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Amazon鈥檚 鈥淭he Man in the High Castle鈥� is one of the most high-profile TV shows to debut this year. Its genre? Science fiction.

The fact that Amazon, which has become a big presence in the TV world with the success of its Emmy Award-winning TV show 鈥淭ransparent,鈥� decided to go ahead with 鈥淢an鈥� as one of its TV shows and that the program is getting so much attention from TV critics shows how the popularity and prestige of genre-fiction TV shows have grown in the last decades.聽

In the past decades, a sci-fi TV hit would sometimes break through but the major programs of the time were usually shows with their feet planted firmly in reality. The original 1960s 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� TV show famously got bad ratings and was canceled after three seasons. Programs like 鈥淟ost in Space鈥� and 鈥淭he Twilight Zone鈥� did fine in the ratings but were not major hits. An exception was the 1960s 鈥淏atman鈥� TV show, in as far as the superhero program contains sci-fi elements.

Counting superhero shows, the 1970s programs 鈥淭he Incredible Hulk鈥� and 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� did well. 鈥淏attlestar Galactica鈥� was quickly canceled, while 鈥淪tar Trek: The Next Generation,鈥� which debuted in the late 1980s, aired in syndication, meaning it did not air on the same broadcast network everywhere in the country. However, 鈥淭rek鈥� became a hit.聽

Then Fox鈥檚 鈥淭he X-Files,鈥� which debuted in 1993, became a big hit for its network, airing not in syndication but in network primetime. 2005鈥檚 鈥淟ost鈥� also had another big hand in changing the genre鈥檚 fortunes on television. The ABC drama became a huge hit and became the first science fiction program to win the prestigious Emmy Award for best drama.

Success will always spawn imitators. While few found long-term success, 鈥淟ost鈥� spawned shows such as ABC鈥檚 鈥淚nvasion鈥� and 鈥淔lashForward,鈥� CBS鈥檚 鈥淭hreshold,鈥� Fox鈥檚 鈥淔ringe,鈥� and NBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Event,鈥� 鈥淩evolution,鈥� 鈥渁nd 鈥淪urface.鈥� (NBC really tried.) Most of these, like 鈥淟ost,鈥� had strange happenings and the promise of a long-term mystery. Most didn鈥檛 make it very far.聽

But NBC hit it big with its show 鈥淗eroes,鈥� which centers on ordinary people who discover they have strange powers. While 鈥淗eroes鈥� wasn鈥檛 a perennial Emmy winner and/or nominee like 鈥淟ost,鈥� the show鈥檚 big ratings had networks paying attention.聽

While the exact genre of superhero stories can be debated, the continuing boom of these tales have no doubt contributed to the increased visibility of science fiction. The success of science fiction鈥檚 sibling, fantasy, with hit shows like HBO鈥檚 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� has also probably helped.聽

So now we鈥檙e at a place where CBS鈥檚 smash hit comedy 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory,鈥� which centers on scientists who love comic books and science fiction, is on the air, as are Netflix鈥檚 programs 鈥淏etween鈥� and 鈥淪ense8,鈥� and a new iteration of Fox鈥檚 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� is debuting in January. That鈥檚 not counting the many superhero programs, including a new version of NBC鈥檚 鈥淗eroes.鈥� Amazon itself is said to be planning a TV show based on the science fiction movie "Galaxy Quest."

As for 鈥淢an,鈥� it鈥檚 getting mainly positive reviews from critics. If it also becomes a hit, science fiction will be even more firmly entrenched as a leading TV genre.

We bet if you time-traveled back to a "Star Trek" fan in the 1960s, they might have trouble believing it.