15 years ago, CBS delivered one of its best procedurals with Person of Interest. The series, which focuses on a mysterious "Machine" and a former Special Forces operative tasked by the Machine's creator to protect the people it identifies, perfectly blends a high concept sci-fi pitch with the standard procedural formula. Like Lost before it, Person of Interest saw a wake of similar shows premiering after its debut, most notably Almost Human. One series boasts the pedigree of being a direct sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies of the 21st century.
That series is Minority Report, which picks up in the aftermath of Steven Spielberg's sci-fi thriller. The Minority Report series follows Dash (Stark Sands), a former precognitive whose visions were used by the "Precrime" police department to stop crimes before they happen. Haunted by visions of murders yet to happen, Dash contacts Detective Lara Vega (Meagan Good) to help stop those crimes before they happen. Though it only lasted a single season, Minority Report had similar vibes to Person of Interest, including deep questions about the nature of justice.
Part of the draw of Minority Report is the dynamic between Dash and Vega, especially as she gets used to the fact that he can see the future and transitions into a normal life while still using his abilities to help others. The episode "The Present" is perhaps the strongest example of this dynamic at work, as Dash gets a flash of Vega's death and works to solve it while she deals with the unresolved matter of her father's death. Another element that makes Minority Report stand out is its approach to the future, especially since the series takes place 11 years after the movie. Spielberg was ahead of the curve by asking scientists what technology would look like in the 2050's, and showrunner Max Borenstein said he took a similar approach when envisioning his take on Minority Report.
"One of the refreshing things about the film is that it didn't posit a single catastrophic event that led to the future. It said, "50 years from now, what is the world going to look like?" And the answer was that the world is going to be good and bad in equal measure to today. We have horrible thing that happen in our world, so I don't think we need to conjure up an apocalypse on our show to have real stakes."
Minority Report would also continue to incorporate elements from the movie, including Dash's siblings Arthur (Nick Zano) and Agatha (Laura Reagan). Both of them have wildly different visions; while Arthur gains knowledge of people who are about to be murdered, Agatha ends up psychically stepping in their shoes, which is just as horrifying as it sounds. The duo ends up helping Dash and Vega, but they have to be careful, as mysterious forces are hunting all three precogs to use their abilities. If Person of Interest is a story about the dangers of unchecked technology, then Minority Report asks what the law will do to keep people safe.
Despite being based on one of Steven Spielberg's most iconic movies, and even boasting Spielberg as an executive producer, Minority Report only lasted a single season. The deck was stacked against it from the start, as Fox cut the first season's episode order from thirteen episodes to ten and had it airing in the same time slot as NBC's The Voice, which was at the height of its popularity. Bad reviews didn't help, either, as many critics felt that Minority Report lacked the spark of the movie that inspired it.
The cast and crew of Minority Report has managed to find success with other sci-fi projects. Max Borenstein helped kick off the MonsterVerse movies, Nick Zano would become an integral part of Legends of Tomorrow, and Li Jun Li would go on to headline buzzy projects like Sinners and Spider-Noir. Still, for a series that was about predicting the future, Minority Report never saw its own end coming.
