Most of the 'squandered premises' you mention (True Blood, Walking Dead, etc...) are adaptations from books/comics/other, it's a bit silly to think that the producers should have taken huge divergences from the source material with a show like true Blood when an obvious part of the deal is that much of the writing has already been done.
Episode 31 — Greatest 'What Ifs' in Pop Culture
in The Cracked Podcast
Posted
Most of the 'squandered premises' you mention (True Blood, Walking Dead, etc...) are adaptations from books/comics/other, it's a bit silly to think that the producers should have taken huge divergences from the source material with a show like true Blood when an obvious part of the deal is that much of the writing has already been done.