CBS has thrown a big wrench into its nightly lineup, announcing it has canceled its popular police procedural S.W.A.T after six seasons. The upcoming finale of the sixth season, which is slated to premiere on May 19, will also serve as the series finale.
S.W.A.T, which was picked up for a sixth season in April 2022, followed Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Shemar Moore), a Los Angeles native who is plucked to run a specialized SWAT unit of the LAPD along with other highly trained operatives. The show co-starred Rochelle Aytes as Hondo’s girlfriend Nichelle, along with Jay Harrington, Kenny Johnson, David Lim, and Alex Russell. The show was a reimagining of the 1975 police drama of the same name that ran for one season, as well as a 2003 feature film starring Colin Farrell. The logline for the Season 6 (and now series) finale states that the SWAT team "works with the DEA and their iron-jawed leader, Mack Boyle (Timothy Hutton), to stop a ruthless cartel boss waging war on the streets of Los Angeles as he exacts revenge on those who killed his son."
“For six seasons, the amazing talents of the S.W.A.T. 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 lineup,” CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach said in a statement. "We sincerely thank them for their incredible work and passion and also thank our dedicated fans who tuned in every week.”
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S.W.A.T. Was Canceled Despite Surging Ratings
A co-production between CBS and Sony TV, S.W.A.T. has received the axe at the network despite its viewership doubling year-to-year after the show moved to Fridays. This is especially true for this current season, during which Nielsen reported S.W.A.T. averaged 6.82 million viewers over the seven-day period, up from 6.41 million during Season 5. So it is clear that plunging ratings were not a factor in the series getting canceled.
Rather, Deadline reported that CBS gave the pink slip to one of its most-watched shows because the network could not come to an agreement with Sony on a new licensing deal. The outlet reported that S.W.A.T. remained CBS' most expensive scripted series, and Sony and CBS eventually ended up abandoning a seventh season after a proposed deal would have continued to increase the show's per-episode cost. The emergence of additional well-received pilots, such as Elsbeth and the Matlock reboot, also reportedly gave CBS more leeway to move away from the police procedural. While S.W.A.T. could be shopped around to other networks, it is unlikely to find a new home.
Executive producer Ryan basically said as much to The Hollywood Reporter, telling the outlet in a previous interview, "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 7 work.”
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