Post-apocalyptic tales thriving on prime-time TV

The television industry has a pretty gloomy outlook about the future, judging from the spate of TV shows set after apocalyptic world events.
A record nine TV shows currently airing are post-apocalyptic in nature.
I’m no sociologist but that has to say something about our mindset as a people.
The nine shows are:

• AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” where flesh-eating zombies have taken over the world; 
• TNT’s “Falling Skies,” where most of mankind has been wiped out by space invaders; 
• Syfy’s “Defiance,” which takes place in the aftermath of an alien invasion; 
• The CW’s “The 100,” set nearly a century after a nuclear war; 
• Syfy’s “Dominion,” set after a war between angels and mankind; 
• TNT’s “The Last Ship,” which takes place after a virus wipes out 80% of the world’s population; 
• HBO’s “The Leftovers,” which deals with the aftermath of a Rapture-like event; 
• Lifetime’s “The Lottery,” set after a fertility crisis renders humanity sterile; 
• Syfy’s “Z Nation,” which takes place after a zombie apocalypse. 

More post-apocalyptic shows are coming. Scheduled to air soon are Syfy’s “12 Monkeys,” Amazon Prime’s “The After” and Fox’s “Last Man on Earth.”

See also: List of post-apocalyptic TV dramas.

Photos: Promotional art for “Z Nation” (top) and “The Lottery.”