If you’ve turned on the TV lately, chances are you’ve come across a superhero. Superheroes are not restricted to the movie screen. New additions Gotham and The Flash have joined current hits Arrow and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this season. 

Any time a Marvel or DC hero zooms into the world of network television, it can thank, in part, Smallville’s successful 10-season run from 2001 to 2011. Smallville centered on a high school-aged Clark Kent, played by then-newcomer Tom Welling. Superman faced multiple villains, both original and from the comics, including Lex Luthor. The show was the WB’s highest debut at the time and garnered a large following for most of its run.

Smallville finished its run after the WB network became the CW, and it has stayed in the television superhero market with Arrow and The Flash. Arrow, a show based on DC Comics character Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), follows the superhero’s transition from spoiled billionaire to underground vigilante to public hero. While the character did appear in Smallville, the creators of Arrow started from scratch, and the two shows are not connected. The show has been popular for the CW, and positive reviews have increased as the series has progressed and found its footing.

Following Arrow’s success, the CW premiered the spinoff series The Flash in October, featuring Grant Gustin as The Flash, who appeared in two episodes of Arrow in Season Two. Barry is a crime scene investigator who is struck by lightning in a particle accelerator accident and given superhuman speed. The two series take place in the same universe; Amell made an appearance as Oliver Queen in The Flash’s pilot episode, and a crossover event will happen later this season. The show was the network’s most-watched series premiere since The Vampire Diaries in 2009. Viewership has been steady and has benefited from Arrow’s loyal fan base.

ABC made its superhero re-entry last September with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, a show about the Marvel-universe spy agency. Clark Gregg reprises his role as Agent Phil Coulson, who was thought to have been killed in 2012’s The Avengers. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the show has garnered a following of mostly superhero fans, but its steady ratings show that it also has a broader appeal.

The gritty Gotham, Fox’s second primetime superhero drama, looks at the city before Bruce Wayne donned his cape. Admittedly, when I heard there was a show about Batman’s origins with the city in the title, I expected it to be on the CW. Gotham’s take, thankfully, is not a teen-angst-filled melodrama. Batman himself isn’t even the star here—Bruce Wayne is played by 13-year-old David Mazous. The series follows Detective James Gordon, played by Ben McKenzie, as he tries to solve Bruce’s parents’ murder. Gotham premiered in September to 8.2 million viewers and has kept up steady ratings. Critics have been receptive to the show’s dark mix of crime drama and comic book mythology.

In the age of the television antihero, epitomized by Breaking Bad’s Walter White, it’s refreshing to find that we are still fascinated by heroes fighting for justice. The studios are also realizing that they can cash in on some of the superhero hype generated by the blockbuster franchises, but the TV iterations are different enough to make household names seem fresh.