Unapproved But Minable==

*'''Charmed''': How the few bored housewives and wine aunts who didn't read Interview with the Vampire got introduced to urban fantasy. This series is borderline unwatchable if you aren't the target demographic or didn't come with the right mindset of strip mining it for ideas while being bombarded with cheese. Beneath the sclerotic outer shell is an entire pit mine of urban fantasy plots ranging from serious to comedic to just cheesy and building just enough lore (done with the typical late 90s "cultural sensibility" - meaning none whatsoever) to make it worthwhile. There is no order or rhyme here - after watching the first half of the first season, just pick an episode at random and start taking notes. Best experienced half-drunk.

*'''From''': A mystery box series, except done in 2022, almost two decades after the original mystery box hype. This time the overarching plot is being trapped in a pocket dimension (or something like that) consisting of a tiny settlement that loops into itself and is being besieged by blood-thirsty monsters every single fucking night. What this series does well is answering all kinds of those "but what would YOU do if X" bullshit threads and general examination of a whole lot of mudcore wallowing in powerlessness. What it also does is being a mystery box series that loves shock value and is clearly written without any coherent plot or goal in mind other than "keep ratings high this season, or else". So: good for strip-mining ideas on regular people dealing with absurdly horrific situations, but horrible television to watch.

*'''Jericho''': One of the poster children of the mystery box era of television. What it does right is the "post-apocalypse in your average small town". What it does bad is... pretty much everything else. While the fandom is batshit crazy enough that they blackmailed CBS into a second season and still expect a third 20 years later, the actual series is best used as an exercise of the concept of people dealing with an apocalyptic event here and now, rather than living X years after it and doing high-octane highway chases.

*'''Lexx''': A truly bizarre science-fantasy show that is infamous for being [[promotions|overly-horny]], cheesy and REEEEEEALLY fuckin' weird. There are some very strange, yet creative and unique, ideas here most of which were unfortunately too big for its small budget. This show's got everything from very phallic living ships, [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|magical, inter-dimensional and ever-living space emperors]] and [[/d/|people eating the feces of the previously mentioned living ships for sustenance]], as well a lot of potential plot hooks that could easily be reappropriated, and some really cool character concepts that are just begging to be done properly. If you want to create a setting that just feels alien and weird, then there's no better place to steal from.

*'''Threshold''': Yet another failed mystery box series; this one is a techno-thriller produced by the guy who did DS9. An alien probe crashes into a US Navy vessel, then starts spewing an alien signal that does weird X-Files shit to anything it comes in contact with, most prominently turning people into superhumans driven to infect others and twisting things into a "triple helix" design. The government's top crisis planner recruits God, Commander Data, Tyrion Halfman and that guy from Cougar Town to figure out what the fuck is going on and stop the outbreak, even as the stress of the situation tears them apart. Cancelled before season 1 ended despite the star-studded cast and (according to Braga) having an actual start-to-finish plan, from the twin blows of not being Lost and CBS execs failing to understand how a mystery box series works. Any given episode could be turned into a session of Delta Green or Night's Black Agents with minimal effort.