Josh Holloway's Lost Follow-Up Was A Quickly Forgotten Sci-Fi Series

Josh Holloway is best known for playing the antihero-turned-hero James Sawyer in one of the best sci-fi mystery series of the 2000s: "Lost." It ran for six seasons and was a ratings juggernaut for ABC. The premiere drew in nearly 18 million viewers in 2004, instantly making it a hit, and the series finale was watched by about 13.5 million people in 2010. That's a drop for sure, but considering the highly serialized nature of the show, it was still massively successful. Holloway walked away as one of the show's breakout stars, making what he did next exciting for fans.

With the charisma and charm Holloway brought to Sawyer, seeing him lead his own series, instead of being part of an ensemble, was not a stretch. That opportunity came in 2014, with the cyber thriller "Intelligence" on CBS. He played Gabriel Vaughn, a hot-headed government intelligence officer who has a superchip implanted in his brain, giving him direct access to the Internet. While the premise seemed intriguing, the execution left a lot to be desired.

The show had a promising start, but ratings quickly fell off a cliff. After 13 episodes of what CBS had hoped to be a hit, especially with Holloway's star power, the network axed the show. Even from a cult-following perspective, it's not considered one of the best sci-fi shows that were canceled after one season, like "Firefly" or "Invasion," and has largely been forgotten.

In "Intelligence," Gabriel could connect and hack into the entire global information grid, which includes telephones, WiFi, and satellites, making him the ultimate superspy for the U.S. However, Gabriel is reckless and unpredictable, often requiring his handlers to protect him from outside threats. Considering he is the first and only person to have this superchip implanted in him, he is very valuable. There was also a subplot about him looking for his missing wife.

"Intelligence" debuted to 16.6 million viewers on 7 January, 2014. This was on a Tuesday, but when the show moved to its scheduled Monday night slot for its sophomore episode, viewership plummeted to 6.1 million. One of the biggest reasons for the decline was that the pilot gained a massive influx of viewers from NCIS, which aired Tuesday nights on CBS and had 20 million viewers leading up to "Intelligence."

To compound the problem, critics gave it a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus saying the show is not that intelligent (pun intended), and Holloway couldn't save it. With an audience score of 59% and a further decline in ratings, the show's fate was sealed. Holloway recently starred in the HBO crime thriller "Duster," which got better critical and fan reception, but even that was canceled after one season. And if you are a fan of "Lost," you can check out the Sterling Brown-starring series, "Paradise," for your dose of sci-fi mystery.