VIDEO: Jason O'Mara Helms Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova

The next installment in the increasingly popular time-travel genre is finally here, after a two-year delay that threatened the release of Steven Spielberg's new TV vision, Terra Nova, a faimly drama about a dismal future and a hopeful past.

The ambitious pilot, starring Life on Mars' Jason O'Mara and Tron: Legacy's Christine Adams, premiered Tuesday night on FOX, despite hitting a few obsticles along the way. The series follows the Shannon family, who live in the year 2149 when, predictably, humankind has exhausted the earth's resources and overpopulation is the central threat to society.

But there's hope. To escape desperate circumstances, the Shannons can take advantage of the newfound technology that comes with the aging planet. The discovery of a time warp and an "alternate time stream" that allows humans to coexist in a previous time without muddling the natural order of things, provide an out from an increasingly hopeless futuristic world. The Shannons find themselves joining Terra Nova, a colony of humans trying to start a new civilization on a lusher, younger version of earth. Who cares if they have to battle a few dinosaurs in the process?

So far Terra Nova is being praised as more than just a fun Tuesday night watch. Entertainment Weekly calls it "easily the most ambitious TV pilot since Lost, if not ever." And while it stands to reason that FOX would be delighted to have another Lost on their hands, the comparison also serves as a vital reminder that ambition is not always enough. The new show is a gamble for sure, as the pilot alone cost $16 million to produce, and the time slot has some stiff competition from CBS and ABC's heavyweights, How I Met Your Mother and Dancing with the Stars, respectively.

You can catch Terra Nova on FOX Monday nights at 8 p.m.

Watch a clip here: