What does America like to watch on TV nowadays? A lucrative business unto itself, television has had its fair share of viewership. When people can’t catch them on primetime, they watch TV shows online. Let’s take a peek at some of the popular shows that dominate American small screens currently.

On top of the list is ‘Smallville’, a science-fiction drama series. It’s kind of a prequel to the much-loved fictional character of Superman. People are still interested in Clark Kent and hooked on to see what he was like before he became Superman. Following Smallville is ‘Lost’, at number 2- the story of crash survivors in an island. The show is airing its fifth successful season now. Not so behind is another thriller drama series, Heroes. Amidst a lot of criticism about its sequel, this show about people with special abilities still manages to rank third.

Taking the 4th, 5th and the 6th places are ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’, and ‘House’. While both Grey’s Anatomy and House are medical comedies, Battlestar Galactica is again a sci-fi drama. Do we see a trend in the taste of television audience now? There seems to be a dominance of science fiction and medical dramas in the list. (Not surprisingly we see another set of medicos entertaining us with Scrubs, and it’s placed at a ‘lucky’ 13.)

‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Bones’, ‘Supernatural’ and ‘NCIS’ are the next four in the list of top 10 programs on American television. Gossip Girl is the only soap that’s managed to gain good audience amidst the adventure/action and science fiction programs. The makers definitely deserve a pat for their ability to get an action-loving audience to watch their show.

There’s a healthy viewership for most of these programs around the globe as well. Free online TV shows have taken their popularity way beyond American shores. It’s quite just to say that American television has truly gone global.