Severed Measures

On March 12's ''Smallville,'' Lex Luthor got a hand -- in a box. Also this season: ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' severed a finger and a foot; ''Alias,'' ''24,'' and ''CSI'' featured digital amputations; ''Oz'' and ''Boston Public'' lopped off limbs. Why all the cutting drama?
''We weren't going for gruesome,'' insists ''Smallville'' cocreator Al Gough, who originally planned to send Luthor a head. (Network censors nixed the idea.) ''We were going for shock. And nothing says badass like a body part.'' ''Buffy'' exec producer Marti Noxon blames the era. ''It's obviously been a macabre time,'' she says. ''Dealing with death in a lighthearted way... makes it less horrifying.''

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