Headlines in recent weeks have once again centered on highly publicized shootings, and the nation is still in shock over the sniper attack in Dallas. And in order to put some distance between these incidents from the upcoming drama Shooter, USA has wisely chosen to delay the show's premiere date.
Shooter was set to debut on USA on Tuesday, July 19, but we will now see Ryan Phillippe trying to make a small screen action star out of himself one week later, on Tuesday, July 26, according to THR. It's a respectful move on the network's part, and I'm certain that many execs have been sweating more than usual over it, given the circumstances. A week's delay isn't a very large one, mind you, but a lot of detail-finagling goes into altering a seemingly concrete schedule like that, and it's not like they can completely ignore the publicity campaign they've been pushing.
This sadly isn't at all the first time that TV series have had to pull episodes in light of real-world tragedies. Most recently, the TNT hit The Last Ship pushed its own Season 3 premiere back a week - which in turn pushed back the Season 3 premiere of Murder in the First - following the Orlando night club shooting. Last year saw the delay of the Season 1 finale for USA's Mr. Robot, which featured a moment in the episode that mirrored the on-air shooting of two reporters just days previous to the episode's planned airdate. One can only imagine how often this could happen in the future.
When Shooter does make its debut, audiences will see Ryan Phillippe as Bob Lee Swagger, an highly accomplished ex-marine sniper who gets pulled out of exile and back into action after he discovers there is a plot to kill the President. Omar Epps plays Swagger's former commanding officer who is responsible for coaxing Swagger back for a dangerous operation. It's based on the novel Point of Impact from author Stephen Hunter, which also inspired the 2007 film with Mark Wahlberg, who will serve as an executive producer here. The show will also star Cynthia Addai-Robinson, David Marciano, Shantel VanSanten and Tembi Locke. Underworld: Awakening screenwriter John Hlavin is the brains behind the adaptation, one of this year's many reboots.
Check out the trailer below.
As your end-of-story reminder, the Shooter will now make its debut on USA on Tuesday, July 26, at 10 p.m. ET. To see what other shows you can find yet to premiere in the coming months, check out our summer TV and our fall TV schedules.
