S.W.A.T.

Premise

The series centers on Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson and Twenty Squad. A lifelong Los Angeles local and former Marine, Hondo has been tapped to lead a new "last stop" Special Weapons and Tactics unit of the LAPD. Hondo was raised in South L.A. and is loyal to both his "brothers in blue" and to the people they serve. Deadline's review of the series described Hondo as being "put in charge of a team of cop-show-standard misfits to soothe political tensions after an African-American teenager is shot by Hondo's white predecessor."

Cast and characters

Shemar Moore as Sergeant II Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr., a Los Angeles native who was promoted to team leader in a blatant attempt to ease the tensions between the community and the LAPD after his former team leader shot an unarmed black teenager. He was demoted at the end of season 4 after leaking information of racism in the LAPD to the press before later regaining command early in season 5. As team leader, his callsign was 20-David but it changed to 27-David during his demotion. He knows everyone in the neighborhood and treats them with respect and they usually give him information pertinent to his cases. He once dated Elle Trask, an FBI Agent. He was then in a clandestine relationship with Jessica Cortez, but they were ultimately forced to break it off to protect their careers despite both expressing their love for each other. He later dated Nia Wells, an Assistant District Attorney, but later broke up when he had threatened to go after a man, he accused of drugging his younger half-sister, Briana, at a nightclub to possibly take advantage of her. He then went onto dating Nichelle when they first cross paths helping an injured man following a pursuit of armed robbery suspects that Hondo was in. At the end of the fifth season, Hondo learns that Nichelle is pregnant with their first child. She gives birth to their daughter Vivienne in the sixth season and the two marry in-between seasons six and seven.

Stephanie Sigman as Captain Jessica Cortez (seasons 1–2), Commanding Officer of the LAPD Metropolitan Division and Hondo's lover, and then former lover. She is a respected officer who has plans to improve the relationship between the LAPD and the citizens of Los Angeles, despite some resistance from the rank and file. In the second-season finale, she accepts an offer for an FBI assignment and leaves the LAPD to go undercover. By the start of the third season, she has seemingly taken the assignment permanently, with the actress being confirmed as having exited the show.

Jay Harrington as Sergeant II David "Deacon" Kay, a ten-year veteran of the S.W.A.T. team who was passed over for promotion in favor of Hondo in the aftermath of the Raymont Harris shooting. Although he takes the decision in stride, he later admits to Hondo he was resentful about being passed over, but made peace with it once he saw what an effective leader Hondo was. His callsign is 30-David. He acts as second in command of the team and serves as a mentor to his teammates, also serving as an instructor at the LAPD SWAT academy. He is fiercely dedicated to his job with SWAT and serving the city of Los Angeles, and was even awarded the LAPD Police Star at the end of Season 2. He is also fiercely loyal to his team, particularly Hondo, all of whom he considers family. In the event Hondo is unavailable, Deacon will become 20-Squad's temporary leader, giving orders at SWAT HQ and even in the field. His dedication to the team is only matched to that he has to his wife Annie (Bre Blair) and their three children: Matthew, Lila and Samuel. In "School," it is revealed that his daughter, Lila, is named after a school shooting victim. Midway into Season 2, Annie gives birth to another daughter, Victoria. In Season 3, he takes on a second job working for a private security firm. In Season 7, Deacon starts to see his work life conflict with his family life, leading him and Annie to have disagreements over when he is needed most. After some soul-searching and advice from Hondo and Hicks, Deacon makes the tough decision to retire in order to spend more time with his family and allow Annie to pursue her dreams of becoming an attorney. However, he soon re-evaluates his decision following Luca's shooting and subsequent retirement and 20-Squad's staffing crisis, and eventually reverses his choice after Annie's sister moves in following her divorce to help with the children.

Production

Development

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 1970s ABC series S.W.A.T.. The pilot was written by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan and directed by Justin Lin.

The new series was ordered by CBS on May 12, 2017. Co-creators and executive producers Thomas and Ryan would serve as the showrunners. On November 17, 2017, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 20 episodes and on December 1, 2017, CBS ordered two additional episodes for the first season bringing the total to 22 episodes. On March 27, 2018, CBS renewed the series for a second season.

On March 16, 2020, Sony Pictures Television suspended production of the third season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a fourth season. On April 15, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a fifth season. On April 8, 2022, CBS renewed the series for a sixth season. On May 5, 2023, CBS canceled the series after six seasons. A few days later, CBS reversed its decision and renewed S.W.A.T. for a seventh and final season. On April 11, 2024, CBS reversed its decision of the seventh season being the final season days after announcing a series finale date and renewed the series for an eighth season. On March 6, 2025, it was reported that the show was ending on CBS after eight seasons.

Casting

In February 2017, Shemar Moore was announced as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, alongside new co-stars Kenny Johnson as Dominique Luca, who was originally named Brian Gamble, and Lina Esco as Christina "Chris" Alonso, 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 Jack Mumford. 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 October 4, 2019, Stephanie Sigman announced her departure from the show and was subsequently replaced by Amy Farrington as series regular beginning with season three. On January 26, 2024, Anna Enger Ritch was cast in the role of Zoe Powell and has later promoted to series regular status for the seventh season. On July 18, 2024, Niko Pepaj was cast in the role of Miguel Alfaro and later promoted to series regular status for the eighth season.

Filming

Filming on the fourth season began on August 4, 2020.

Broadcast and release

The series premiered in the United States on CBS on November 2, 2017. The second season premiered on September 27, 2018. The third season premiered on October 2, 2019. The fourth season was originally set to be a mid-season premiere. However, on July 14 it was announced that it would switch places with Survivor, and the fourth season premiered on November 11, 2020. The fifth season premiered on October 1, 2021. The sixth season premiered on October 7, 2022. The seventh season premiered on February 16, 2024. The eighth season premiered on October 18, 2024.

While airing on CBS, the most recent season was available on Paramount+. Previous seasons have been available on Netflix since 2023 after previously being available on Hulu.

Sony Pictures Television distribute the series internationally. In the United Kingdom, it airs on Sunday nights on Sky Max and made its We TV debut on November 12, 2023.

In Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the series was aired on Fox Asia from season 1 till 3. Then, it was moved to AXN Asia from season 4 onwards.

Reception

Critical response

Season One garnered a mixed response from critics, with the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 48% approval rating for the season, with an average rating of 4.6/10 based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite a commanding, charming performance from Shemar Moore, S.W.A.T. remains a simple procedural overrun with clichés." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 45 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Sequel spin-off

In May 2025, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television would be producing a sequel/spin-off of the series to be titled S.W.A.T. Exiles with Shemar Moore set to reprise his role of Hondo and production to commence in the summer of 2025 in Los Angeles utilizing the entire crew of the original series, though without any confirmed network or streaming platform. The announcement of the spin-off and Moore himself received mixed reception due to none of the other regular cast returning with both Harrington and Lim confirming they were not involved in discussions on the spin-off and not made aware of it until a day before its public announcement. SPT President, Katherine Pope, announced there was a possibility for other cast members from the original series to return in the spin-off, but did not give detail as to who or in what capacity.

S.W.A.T. Exiles will premiere on Starz on September 25, 2026.