Even ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson didn't want to admit that he's adding two genre shows because "Lost" turned out to be a hit for him. He insisted "Night Stalker" had been in development "for quite some time" and that "the timing on that was just happenstance."

Which was not quite the perspective of Shaun Cassidy, the creator/executive producer of "Invasion," the other genre show McPherson is adding. "I just know that when you're going out to sell a new show, how receptive the buyer is, is going to be based on what worked last year, for better for for worse," Cassidy said. "That's just sort of the rule of the game."

Eric Kripke, executive producer of "Supernatural," said he'd been trying to sell "a version" of his show since "the very first television meeting I ever had in the very beginning of my career well over eight years ago. . . . And I've been trying again and again to get this one up and running, and the planets aligned and the timing worked out."

And his experience was not unique.

"Creatively, this is is something we've been wanting to do for several years," said "Surface" executive producer Jonas Pate. "But both with the improvement of the technology and the special effects, and with the networks being more open to this kind of storytelling, we realized that we might have a chance with a show like this this season."

SPECIAL EFFECTS — specifically, advancements in computer technology that make feature-quality effects possible on TV budgets — may have something to do with the trend, too.

"I don't know if, technically, this show could have been done two years ago, because special effects — and especially water effects — have come so far so quickly," said "Surface" executive producer Josh Pate.

"I think that's just a huge benefit," said McG, who's one of the "Supernatural" executive producers. "Because I think the (bull) detector of the audience is so finely honed, if you come with cheesy effects that's going to be a real pop-out."

THERE'S ALSO a theory that the current mood of the country might have something to do with the sci-fi/fantasy movement.

"I think, for my money, it's a reaction," said "Threshold" executive producer David Goyer. "There's a lot of anxiety in the world right now. . . . And, historically, when people have been scared and people have been nervous, there's been an uptick in science fiction/horror.

"It happened in the '50s with the Red scare and the space race and all that. . . . You're telling allegorical tales and you're shining a light back on society."

Both CBS's Tassler and Goyer agreed there's something "in the zeitgeist" — a phrase they both used.