Person of Interest Season Six - The Fans Need Some Positive News

Fans of the popular crime drama, cyberpunk, thriller series really need to hear some hope regarding Person of Interest's future. Like whether POI has a future beyond the season five finale.

Recently In a TV Guide article; Greg Plageman has been quoted as saying that a Person of Interest reboot is possible. "Never say never" were his exact words. As for Michael Emerson, he reveals that not many characters survive the finale, so another season may not seem possible for the fans and not many fans are keen on a reboot. Jonah Nolan reveals that he would have loved to continue making POI, but that decision was taken away.

Nolan also spoke to IGN after the 100th episode and after the finale and did say the door had been left open, which has given the fandom hope. But, I think the fans are looking for more than hope now. Given that TV Guide is owned by CBS, is it possible we are being told what CBS want us to hear.

Rita Presto, a Person of Interest fan commented on this article and said that hearing phrases like “Never say never” in regards to more Person of Interest on our TV screens is not enough for her. She also went on to say: "I would like to see more positive hope for the fans of this show that got the shaft by CBS" I feel that Rita speaks for many of us in the POI Fandom and yes, we do need to hear something more positive about Person of Interest's future.

The POI Fandom is buzzing with conversations all over Twitter, Facebook, with Person of Interest forums and Person of Interest groups all over the Internet. If Netflix or another network are considering picking up POI, then it's my opinion that they should strike while the iron is hot. Given all the talk about the recent finale and Season 5, it is more likely that a larger audience will tune into a new season of Person of Interest.

Caro Finch, a member of one of the many Person of Interest Facebook discussion groups had this to say:

"Reboot" has bad connotations to me. Usually means the actors and/or characters will be different. POI is Reese, Finch, Shaw, Root, Fusco & of course Bear. As the Machine said.....these are NOT 'interchangeable'. CBS dropped the ball by letting the most intelligent, relevant (yes I used that word) TV show slip through their fingers. There are quite a few "POI wanna-bees" aka Limitless, out there & that pale by comparison with the writing, acting & directing. The story line has consistently been just 1-2 steps ahead of the real world. Example was the Snowden 'reveal'.....another is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (which is what the whole premise of the show is based on) is in the news more & more every day. But CBS would rather stay stuck in its old by the book, same old same old.

POI is one of those few shows that require your complete attention while it is on. And every time you re-watch an episode you'll see something you missed. The quality of POI, top to bottom, back to front & all parts in between, is the best anywhere.

To have such a great show treated the way CBS has treated POI is disgraceful. We've had to wait almost a FULL YEAR! Season 4 finale was May 5, 2015 and the Season 5 premier is May 3, 2016. And now we're going to get 13 eppies in 8 weeks? Really?

Shame on you CBS! Shame on you! You have dissed the fans as much as the show.

Personally, speaking for myself I have a hard time believing anything published on a site that CBS own. CBS are probably playing damage control, so that Person of Interest fans watch the final season live. It is all about advertising dollars for CBS, so anything written on a CBS site is probably only lip service. Many POI fans claimed they will boycott CBS after the finale of Person of Interest goes to air.

Now that Person of Interest has gone, many fans have no reason to watch CBS and a large number of fans who are members of the many Person of Interest Facebook Groups, are choosing not to watch CBS at all. That amounts to many thousands of viewers that CBS have essentially lost.

Person of Interest was the best show on CBS and for mine, the only show worth watching. We all know POI got the axe by CBS for financial reasons, and then Limitless, the show that replaced POI failed too and CBS owned Limitless. Les Moonves confirmed that in Season 4 the network broke even with Person of Interest. Perhaps if CBS had promoted Person of Interest more, we might not be where we are now. I am wondering just how many POI fans ditched CBS when they began screwing around with POI and how many fans boycotted CBS because another show took Person of Interest's time-slot. I have no doubt CBS's actions regarding POI affected the ratings of Limitless.

POI was the best show on TV in the last ten to fifteen years and never had to end like this. POI and the people who produced the show, should never have been treated this way. CBS held off telling the cast, crew and loyal fans that they had every intention of cancelling the show. They also lied to everyone about their decision making process regarding the possible renewal of Person of Interest. Now, I don't know about you, but I hate liars and I rarely forgive them. Many POI fans claim they will never watch a CBS show live again. This amount of people could very well go into the hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions.

Can CBS really afford to lose that amount of viewers and the revenue they bring. I really hope that NBC, ABC, FOX, The Cable Networks and Streaming services can learn a lesson out of this. Person of Interest has a huge fandom all over the world, which amounts to hundreds of millions of people. Netflix or Hulu or even Amazon would stand to gain the most by picking up Person of Interest given the worldwide desire for more seasons of the show.

Netflix has already saved a few shows from the axe and given them a new home as have cable networks. Longmire being one example. The Killing was also picked up by another network and Nashville which was cancelled recently was also given a new home. These shows are nowhere near the quality that Person of Interest is and these shows did not rate nearly as highly as POI.

How these numbers compare for Season 5 is unclear, however in terms of quality, Person of Interest will do very well for any network that picks it up. POI would be a huge asset to any television network or streaming company that want to renew it for a sixth season.

Fans all over the world have joined forces and put together several petitions, one has almost 50,000 signatures and has been doing the rounds for the last year. These fans will not give up until they are told there is absolutely no hope. So come on guys, can someone please give us some real hope that Person of Interest is being considered as a viable pick up for the 2016/17 season or perhaps even a year from now?

And lastly, I urge anyone who has not seen Person of Interest to sign up for Netflix or whoever is streaming POI in your part of the world and watch. The five season box set will be available on July 19 in the US and for those outside the US, try searching for the series on Amazon. We will never see another show quite like Person of Interest and certainly not on network television given the way TV is changing. POI was one of a kind and I will miss it terribly along with millions of other fans.

Please sign the petition to Save Person of Interest if you haven't done so.

Another thing you can do is to mail origami cranes into Netflix. There is more information about this on the petition or you can contact Kaily Russell, who started the petition on Facebook and Twitter.

Do You Love Writing About TV Shows We are looking for writers to contribute to What's on the Box. Please get in touch via the contact box if you are interested. You can also contact us via our new Facebook page to apply for posting rights. 

Now it is your turn, if you want to have your say about my rant, do so in the comments, or join me on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Is A Person Of Interest Reboot Possible?

This was posted in response to this article about a Person of Interest reboot recently on Facebook, so I thought I would share it.

Did you read the disclosure at the end? This site; TV Guide is owned by CBS. So this article; while it gives me hope given the producers and cast, meaning Nolan, Plageman, Emerson, Caveizel and company say that POI could go on from the finale of Season five. Is it possible it is geared towards all of the fans who are so pissed off that they have effectively boycotted CBS. I know of many fans who have done exactly this. One wonders just how many fans and whether this is affecting the ratings of CBS's other shows.

I also happen to agree with Rita Presto who posted earlier saying that: "Never say never isn't enough for me" She also goes on to say: "I would like to hear some real hope for this great show that I think got the shaft"...Yes, indeed Rita, Person of Interest was royally screwed by CBS. 

CBS do not own it, Warner Bros do, so they were not interested in spending money on promoting the show and giving it the best chance it could at getting great ratings which is the only place there profits were generated. This made no sense to me, even if the show was not owned by the network, why would you not do everything possible to generate more profit.

What they did instead was move it to Tuesday nights after Season 2. They then behaved as if they did not care when ratings fell. They spend little on promotion and basically treated a quality, relevant masterpiece like shit. I also hope that the fans who have stated they will boycott CBS stick to their word. It is about time the viewers were listened to.

I also do not believe Nolan. I do not think he could have possibly finished the story he had planned for POI in a way that he was satisfied with. Especially when he said that he had at least seven or more seasons of story planned for the series. He is saying what CBS want to hear, because let's face it, if you bite the hand that feeds you, you end up paying for it. 

CBS are a huge company and he obviously does not want to alienate a network that can give him work in the future. I would say his comments were made through gritted teeth, because as a writer myself, I would be so pissed off if I was forced to shorten a story I had planned for 44-46 episodes to 13 episodes. So Nolan is paying lip service, in my opinion. I feel truly sorry for Jonah Nolan. 

Not being able to tell the story you want to tell really sucks. I just hope that Season 5 does not feel rushed. I think it will, but hopefully the writers are clever enough to distract the fans from the rushed feeling.

Even though I am not giving up on Person of Interest until I believe there is absolutely no hope of it being picked up by another network, I would love to see something more positive about this, not just speculation that it could happen. 

I really wish that Netflix would comment or at least tell us they are considering picking up the series. Please Netflix, Hulu, Fox, NBC....Please seriously consider starting talks with WB regarding this series, it is the best series to hit our TV screens since Grey's Anatomy in 2005 and this was 12 years ago. Given the lack of good scripted TV available these days, this show is one other networks really need to consider.

And fans of Person of Interest. I know things are looking bleaker for the future of this show, but I urge you not to give up. Please try to watch Season 5 live if you live in the US and please continue to join in and support the campaign to save our show. We cannot do it without the support of the fans, we need you now more than ever, so I urge you to not give up. Not yet!

So, are we giving up yet? Or do we really believe there is hope. Nolan did say that not many of the characters will survive, but there is no reason why they could not bring them back from the dead. Everyone thought Reese and Finch were dead in the beginning, so I am not ruling out this possibility or any scenario that could be used in rebooting the Person of Interest story.

13 Episodes Are Not Enough

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Now it is your turn, if you want to have your say about my rant, do so in the comments, or join me on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Copyright © 2016 Janelle Coulton

Michael Emerson Talks To Collider About Person of Interest

Excellent Article via Collider; written by Christina Radish.

Michael Emerson certainly gives the impression that there is not much hope that this series will be picked up for Season six by Netflix or another network, which is disappointing and not how many fans wanted to see this series go out. (This could well be my paranoid and negative attitude when it comes to TV executives making smart decisions). Anyway, perhaps I am wrong and the reason Emerson alludes to a back door being built into the final episode of Season five could mean there is hope. I mean, Emerson is right, there has to be a way back if Person of Interest is to continue into Season 5.2 or Season 6 and beyond. 

Please let this be what happens, anyway I will leave you all to read this wonderful article and peruse the awesome photographs too.

Michael Emerson talks Person of Interest, Reese, Root, the dog and other interesting things about this amazing TV show.

Person of Interest, one of the most complex and compelling shows currently on TV, will be entering its fifth season on CBS, when it returns with new episodes in 2016. In the meantime, you can check out and catch up with episodes from the beginning, as part of the “Prime Crime” line-up currently airing weekdays on WGN America, or you can binge-watch on Netflix (Season 1-3 are available now, and Season 4 is available on September 22nd).

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Michael Emerson reflected back on the show’s evolution while also giving a preview of what’s still to come. He talked about how far the show pushes boundaries, having this team become such a tight family, the unexpected humor, turning points for Finch and Reese (Jim Caviezel), that this season’s end will have to be a bit ambiguous to leave the door open to return, rebuilding the Machine, flashbacks, his hope that the good guys will prevail, in the end, and what a cross-over episode might look like.

Collider: Are you hoping that the fact that WGN America will be running all of the previous episodes of the show that it will catch people up in time to bring new viewers when Person of Interest returns to CBS in 2016?

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MICHAEL EMERSON: Yeah, I hope it does find a wider audience. I think there’s a chance that it will find a younger audience that we didn’t quite reach. And maybe it’s a way for people that got behind to catch up. And then, they’ll start watching the current season.

Image via CBS

Person of Interest has always been an interesting show because it feels like it started under the radar as just another CBS procedural, but it’s really evolved into one of the most complex shows on TV. When you signed on to do this show, did you think that you were just making a procedural with an interesting hook that hadn’t been explored, or did you always know that Jonah Nolan and Greg Plageman would keep pushing the boundaries of it?

EMERSON: I didn’t know how far they would push it. I expected it to be a procedural because it was CBS and because that’s the traditional way that they do things there. I had thought it was an edgier show than I expected on CBS, and it has proven to be. I didn’t dream that Jonah and Greg would go as far out there as they have done, which is great. I’m really happy that we have this over-arching dilemma of the artificial intelligences at war with one another. I think that raises a lot of interesting questions and good stuff for our writers to play with.

When you think about where this story and these characters were at the point that this all started, compared to where they are now, is there anything that’s most surprised you about the journey that you’ve taken with this character?

EMERSON: I didn’t foresee it to end up being such a family. It’s an odd family, with Root, Reese, Fusco and Finch, but they have each other’s backs, they have a respect for one another, they look out for one another, and they have a little bit of fun together. I like how much humor has evolved in the show. Even though the circumstances are always dire and the missions seem to continue to be suicidal, they are very colorful people. I sometimes feel like I’m in a comedy, but I’m the only one who knows it.

Adding Bear, the dog, to the show also seemed to have really changed things.

EMERSON: I know, we really turned a corner when we got the dog. I think it’s because it’s such an unlikely domestic detail. Dogs suggest home and hearth and relaxation, and all the things that don’t seem to fit into the world of Finch and Reese, and yet it does. Even in the midst of chaos, and even on a suicide mission, you can still be human.

How do you think the partnership between Reese and Finch has most changed and evolved? Do you think there were turning points for them, or do you see it as more of a slow evolution?

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EMERSON: It seems very gradual, but I can remember a couple of places where we did turn corners. Giving the dog a bath went a long way to contributing to the sense of them being a fun odd couple. And there was the scene where I measured Mr. Reese for a new suit. There was something so familiar about it, and a little dear and silly. Anytime they’re talking about what they like to eat or drink, or their taste in entertainment, and the everyday people talk, it’s so humanizing for them. It’s evolved slowly into a relationship that people enjoy. Jonah always says that no TV succeeds, if the audience isn’t invested in the characters. No matter how high concept or flashy, it’s about the characters, at the end of the day. And I think that holds true on Person of Interest.

Image via CBS

What have you enjoyed most about working with Jim Caviezel, as your partner in crime in all of this?

EMERSON: I like the odd couple-ness. He and I are completely different actors and completely different kids of people, altogether. It’s an unlikely partnership, in any sense, as people and as actors, and yet it somehow works. It’s one of those chemical accidents that you hope for, but cannot manufacture in the performing arts. I have liked that relationship. There’s a tension to it, but underneath the tension, there’s respect and a caring.

CBS only ordered 13 episodes for this next season. Does it feel like the last season, in terms of story, or do you think the show could come back for another 13 or even switch to another network beyond that?

EMERSON: I don’t know. All of those things are unknowns. It feels like we’re coming to the end of something. It’s a problem for the writers because they have to write what will be an ending and a finale, but it has to have a little bit of a back door built into it. It has to be a little bit ambiguous, on some level, so that the story could continue, if necessary.

After the events that happened last season, it would have been devastating to leave it there, and not come back and give some sort of closure.

EMERSON: Yeah, I don’t think they could have gotten away with just ending it with us going out into a hail of bullets with the Machine in a briefcase. I think there would have been a human cry about that.

Now that the Machine needs to be rebuilt, does Finch feel like he’s getting a bit of a do-over, in some way?

EMERSON: He has an opportunity to tweak it and maybe undo some of the safeguards that he originally built in, to let the Machine be able to fight for itself and to fight for its own existence. That’s one of the opportunities/dilemmas of the first few episodes. The Machine that rises from the ashes, how much will it be like the old one, or will it have new qualities? Finch and Root will argue that out, philosophically, because she has a different vision.

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Image via CBS

With it essentially being up to Finch and Root to rebuild things, will those differences of opinion lead to some tension between them?

EMERSON: Yes, there will be tension and there will be some uneasy compromises.

Root is clearly the most unpredictable of the team, and is still very much a wild card, in many ways. What do you think it was that finally got Finch to see her as more of an ally than just strictly an enemy?

EMERSON: It’s accumulated over time. In a world full of dangerous enemies, she was at least helpful and useful. I think it goes a long way with Mr. Finch that Root is so dedicated to the Machine. You have to like someone that loves your child, even if they’re a little bit scary. I think he has an uneasy familial feeling with Root now. Because of the circumstances, now they’re roommates, which is an odd set-up. When you think back to how, at one time or another, each of them kept the other prisoner for periods of time, things are a little easier, but a little more complicated.

With the shorter season, will we still get a good balance of flashbacks, or is it harder to work those in when you have fewer hours to tell the present-day story?

EMERSON: We’re shooting lots of flashbacks, particularly in the opening episode or two. There’s always been a revisiting of the Machine’s past. Now that we are trying to revive the Machine, it’s a good opportunity to revisit the education of the infant Machine, to dramatic effect. We learn a little bit about the past of the Machine, in its childhood. We get a bigger picture of Finch as mentor and teacher, and we get the particulars about how he groomed the Machine. It’s interesting.

Image via CBS

In a perfect world, when all is said and done with the story you’re telling, would you like to see all of the work that this team has done mean something in the bigger picture of humanity, or is there no way for it to end well for any of these people?

EMERSON: I don’t know. I wonder what the writers have up their sleeves. It can’t end with Samaritan in charge, can it? That would be so dire and so hopeful. Ours is an upbeat show. The good guys will prevail. Maybe ambiguously, but someone gets through this into the light of day again, I hope.

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One of the cool things about this show being on WGN America is that it’s being aired with Elementary and the promotional items of the two casts together led me to wonder, if you could do a cross-over wither another show, is there anyone that you’d like to see Finch and this team interact with?

EMERSON: Wow. We’ve seen that happen on other shows. Homicide and Law & Order overlapped casts for awhile there. But, I don’t know. With our show, you get not just a specific narrative, but a style of storytelling. I don’t know how you’d maintain the style of the two shows, if they’re different, and they would be. I don’t know. That’s an interesting idea. With what show? The Big Bang Theory? They could have a fantasy episode, or Mr. Finch could move in next door. Sherlock and Finch might be like matter and anti-matter. They both perform the same function in their respective narratives, so they might implode or something. There might not be anywhere to go because they’re, in essence, the same character. Maybe that’s the angle that a writer would use. Where can you run with that? That would be interesting.

Person of Interest is airing weekdays on WGN America, as part of the “Prime Crime” line-up. Seasons 1-3 are now available at Netflix while Season 4 will be available on September 22nd. Season 5 will premiere on CBS in 2016.

Image via CBS

Image via CBS

This content was originally published on Collider and written by Christina Radish.


I hope you enjoyed this article and please feel free to comment below or come and join all the Person of Interest fans on Facebook...There are literally thousands of us all over Facebook and Twitter, so you will always find another Person of Interest fan to chat with. 

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Copyright, 2015 Janelle Coulton