Mahershala Ali Starred In This Forgotten Sci-Fi TV Show That's Worth Revisiting

Before Mahershala Ali was a two-time Oscar winner, he starred in the sci-fi series "The 4400," where he played a Korean War pilot who was mysteriously abducted in the '50s and appeared decades later alongside 4,399 other people. Following his screen debut in the first season of NBC's crime drama "Crossing Jordan," Ali got the role of Richard Tyler in "The 4400."

The series, which premiered on July 11, 2004 on the USA Network, follows Richard and the other returnees as they try to make sense of what happened and grapple with how the world had moved on without them. They also find that they have strange powers, like Richard's telekinesis.

"The 4400" was a hit, and the Season 1 finale was the highest rated show on cable the week it aired in August 2004. The show would run for a total of four seasons, and Mahershala Ali — who at the time went by his full name of Mahershalalhashbaz Ali in the credits — was a series regular for three of them.

"The 4400" ended on a cliffhanger during the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, one of a number of established, expensive series that got the axe. While the show was a hit in the '00s, it hasn't had the same staying power as some of its peers. The first season ended in August of 2004, a month before "Lost" would debut on ABC. Of the two, "Lost" was a bigger sensation and has enjoyed a more enduring legacy. "Heroes," another popular network show with sci-fi elements, would premiere on NBC after Season 3 of "The 4400," further eclipsing the cable series.

That's not to say that "The 4400" has totally disappeared, just like the show's titular abductees did. It has a strong cult following, and fans praise the show for its complexity, ensemble cast of characters, and the sort of grounded sci-fi storytelling that would be increasingly popular on the small screen. In 2021, The CW rebooted "The 4400," and although the new series got decent reviews from critics, it was canceled after one season.

Mahershala Ali went on to appear in shows like "Luke Cage" and would win awards for films like "Moonlight" and "Green Book," but he booked his first movie role while starring on "The 4400." In an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Ali recalled how his contract was up for renegotiation after Season 3 — which was why he was nervous when he read a script for an episode where another one of the 4400 has a vision of his character dying. 

However, when his agent called to say he'd gotten a part in David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Ali changed his tune. "I was so excited I went back doing the George Jefferson," Ali said, imitating "The Jeffersons" family patriarch's happy walk. "I was ready to die." Richard Tyler didn't ultimately die on "The 4400," but he only appeared in two episodes of the final season, which filmed the same year as "Benjamin Button."