The TV season is finally in full swing, and we have already seen the first casualties of what is gearing up to be a lackluster season.

A majority of the current shows are less than four seasons old, and they are already down in ratings — “Heroes” is going through a sophomore slump – and, with the rise of Internet watchability, the question becomes what can survive through this year.

Only a couple of years ago, “CSI” was the No. 1 show, with more than 25 million viewers per week. Today, it is still flirting with No. 1, but ratings hover around 20 million.

It wasn’t even that long ago that NBC was the king. With “ER,” “Friends” and “Frasier,” the Peacock Network was living the life.

In 1998, NBC had five of the top 10 highest-rated shows. A couple of years before that, it was No. 1 through 6, with Thursday shows on top.

Now the network is at the bottom of the charts, sometimes failing to place a single program in the Nielsen top 25.

“Heroes'” ratings are down, which is likely the work of “Dancing With the Stars.” And after a passable start to the season, most shows have cooled. “Bionic Woman” has lost 6 million viewers since the first episode.

Cult shows “Scrubs” and “The Office” remain just that – cult shows. They can’t compete with “CSI” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

CBS, while at the No. 1 spot, has yet to have a breakout show. It has relied on shows already in its lineup.

“NCIS,” “Criminal Minds” and “The Unit” never garnered big ratings when they first premiered, but now they regularly finish in the top 25. “CSI” debuted on Friday nights back in 2000. Later that year CBS moved the show to Thursday, and it’s been history since – and eventually brought down NBC’s 20-year Thursday reign.

“Survivor” is the closest thing CBS has had to a breakout, but it debuted during a no-competition summer and viewership isn’t what it used to be. And despite the hype around “Kid Nation,” ratings have gone downhill since its debut.

But even with little viewership – 2.5 million – CW’s “Gossip Girl” scored a full season because the network has a very specific target audience that “Gossip” is really pulling in.

Since the WB and UPN merged to create CW two years ago, ratings have been sliding and only a handful of shows from the two former networks are still around – with lower ratings.

ABC has overcome a slump it had less than a decade ago, when “Monday Night Football” was the only solid program it had.

Since “Desperate Housewives” – and “Grey’s Anatomy” months later – the alphabet network rebounded after its “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” mania, which all but vanished about six years ago.

The network has done well in finding a niche with shows similar to those launching pad programs and scheduling the “Grey’s” spin-off “Private Practice” around a Wednesday night of new shows.

But ABC’s other big performer “Dancing With the Stars” hangs up the shoes in a month, leaving “Heroes” to make a comeback and the network’s “Samantha Who?” without a solid lead-in show.

This is a seemingly crucial time for the TV networks to decide how to deal with the future of something that’s fading far from the glory days when Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas and Andy Griffith ruled the screen.

– Anthony Capps is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Oskaloosa.