‘Person of Interest’ Fittingly Premieres on ‘Lost’ Anniversary

“Person of Interest” premieres on CBS Thursday with high expectations and big names attached. But the past history of shows that premiere on Sept. 22 bodes well for CBS. Seven years ago today, ABC started to take a big gamble on another J.J. Abrams-produced show with a lot of mystery attached. Now, exactly seven years after “Lost” debuted, “Person of Interest” brings two of “Lost’s” biggest names back to television.

Abrams made “Lost” a splash starting with the expensive and extravagant pilot that premiered Sept. 22, 2004. But Abrams would have to leave the show over a year later due to his rising film career, leaving just before Michael Emerson came on board to give the series an unexpected boost.

Abrams and Emerson will forever be associated with “Lost” no matter what they do from here on in — although they were on the show in different eras. Yet the two are working together at the same time for the first time with “Person of Interest” as they try to repeat their past television success.

This time Emerson has joined a series on the ground floor, playing another mysterious and cryptic character. But this one may wind up on the side of good faster than Ben Linus did, as Emerson’s Mr. Finch recruits Jim Caviezel’s haunted ex-CIA agent to help him stop crimes before they even happen.

The biggest mystery on “Lost” was an unknown island that still wasn’t fully explained over six seasons. The big unknown and puzzling mystery on “Person of Interest” is the Machine Finch uses to determine who will be involved in violent crimes before they are committed. While the mystery of the Island inspired questions about faith, destiny, second chances and the nature of man, the Machine has a more Big Brother, post-9/11 slant to inspire discussion.

CBS is confident these themes can resonate, as it gave the new show the coveted 9 p.m. Thursday time slot “CSI” ruled for a decade. This is only one more bulls-eye for the new series to overcome, along with the heightened expectations that come from having Abrams and Jonathan Nolan as executive producers.

“Lost” had high expectations when it premiered Sept. 22 seven years ago, but even the big buzz around the pilot didn’t prepare everyone for what the series would become. There were still doubts even then that the show could stretch out its “Gilligan’s Island”-type premise, just as there may be doubts that “Person of Interest” can get beyond its similar premise to “Minority Report.”

At the least, the “Lost” pilot had rave reviews to build on, whereas “Person” can only muster an average of 58 on Metacritic so far. Abrams’ old mystery show started big and went on from there, especially when Emerson came on board. But this mystery show looks to have more doubts and skepticism to overcome, especially if it can’t hold onto the 9 p.m. timeslot for CBS.

The questions will presumably begin to get answered starting tonight, although with Abrams and Emerson’s track record, answers are bound to come a bit slower.

Sources

Meta Critic- “Person of Interest”


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *