Steven Spielberg has shaped modern cinema with classics like Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but perhaps his most enduring pop culture impact is Jurassic Park. That film blended Michael Crichton's high-concept sci-fi with thrilling chases and groundbreaking visuals. Now, with Warner Bros.' upcoming The End of Oak Street sending a family into a dinosaur-filled nightmare, it's worth revisiting Spielberg's own attempt to bring that premise to television: Terra Nova, now streaming free on Tubi.
Premiering on FOX in 2011, Terra Nova was Spielberg's ambitious attempt to replicate Jurassic Park's magic. The series is set in 2149, where a damaged ozone layer and overpopulation threaten humanity. Salvation comes through a temporal rift leading to an alternate Cretaceous Period, complete with dinosaurs. Despite this compelling hook and Spielberg's involvement, the show lasted only one season.
A Rocky Production and Skyrocketing Budgets
When Terra Nova was announced, Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly predicted it would be "huge." He was right about the budget: each episode cost roughly $4 million, mostly spent on dinosaur effects. Unfortunately, the creatures looked more like B-movie refugees than the realistic reptiles of Jurassic Park. Worse, dinosaurs rarely appeared beyond two episodes, wasting a promising premise.
The show also struggled with identity. While it promised survival in a dinosaur-infested world, it focused heavily on the family life of former policeman Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) and his wife Elisabeth (Shelley Conn). Their children were one-note: Josh (Landon Liboiron) was a sullen teen, and Maddy (Naomi Scott) dealt with romance and danger. The series might have been better centered on Stephen Lang's Nathaniel Taylor, the first time traveler with a terrorist son.
Brannon Braga, a veteran of Star Trek: The Next Generation and 24, later called working on Terra Nova "the only truly awful experience of my career." He noted that "nobody saw the same show — the studio, the network, and Steven Spielberg all saw different shows."
In contrast, Spielberg's other 2011 sci-fi series, Falling Skies, succeeded by focusing on an alien invasion and a compelling family dynamic. Terra Nova remains a cautionary tale that even a legendary producer can't turn every concept into gold. Yet for fans of dinosaur sci-fi, it's a fascinating forgotten gem worth rediscovering.
Now that Terra Nova is free on Tubi, viewers can binge all 13 episodes and decide if this underrated series deserved a second chance. It may not reach Jurassic Park heights, but it's the closest TV ever got to that dinosaur-filled thrill ride.
