J.J. Abrams Talks PERSON OF INTEREST

Seven years ago today, LOST debuted. (Time sure flies, doesn’t it?) So it’s really only fitting PERSON OF INTEREST, the new series from the J.J. Abrams production company, Bad Robot, also has their debut tonight. As an extra dose of awesome for LOST fans? The new series stars former LOST star Michael Emerson.

What is PERSON OF INTEREST?

According to CBS, “PERSON OF INTEREST stars Jim Caviezel, Emmy Award winner Michael Emerson and Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson in a crime thriller about a presumed dead former-CIA agent who teams up with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes by using their own brand of vigilante justice. Reese’s (Caviezel) special training in covert operations appeals to Finch (Emerson), a software genius who invented a program that uses pattern recognition to identify people about to be involved in violent crimes. Using state-of-the-art surveillance technology, the two work outside of the law using Reese’s adept skills and Finch’s unlimited wealth to unravel the mystery of the person of interest and stop the crime before it happens. Reese’s actions catch the attention of the NYPD, including homicide detective Carter (Henson), and Fusco (Kevin Chapman), a cop who Reese uses to his advantage. With infinite crimes to investigate, Reese and Finch find that the right person, with the right information, at the right time, can change everything.”

And if you think it sounds really science-fiction-y, executive producer J.J. Abrams told a group of reporters last month it is decidedly not the case.

“I mean, [PERSON OF INTEREST]’s not so far away from what could be done if you think this could be silly or preposterous,” Abrams said. “It’s just far enough where you think it may or may not be happening right now. That’s all you need…that’s the value of the show. And it’s definitely wish fulfillment, a show with almost superheroes without capes kind of thing and as [we were] pitching it — because it was [series creator Jonathan Nolan] and I; obviously I know his brother [THE DARK KNIGHT’s Christopher Nolan] — I was seeing the Gotham City in my head. He was describing the city and the villains in it, the bad guys, and this whole tapestry of good versus evil, and I was literally imagining the amazing cinematography of Wally Pfister in THE DARK KNIGHT. Of course, it’s a very different type of show, but it’s a sort of DNA that I think is connected to the work that he’s done on the Batman films.”

Abrams himself got a taste of how realistic the show could be while making the series.

“CBS did this thing when we went in to this meeting [and] before the meeting started, they started with something else,” Abrams explained. “And they just showed us this thing on the screen and what they showed us was [Jonathan] Nolan arriving on the lot — driving in, turning left, turning right, parking, walking, going in to the lobby, going in to the elevator, literally 9, 12 cameras, whatever it was, all actually there. They did is as sort of like a joke, but it actually made me think, ‘Oh my God, that was all of us and that was just on the lot.’ You know what I mean? It’s just a weird thing.”

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Does PERSON OF INTEREST intrigue you? Tune in to CBS at 9 PM tonight!

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