CBS rushes ‘Hostages’ off the air, schedules premiere for Josh Holloway’s ‘Intelligence’

CBS is making one thing very clear right now: Even though they have not canceled “Hostages” by any means, they are in no means ready to have it sit on their schedule for as long as humanly possible.

The network confirmed on Monday that the series, which received a good bit of critical acclaim pre-season but has since struggled mightily to obtain a consistent audience, is going to be fast-tracked so that its season / likely series finale will air on Monday, January 6 starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. In what is clearly the best example of fast-tracking before the sweeps ever, the finale will also be two hours so that it gets completely out of the way before any of the other stuff pops up on the schedule.

So what about everything else coming up on CBS’ plate? Well, “Intelligence” is going to be launched early thanks to this shift, and will get some extra sampling by premiering on Tuesday, January 7 following a new “NCIS” episode at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. The show, which is basically “mature ‘Chuck'” with Meghan Ory (“Once Upon a Time”) and Josh Holloway (“Lost”), will premiere at its regular time Mondays at 10:00 p.m. the following week. The show was originally going to premiere after the winter Olympics in February, but this move was clearly made to try to get some traction for the show early. CBS likely knows that they need a hit desperately, after many of their new series (“Mom,” “The Crazy Ones,” “The Millers”) have been mediocre to pretty good. There’s been no version of “The Blacklist” for them, or even “Under the Dome” like they had in the summer.

At least “Intelligence” has a good cast, but like we said, with a premise that basically borrows from one of our most-favorite shows of the past decade, it’s going to be a hard sell as something that is completely original and fun to watch.

What do you think about this move, and is CBS right to just burn off a show in “Hostages” that they know really is not going anywhere? Just be sure to share your thoughts below!

Photo: CBS