S.W.A.T.

***S.W.A.T.*** is an American crime drama television series, based on the 1975 television series of the same name created by Robert Hamner and developed by Rick Husky. The new series was developed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan and premiered on CBS on November 2, 2017. The series is produced by Original Film, CBS Studios and Sony Pictures Television.

Although CBS canceled the series after six seasons, the series was renewed for the seventh and final season three days later following negotiations of ratings declined sharply. The final season is set to premiere on February 16, 2024.

The show exists in a shared universe with the FX crime drama *The Shield*, which was also created by Ryan.

## Premise

The series centers on Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson. A lifelong Los Angeles local and former Marine, Hondo has been tapped to lead a new "last stop" Special Weapons and Tactics unit. Because he is both black and L.A. born and raised, Hondo feels deeply loyal not only to his "brothers in blue" but also to the people they serve. This makes him particularly qualified to lead the team and build a bridge between the force and the community. As such, the series is notable for its depiction of real-life tensions between police and the African-American community.

## Production

### Development

On September 28, 2016, the original series was signed on to produce a remake series with Justin Lin, Shawn Ryan and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas for CBS, which owns the rights for *S.W.A.T.* through its acquisition of the original Spelling-Goldberg Productions (now Sony Pictures Television). On February 3, 2017, it was announced that CBS had greenlit production of a pilot episode of a television series inspired by the 2003 film adaptation of the 1970's ABC series *S.W.A.T.*. The pilot was written by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan and directed by Justin Lin. On May 12, 2017, the network picked up the series. Executive producer Neal H. Mortiz will serve as the showrunner. On June 20, 2017, CBS released a first video trailer for new series. In June 2017, the network scrapped the original pilot, with Lin to direct a new pilot episode. On November 17, 2017, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 20 episodes and on December 1, 2017, they recently ordered two additional episodes for the first season bringing the total to 22 episodes. On March 27, 2018, CBS was renewed for a second season which premiered on September 27, 2018.

On March 16, 2020, Sony Pictures Television announced that the production would be suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a fourth season, which is set to premiere in mid-season. However, on July 14 it was announced that it will switch places with *Survivor*, and will instead premiere on November 16, 2020. On April 15, 2021, CBS renewed the series was for a fifth season, which premiered on October 1, 2021. On April 8, 2022, CBS renewed the series was for a sixth season, which was premiered on October 7, 2022.

#### Cancellation and final season

On May 5, 2023, it was confirmed that the series has been cancelled after six seasons, due to ratings declined sharply. Three days later, following negotiations with Sony Pictures Television, it was renewed the series for a 13-episode of the seventh and final season, and it set to premiere on February 16, 2024.

### Casting

In February 2017, former *Criminal Minds* star Shemar Moore was announced as the Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, alongside with new co-stars Kenny Johnson as Dominic Luca, who was originally named Brian Gamble, and Lina Esco as Christina "Chris" Alonzo, who also originally named Sanchez. Several additional cast members were announced in March 2017. Jay Harrington plays Officer Deacon Kay, Alex Russell is James "Jim" Street, and finally, Peter Onorati was cast as Jeff Mumford, are four members of the SWAT team of the Los Angeles Police Department in the original movie. On September 21, 2017, David Lim was cast in the role of Hondo's new co-member Victor Tan and was later promoted to series regular status for first season.

On June 27, 2018, it was revealed that Patrick St. Esprit has been promoted to series regular for the second season, after recurring in the first as Robert Hicks respectively.On July 8, 2019, Amy Farrington has joined the series regular subsequently, then on October 4, 2019, it was announced that Stephanie Sigman has departed from the series. During the season finale, it was indicated that Esco would be departing the series after five seasons.

On January 25, 2024, Anna Enger Ritch has later promoted to series regular status for the final season.

### Filming

Filming on the fourth season has resumed on August 4, 2020.

## Reception

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 45% approval rating, with an average rating of 4.53/10 based on 22 reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 45 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

### Ratings

#### Overall

Based on average total viewers per episode of *S.W.A.T.* on CBS:

## Home media

All seasons was released for DVD which was owned and partnered with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

## References

1. ↑ https://deadline.com/2020/05/cbs-renewals-1202927097/
2. ↑ https://deadline.com/2020/05/cbs-fall-2020-2021-schedule-upfront-minimal-changes-summer-production-restart-swat-held-midseason-the-equalizer-b-positive-1202938300/
3. ↑ https://deadline.com/2020/07/survivor-pulled-fall-schedule-swat-moves-from-midseason-1202985760/
4. ↑ https://deadline.com/2021/04/ncis-ncis-blue-bloods-bull-magnum-p-i-s-w-a-t-renewed-cbs-mark-harmon-1234735150/
5. ↑ https://deadline.com/2022/04/s-w-a-t-renewed-for-season-6-at-cbs-1234997712/
6. ↑ https://deadline.com/2022/06/cbs-fall-premiere-dates-2022-23-ncis-swat-ghosts-1235050703/
7. ↑ https://deadline.com/2023/05/swat-canceled-cbs-6-seasons-reasons-no-season-7-1235357982/
8. ↑ https://deadline.com/2023/05/swat-uncanceled-renewed-season-7-shemar-moore-cbs-resurrected-1235359598/
9. ↑ https://deadline.com/2023/11/cbs-2024-premiere-dates-scripted-series-post-strike-1235600901/
10. ↑ https://deadline.com/2017/09/s-w-a-t-david-lim-promoted-series-regular-ahead-of-season-1-premiere-1202174507/
11. ↑ https://deadline.com/2018/06/s-w-a-t-patrick-st-esprit-promoted-series-regular-season-2-1202417797/
12. ↑ https://deadline.com/2019/07/s-w-a-t-amy-farrington-series-regular-season-3-1202642742/
13. ↑ https://deadline.com/2022/05/original-s-w-a-t-cast-member-exits-ahead-season-6-lina-esco-christine-alonso-1235030283/
14. ↑ https://tvline.com/casting-news/swat-final-season-7-anna-enger-ritch-series-regular-powell-1235138651/

## External links

* S.W.A.T. on Wikipedia
* S.W.A.T. on Television Wiki
* S.W.A.T. on CBS Fandom
* S.W.A.T. at IMDB.com
* S.W.A.T. at TVmaze
* S.W.A.T. at Serienjunkies.de