There were fears from the beginning of the season that this may not be the year of science-fiction and other related genre programs. Sadly, those fears were right.

Networks cancelled four of the nine shows it aired this year (with another one taking a planned exit), including every new show, once again putting some question marks on the state of the genre when it comes to network television.

Genre shows lost 18 percent of its audience from last year. Granted, that came with the departure of such shows as "Lost," but even those shows that remained, numbers were down virtually across the board, and audiences overall for genre shows were just that much smaller.

Returning shows saw an audience loss of 22 percent on average, led by "V" on ABC which saw more than 38 percent of its audience gone from the year before. "Fringe" wasn't far behind with a 37.5 percent audience loss, while "Supernatural" on The CW witnessed a 20 percent dip after its move to Fridays.

In fact, the only genre show that had improvement year over year was "Smallville," in an already announced final season. But even then, it's numbers on Fridays were just up 1.4 percent.

Even "Vampire Diaries," which The CW was touting as the network's future, slipped a bit from the previous year, losing 15 percent of its audience.

But there is a chance that things can turn around for next season in terms of genre audiences. Some high-profile additions to the schedule like "Terra Nova" and "Alcatraz" on Fox, to name just a couple, are getting a lot of buzz early on.

Yet, there was also buzz around shows such as "The Event" and "The Cape," which many said would help lead NBC out of its ongoing ratings doldrums. Instead, those shows finished No. 66 and No. 73 respectively overall. When you look at overall rankings, by the way, "Lost" was well within television's top 25 last year.

This year, however, the highest ranking came from "No Ordinary Family" on ABC, which managed the No. 60 slot. "V," which finished last year at No. 35, finished this year at No. 76. And even "Vampire Diaries" saw some slippage from No. 90 to No. 100. (All positions through the end of April).

But "Terra Nova" could be a saving grace for the genre, if it meets the hype. Fox has spent a lot of money on the show, so if it flops, however, it and other networks may be hesitant to try it all again.

In the meantime, genre programs are thriving on cable. "Game of Thrones" continues to bring in strong ratings for HBO, and there remains high expectations for "Torchwood" on Starz. Even Syfy programs like "Warehouse 13" and "Eureka" continue to do well, with "Sanctuary" and "Haven" not too far behind.

If genre shows can't work on the networks, maybe there is a future in cable after all.

Get a different perspective of what happened to genre shows this year from columnist Dennis Rayburn by clicking here.

Top Genre Shows (Overall) Through April 30 -- [Audience Loyalty Index]

Top Genre Shows (Overall), 2009-10 Season

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that include both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

Data collected from The Nielsen Co., as distributed by Zap2it. GenreNexus tracks non-news, non-event programming, and figures for this story reflect airing of new episodes only. For more information on the Audience Loyalty Index, click here.