Terra Nova
Monday, 8 p.m. on Fox

I'm not usually much for futuristic stories or dinosaurs, so "Terra Nova" is exactly the kind of show I shouldn't like, even if it is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.

But. This has Jason O'Mara ("Life on Mars") who is irresistible, and the show's two-hour pilot is pretty exciting.

"Terra Nova" begins at the dawn of the 22nd century when the world is on the verge of environmental collapse. It's a grim, gray, totalitarian existence. No sunlight, no vegetation, no fresh food. The air is dirty and depleted of oxygen. The only hope for a future is the discovery of a time fracture which allows people to travel 85 million years into the past, to the Terra Nova Project.

The first glitch is our family, the Shannons, have violated strict population control laws by having a third child, and this lands Jim Shannon in prison. His prison-to-Terra-Nova path is the weakest part of the pilot. Luckily, that doesn't take up much time, so don't give up if the beginning drags for you.