Is S.W.A.T. Still Cancelled? Here’s Whether Season 8 Is Its Last…
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It was uncancelled once! After it was canceled and then renewed and canceled again, it’s understandable why fans want to know whether S.W.A.T. is still cancelled or whether it was renewed yet again for another season.
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S.W.A.T. is CBS’ procedural crime drama series that follows Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant II Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (played by Shemar Moore), a longtime Los Angeles local and a former Marine, who leads the Special Weapons and Tactics unit of the LAPD. Based on the 1975 TV series of the same name, the show premiered on CBS in November 2017 and is currently in its sixth season. S.W.A.T. also stars Alex Russell, Jay Harrington, Kenny Johnson, David Lim, Patrick St. Esprit and Rochelle Aytes and is executive produced by Shawn Ryan, Andy Dettman and Aaron Rahsaan.
When S.W.A.T. was rebooted in 2017, the show promised to show “both sides of the conversation” during the Black Lives Matter movement. Aaron Rashaan initially pitched the series based on his own experiences growing up in Kansas City. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, the producer said that he had a neighbor who experienced police violence growing up.
“On the other hand, another neighbor of mine was a police officer, so we had a love-hate relationship with police officers growing up,” Rashaan explained. His co-producer, Shawn Ryan, added that “This is a pro-cop show, but this is also a pro-community show…. I want to see how the cops deal with people. I want to see how the people deal with cops.” The producers also said that it was important that Moore’s character, Hondo, an officer in South Central, also lived in the community that he served. “We wanted to explore a character that had his foot in both sides,” Thomas said.
So is S.W.A.T. still cancelled after it was saved once after Season 6? Read on for the future of the series.
Is S.W.A.T. still cancelled?
S.W.A.T. was uncanceled again and renewed for Season 8 in April 2024, and this time, there’s no confirmation that the season will be S.W.A.T.’s last. In fact, it could continue for even more seasons. “Here at CBS, we always ‘stay liquid’ and love a good dramatic twist, especially when it leads to an eighth season of SWAT,” Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement at the time. “The show continues to resonate with viewers thanks to our talented cast led by Shemar Moore and our amazing writers and producers who keep the show relevant and action-packed. We’re very pleased to renew it again and incredibly grateful to our partners at Sony and CBS Studios and Shemar for working so closely with us to bring it back for next season.”
Sony Pictures TV Studios president Katherine Pope added in her own statement, “Led by the unstoppable Shemar Moore, SWAT has captivated viewers since its premiere in 2017, and with every renewal, we are amazed at how passionate and dedicated the fans of this show are. Thank you to Amy Reisenbach and our partners at CBS for continuing to believe in the show and the incredible work of the cast and crew.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, S.W.A.T. Season 7 averaged 8.8 million viewers over five weeks of filming, including on Paramount Plus and CBS apps, which was 11 percent up from Season 6. S.W.A.T.‘s uncancellation also came after it soared in popularity on Netflix after it was released on the streaming service in the summer of 2023 and consistently made it into Netflix’s top 10 chart.
“It’s a privilege to get to deliver more SWAT stories to our incredible fans,” said executive producer and co-showrunner Shawn Ryan, said in a statement. “This season eight pickup is a testament to our showrunner Andy Dettmann, Shemar Moore, the rest of our talented cast and our dedicated crew who continue to produce television that resonates with so many people. We’re grateful to CBS, Sony Pictures Television and CBS Studios for the opportunity.”
Dettman added in his own statement, “Shemar and I had many conversations throughout the production of season seven, confident that if we continued to tell great stories punctuated by SWAT’s signature action, our amazing fans would stay with us, giving us a good shot at another season. At the end of the day, this is the well-deserved payoff for all the time, energy and effort put in by an incredible cast and crew working with the constant support of our partners at Sony Pictures Television and everyone at CBS.”
In an interview with TV Insider ahead of S.W.A.T.’s final season premiere, Shemar Moore, who plays Hondo, hinted that the show could be saved after its success on streaming services like Netflix. “We are prepared for it to be the final season, and you’ll see that in these 13 episodes,” he said, adding that it’s “sad” and “bittersweet” to see the series end. “I’m very appreciative and proud of what the writing staff and producers have come up with to kind of put the button on the characters and the show. You’re getting a little bit of everything. Hondo may be the leader, and me, Shemar may be the lead of the show, but it ain’t all about me. It takes a village, and I love that every character is going to get their moments to shine in these final episodes.”
He continued, “We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished. We’ve taken a show, and obviously I’m biased, but there’s no such thing as the best show. But I think as far as network, we’re a very unique show. We’re almost like watching an action movie, but on TV. Our signature is the action, but we got a lot of heart. There’s a lot of grit. Oftentimes, there’s nice moving messages to the stories, and I’m just proud to be a leader, to be the leader of the team on this show.”
Moore hinted to TV Insider before S.W.A.T.‘s official renewal that the series’ success on Netflix could cause CBS to reconsider cancelling it. “I’m an optimistic person that maybe it’s the final season, maybe it’s not. That’s just me talking because this game is all about numbers. It’s money, budget, and numbers. We’re top 15 on Netflix. We’ve been in the top 10. We were number one for a minute. We’ve been steady in the top 15,” Moore said. “And I think if the numbers are good, I mean maybe the powers to be at Sony, at CBS, the people that make the decisions, maybe they have something to rethink. And if that happens, I’d be more than proud to continue this show. If it’s goodbye, then I say thank you, and I’m grateful for the years. And then that door closes, and then I go kick down the next door.”
Why was S.W.A.T. uncancelled the first time?
S.W.A.T. was renewed for a seventh and final season on May 8, 2023. Though the series is ending, the renewal was good news for S.W.A.T. fans who petitioned for CBS to renew the series for one more season after initially cancelling it following Season 6. The initial cancellation would’ve left viewers with a cliffhanger and unfinished ending to S.W.A.T., which led CBS to reconsider.
“We have listened to our viewers and their outpouring of passion for S.W.A.T. and we have reached an agreement to renew it for a final season of 13 episodes to air during the 2023-2024 broadcast year,” said Amy Reisenbach, President of CBS Entertainment, and Katherine Pope, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, in a joint statement. “S.W.A.T. has aired for six seasons on CBS and garnered a devoted following. We are pleased that we found a way to bring it back and give closure to the show’s storylines and characters, which audiences deserve. Once again, we appreciate the talents and efforts of the cast, writers, producers and crew and everyone who has contributed to the success of S.W.A.T. We look forward to its return next season.”
Lead actor Shemar Moore took to Instagram to share the news after he previously expressed disappointment in CBS’ decision to end the show. “Ayyeee!!!!! We did it #SWATFAM!!! @swatcbs is coming back for a 7th and Final season with 13 Episodes!!! Thank you to all of you for the continued and amazing support!! Let’s go,” he wrote in the caption.
Moore and his S.W.A.T. costar David Lim posted a joint video together thanking the fans for saving the show. “They cancelled us on Friday… they renewed us today, Monday, three days later, you know why? Because of ya’ll, the fans. You showed us love. You made noise. We so respect it. We so appreciated it,” Moore said in the Instagram video. “All we want to do is do it right. If we’re gonna go out, we’re gonna go out the right way.”
Fans flooded the comments of the video expressing their excitement for Season 7. “7 seasons are not enough for fans around the world! We need the best show ever ! Thank you guys love u,” one user wrote. Another added: “Let’s keep this show going. I’m old enough to remember the original. This SWAT cast does justice to all that came before you.”
What happened with S.W.A.T.?
What happened with S.W.A.T.? Prior to its renewal for a seventh and final season, S.W.A.T. was actually cancelled by CBS following its Season 6 finale, which wouldn’t have allowed the show to give a proper ending to viewers. While CBS cancelled S.W.A.T. on May 5, 2023, immense backlash from viewers and cast members — including a public plea by Moore — made the network reconsider.
Initially, CBS moved to end the show after Season 6. “For six seasons, the amazing talents of the SWAT cast led by Shemar Moore, the writers, producers and crew guided by executive producers Shawn Ryan, Andy Dettman and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas brought us compelling, action packed episodes that also addressed important social issues and contributed to the success of our primetime line up,” Reisenbach wrote in a statement about the cancellation. “We sincerely thank them for their incredible work and passion and also thank our dedicated fans who tuned in every week.” The drama was a co-production between CBS Studios and Sony Pictures TV.
After the show was axed, lead actor Shemar Moore expressed his shock and disappointment in a video he posted to Instagram on May 6, 2023. “It makes no sense. We’ve done nothing wrong. We did everything that was asked for,” the actor said one day after the cancellation news. Moore also praised S.W.A.T. as “the most diverse show on CBS.” “CBS, when I got hired to be Hondo on S.W.A.T., was getting a lot of flak for lack of diversity. If I post this, and I think I might, I will get in a lot of trouble with CBS because I’m calling them out. Because they’ve been wonderful to me for 26 out of my 29-year career. But to abruptly get told that you’re cancelled when you led us to believe last week — and the week before, and the week before that — that we would have some semblance of a Season 7 to at least say goodbye, if not continue. And to abruptly be told, ‘You’re done.'”
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The actor added that while he understands the decision to cancel the show was not personal, he still believes that that S.W.A.T. will continue one day. “I will be fine, but I’m upset because I busted my whole entire a** to prove that I could do this, and I did prove that I could do this… I understand it’s not personal — it’s business — but I still have faith that S.W.A.T. will live to see another day,” he said. “So I’m asking my homies, my fans and my baby girls, and the rest of the world who follow me or follow the show, follow the cast, my brothers and my sisters: Make some f**king noise. And let them know that canceling S.W.A.T. is a f**king mistake.”
Deadline reported on May 5, 2023, that CBS and Sony TV could not “come to a financial agreement” to renew the series. Our sister site reported that over the last few years, early renewals “had come with the network keeping the license fee unchanged, which had put more and more pressure on the budget and further squeezed the show’s profit margins since costs of producing TV shows increase every year.” As a result, Sony was allegedly not willing to go for another renewal at a flat license fee as that “would compromise the show’s financial model,” Deadline said.
The Hollywood Reporter also blamed the cancellation on “the current economics of the TV business, in which networks and streamers are prioritizing full ownership of their series.” In a March 2023 interview with the THR‘s TV’s Top 5 podcast, Ryan explained why the status of the seventh season of S.W.A.T. was unknown. “Right now, it’s up in the air whether SWAT will get picked up for a seventh season, and that has nothing to do with ratings,” the executive producer said. “You would never see that situation 15 years ago…There’s no reason why the show shouldn’t be picked up other than the economics of the business are changing. CBS and Sony will or will not figure out a way to economically make a season seven work.”
As for viewership, the numbers actually went up for S.W.A.T. Season 6. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the series grew its total audience over the last season. According to Nielsen, the show averaged 6.82 million viewers over seven days (verses 6.41 million in 2021-2022). Although the viewership for adults aged 18-49 dipped a little, S.W.A.T. still ranks among the top 20 dramas on ad-supported TV, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
In addition to S.W.A.T., Moore is best known for portraying Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005 and as Derek Morgan on CBS’ Criminal Minds from 2005 to 2016. Moore has reprised his role on The Young and the Restless over the years, and he made another appearance on Monday, May 8, 2023, to reunite with his TV family.
S.W.A.T. is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
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