It would be easy to blame it all on 'Lost' -- our obsession with the supernatural, the insolvable mystery, the sense that things are not what they seem. Since the day day Jack Shephard first opened his eyes on that highly metaphorical island, television has been growing increasingly infested with science fiction, fantasy and supernatural tales, once the purview of cult shows and brilliant-but-canceled lists.

Add to that the rise of the vampire love story as standard fare for both teens and adults, and the emergence of two great ass-whooping heroines in Lisbeth Salander ('The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo') and Katniss Everdeen ('The Hunger Games'), and it's not hard to see what well the fall television slate is drawing from.