Why CBS Cancelled Shemar Moore's SWAT Three Times
CBS is nearing the end of a television season, so you know what that means: it's time to cancel "S.W.A.T."!
The network that's home to the hugely successful, many-tentacled "NCIS" franchise has never been able to get Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan's reboot of the 1975 ABC television series to hit the procedural sweet spot with mainstream audiences who love this genre no matter how formulaic it gets. "S.W.A.T." stabilized ratings-wise when CBS moved it to Fridays for good during season 6, but that's when the network started observing its yearly tradition of canceling the show.
"S.W.A.T." has its fans, many of whom tune in just to see Shemar Moore as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr., who, as a police officer of color, has fought to maintain a relatively harmonious relationship with the Los Angeles community he's tasked with protecting. Critics have never embraced "S.W.A.T." the way they did Ryan's "The Shield" (with which it shares a universe), so that's hurt the show's chances of getting renewed. Still, it's a highly visible, well-known brand that's older than many of the thriving franchises on the air. So why does it keep getting canceled, and, most importantly, is this execution going to stick?
S.W.A.T. lost viewers and became too expensive for CBS to renew
The major issue with "S.W.A.T." at CBS is that its license fee has to keep getting renegotiated at the end of every season. The last two years, Sony Pictures TV was able to strike a deal that made it viable for CBS to keep the show on the air as a solid ratings performer on Friday night. This time, however, looking at a precipitous drop in viewers, CBS decided it wasn't worth it to come to the table. According to Deadline, there were no renewal talks this time, which is a fairly strong sign that the network is going to move on.
"S.W.A.T." showrunner and executive producer Andrew Dettman's released the following, dire statement:
"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. 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 'S.W.A.T.' family."
It would probably not reflect well on CBS to cave for the third season in a row on a cancellation, so "S.W.A.T." fans should consider becoming "Blue Bloods" fans, as the Donnie Wahlberg spinoff "Boston Bloods" is one of the procedurals that will be taking its place. In the meantime, they should be grateful that this iteration of "S.W.A.T." lasted seven seasons longer than the original, which has only lingered in the pop cultural consciousness because of its bop of a theme song.