(Photo: Bill Inoshita/CBS)
Hondo and his team won’t be back in action for the 2025-26 TV season. CBS has cancelled the SWAT series for a third and likely final time, so there won’t be a ninth season. The show’s eighth season will finish airing in May. There are nine episodes remaining.
A police action drama series, the SWAT TV show stars Shemar Moore, Jay Harrington, David Lim, Patrick St. Esprit, Anna Enger Ritch, and Niko Pepaj. The crime thriller centers on Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Moore), a Los Angeles native and former Marine who’s been tapped to lead a new “last stop” Special Weapons And Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.). The rest of the team includes seasoned officer David “Deacon” Kay (Harrington), informant-connected Victor Tan (Lim), tough and loyal Zoe Powell (Ritch), and Miguel “Miko” Alfaro (Pepaj), a headstrong officer who overcame a troubled childhood. Responsible for the management of all Metro Division S.W.A.T. units, Commander Robert Hicks (St. Esprit) is a senior LAPD official with the Special Operations Bureau.
Airing on Friday nights, the eighth season of SWAT averages a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.95 million viewers (includes DVR playback through 3:00 AM). Compared to season seven, that’s down by 20% in the demo and down by 15% in viewership.
This is the third time that the police drama has been cancelled. It was announced that the CBS series had been cancelled at the end of season six but SWAT received a reprieve due to viewer upset. It was renewed for a seventh and final season but CBS had a change of heart and worked out a deal with Sony Pictures Television for an eighth season. This time around, the network reportedly cancelled SWAT without engaging in any negotiations for a possible renewal.
“It’s heartbreaking news, primarily because it’s been such an immense pleasure working with this cast and crew to put out a show that we’ve always been proud of,” said executive producer/showrunner Andrew Dettmann. “They are truly an extraordinary group of people who have all worked so hard and have been so dedicated for all these eight seasons, overcoming countless challenges. I can’t give them enough credit. I feel so privileged to have been a part of the SWAT family.”
“It’s been an extraordinary privilege to work on SWAT for eight seasons and tell the stories of Hondo and 20-Squad,” said executive producer Shawn Ryan. “I thank our fans, Shemar Moore, the rest of our cast, our producers, Sony Pictures Television, CBS Studios and CBS for the opportunity. Most of all I want to thank our tireless, dedicated crew who made our writers, directors and cast always look good. My greatest concern right now is for them.”
What do you think? Have you kept up with the SWAT TV series on CBS? Are you disappointed this action drama hasn’t been renewed for a ninth season?
What is wrong with CBS…. First they cancelled Blue Bloods and now S.W.A.T.!
S.W.A.T. is the only s how worth watching on Friday (or Saturday on Paramount). I would say get rid of NCIS Origins or NCIS Sydney. Move it to another night and see if viewer status changes. It is an excellent show! It should run as long NCIS does because of an outstanding cast and storylines. Spin off after spin off isn’t always a good idea. Hate to admit it, but I am pretty much down to NCIS and Matlock for CBS viewing if S.W.A.T. goes away!
What a shame that you careless about what the viewers want. This is a great show, you dumped some of the favorites when you cancelled last time. Even with that we and many still watch it faithfully. Seems like the viewers don’t matter a damn bit.
CBS is just dumb for canceling this show.
Yes, we LOVE the whole SWAT crew and look forward to faithfully watching every week. Don’t know where they get these stats, but it seems all the great shows get cancelled in favor of garbage. We are very disappointed.
Putting SWAT at 10pm on a Friday night is a death sentence
doesn’t matter where u put it, we all have pvr’s! LOL
I love swat please don’t cancel it
I LOVE S.W.A.T. I watch it Faithfully. Even when I miss it because I have to work 3rd Shift on some Friday nights, I can’t wait to watch it on Demand. I’m not sure what else you want from the Faithful Fans who want to watch S.W.A.T. & keep new shows coming.
Very Disappointed. I always make sure to watch SWAT every week.
SWAT needs to be renewed indefintely.
My wife and I love SWAT and wish thy would bring it back
Cancel NCIS Origin or Watson. I will watch CBS less and less.
The third time is a charm.
No point watching now.
You do it every time.
Cancel a show and then expect the loyal fan base to tune in.
Many shows I just delete or cancel my subscription.
A tragedy like the story of Gore-tex and its need to please a ‘save the planet’ wokeness.
CBS you ******* Suck
This is ******** that Paramount canceled S.W.A.T bc it’s one of my favorite shows bc I watch it on Saturday bc I can’t watch it on Friday’s and you Paramount canceled it bc of Lower Ratings that house **** everyone probably watches it around the world and you are going to piss off alot of people people like me
With only 2 episodes left, I hope that they will wrap things up correctly.
This and Seal Team still had plenty of life left in them.
Perhaps it could be shopped elsewhere.