By Ryan Songalia

The lights may be out on "Lights Out," but the star of the of the critically-acclaimed FX television series isn't letting the curtains come down on his screen career.

Holt McCallany, who played the title character Patrick "Lights" Leary on the recently canceled show, admits that he was disappointed that the show wasn't renewed for a second season despite mostly favorable reviews but is ready to move onto future projects.

"I was very saddened by it because I really wanted to continue, but we knew we were struggling in the ratings so it didn't come as a big surprise," the 46-year-old New York City native McCallany told BoxingScene.com

"People really loved the show and we loved making it."

McCallany blames the competitive time slot - Tuesdays at 10PM EST - for the show's inability to sustain it's impressive early ratings, which peaked at 1.5 million for the pilot episode. According to TVline.com, CBS' The Good Wife, NBC’s Parenthood and TNT’s Southland were dominant forces in that slot.

The final episode, which saw the returning former champ Leary finally meeting Richard "Death Row" Reynolds, aired on April 5.

McCallany says that the show's producers "would like to continue" and are "talking to some other people" about continuing the show on another network, but adds "I'm not holding my breath."

Instead, McCallany is preparing to begin shooting in Brooklyn for a made-for-TV movie called "Mother Justice," which is the real life story of Doreen Giuliano, who fought to overturn her son's 2003 murder conviction. McCallany is a producer on the project and co-wrote the script, and may also play one of the parts.

Filming begins in June or July, with airing taking place as early as November.

McCallany's love of boxing won't subside with the end of "Lights Out," however. He had previously competed once in the Masters Boxing division, which allows boxers to lace up past the amateur cutoff age of 35 and says he's back in training for a second go-round.

"I'd like to do it again, but I gotta drop some weight" McCallany said. "I put on a little weight since the show aired. I have to drop about 15 pounds."

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMANews.TV and the Filipino Reporter newspaper. From January through April, he will cover the Daily News Golden Gloves tournament for the New York Daily News. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia .