BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- As the anonymous narrator on ABC's "Pushing Daisies" often says, "The facts are these": The number of prime-time TV shows with voice-over narration has risen dramatically in recent years. While the writers' strike may temporarily halt the yapping, it's a trend that appears to have staying power.

New series this fall with lots more yakety-yak include "Daisies" and The CW's "Aliens in America" and "Gossip Girl." These shows join veteran talkers "My Name Is Earl," "How I Met Your Mother," "Heroes," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Grey's Anatomy," "Scrubs," "Men in Trees" and, of course, "Desperate Housewives," which made omniscient narration a popular device when it premiered in 2004 with dead neighbor Mary Alice Young telling tales of Wisteria Lane from the beyond.

"It clearly worked in literature forever, and I think there are ways to use it intelligently" in television, said NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman. He noted that "Sex and the City" used narration as a way to "relay the humor back to the audience. I think within comedy, the narration, the voice-over, those voices are great ways to connect to the audience."

Writer Silvio Horta said he has used narration in episodes of his series "Ugly Betty," but not as a consistent device.

"I think it satisfies a lot of needs on hitting what the theme is and driving home something, and sometimes in not-so-subtle ways," Horta said. "Hopefully, we can do the same without narration. It's a great tool, a great technique, but it's not our show."

CBS has few if any narrated series. CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said she has concerns about its effect on viewers.

"I'm not a fan of voice-over narration, and I think a lot of times it co-opts an audience's ability to just follow the action of the story by having somebody tell them what to feel, what to think," she said in July. "I like it when it counterpoints what's going on. You have to be really sensitive as to how and when and where you use it."

Its success or shortcomings aside, there's no denying that narration has become more prevalent. Andy Dehnart, writer/editor of RealityBlurred.com, thinks the rise of reality TV has been an instigator.

"Because reality shows only have real footage to work with, sometimes in order to craft a narrative arc you have to substitute with a narrator to connect scenes that otherwise might not have film to connect them," he said in a recent phone interview. "Some reality shows overuse this, so you're being reminded of things you're actually seeing on the screen.

"It seems like they're trying to mirror the better reality shows that use cast members as narrators but using fictional characters and trying to get inside their heads, and writing narration since they couldn't cut to an interview."

Dehnart noted that the confessional scenes in reality shows, pioneered on MTV's "The Real World," feature interviews with cast members where the interviewer is neither seen nor heard. The scripted NBC series "The Office" lifts this format.

For other scripted shows, narration offers a trip into the brain of a character. Dehnart pointed to Showtime's "Dexter," which uses narration to tell the audience the thoughts of the show's lead character, a serial killer who works for the Miami police.

" 'Dexter' is a good example where it works well. You get inside Dexter's head, and that's part of the point of the series," he said. "You're learning more about him and being entertained when his reactions are the opposite of what you expect, of what other characters expect. He's not just stating the obvious."

That may be a good way to learn the thoughts of a serial killer, but it can be an irritating way to get to know a self-absorbed young doctor. Seriously.

"On 'Grey's Anatomy' it sort of gets annoying after a while, but I think that's just because Meredith Grey is annoying," Dehnart said. "I'm not sure the narration is to blame, it's just the fact that it's the narrator who annoys us."

Sharon Ross, assistant professor of television studies at Columbia College in Chicago, said the increase in time devoted to commercials during programs may lead writers to create narration as a way to get in more exposition.

" 'Here's all the information we can't show through action and dialogue,' " she said. "I don't like that kind of voice-over. I feel like it's lazy writing."

She's not fond of the way narration is used on "Gossip Girl," and Dehnart says it's "an artificial hook." In this teen drama, based on a book series, a narrator (voiced by actress Kristen Bell, who doesn't appear in the show) reads juicy gossip from her blog.

"I think people can guess she'll never show up on the show, and that takes the mystery out because otherwise we'd be hoping we might meet this person one of these days," Ross said. "To be effective voice-over, it needs to be a completely outside person, like on 'Pushing Daisies,' or a definitive character in the show."

Stephen McPherson, ABC Entertainment president, offers some caution about narration even as his network overflows with talkers.

"You have to make sure you do it in balance and make sure it's part of the creative [process] organically and not a crutch," he said in July.

ABC's "Pushing Daisies" is easily the most talked-about new fall show, and it has the heaviest narration of any prime-time series.

"In the original script, it was described as, 'Imagine Patrick Stewart reading you a bedtime story' for the narration," said "Daisies" writer/creator Bryan Fuller at an ABC press conference in July. Another producer suggested Jim Dale, Grammy-winning reader of the "Harry Potter" audiobooks.

"I think what we're seeing more recently, especially with 'Pushing Daisies,' is writers trying to emphasize that this is real storytelling," said Columbia College's Ross. "That kind of literary tradition of 'Once upon a time ...' kind of affiliates the show with literature and distances it from regular TV."

TV's narrators may fall silent in the coming months if the writers' strike drags on, but once production returns to normal, this voice-over chatter is likely to ebb and flow like most TV industry trends.