I was delighted to read that Jim Caviezel, best known for his role as Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ,” is now starring in a TV show, “Person of Interest.” It’s about time. Caviezel is an intense actor with a talent that might prove too big for television. I hope not. I’d look forward to watching him every week.

The premise of the show is intriguingly new. Kind of a crime-focused “Early Edition.” Caviezel  (along with Michael Emerson, another compelling actor who brings instant trust to his role) tries to stop crimes before they occur, and after they have been meticulously planned. After watching the premier of the show, I think it has real potential, as long as the writers stick to their game plan and pursue this story idea. As long as they don’t decide to change the premise and just make it another cop show.

I watched “Harry’s Law” last season, well the first half of the season, but then gave up when I found I couldn’t care less about the characters, except for Harry (played by Kathy Bates). Last week, I saw it was on for a second season, and turned to watch, to see whether they had improved the writing and plots. Lo and behold, now it’s just another lawyer show, a cookie-cutter replica of all of the other law shows on TV. They couldn’t make the original idea work, so instead of working harder to make something new succeed, they changed the premise, got new characters, and created a clone. So disappointing.

I understand. The producers want shows that work, that bring in sponsors. But once they’ve made the hurdle to get on TV, I wish they’d try harder to stick to their initial idea and make it work. I have high hopes for “Person of Interest,” but we’ll see how long it sticks to its premise and rises above the common surf. They have the actors, they had the writing in the pilot episode; let’s hope they have the writing and guts to press forward as something new, and succeed.