Criminal Minds lost one of its most popular characters back in Season 11 when Shemar Moore chose to leave the character Derek Morgan behind. Morgan wasn't killed off when Moore chose to leave, so many fans have been hoping that he might someday return as a regular. After all, Moore said that he left because he wanted to try new things. Maybe he could be persuaded to come back after trying a few of those new things! Unfortunately for fans who want Morgan back, the odds just got way lower. Shemar Moore's S.W.A.T. pilot has officially been picked up to series.
Shemar Moore signed on for a new CBS project back in February. He was slated to star in a pilot inspired by the 2003 film S.W.A.T., which in turn was inspired by a 1970s TV drama of the same name. At the time, there was no guarantee that the project would ever move further than a pilot. After all, TV is a competitive biz. Now, however, it seems that CBS has faith in S.W.A.T. TVLine reports that the network has ordered a first season to debut in the fall. It has not yet been announced how many episodes have been ordered right off the bat, but we can bet that Shemar Moore will be plenty busy for the foreseeable future.
S.W.A.T. will star Shemar Moore as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, who is a S.W.A.T. sergeant conflicted over his loyalty to his fellow locals of Los Angeles and the other officers of his team. He's given the job of heading up a specialized tactical unit that other law enforcement agencies turn to when all their resources are exhausted. Stephanie Sigman, Alex Russell, Jay Harrington, Lina Esco, Kenny Johnson, and Peter Onorati will co-star with Moore for S.W.A.T.
The series order for S.W.A.T. is pretty great for Shemar Moore, as this will be a major leading role after his departure from Criminal Minds, but it will undoubtedly come as a bummer for any who were hoping that Derek Morgan would soon return to the BAU, especially if somebody dies after that killer Season 12 cliffhanger. That said, Moore has never ruled out dropping by every once in a while in a guest star capacity. In fact, he already turned up once, appearing in the Season 12 finale to give his former fellow agents a tip about their investigation into Mr. Scratch. Surely he can continue to visit his old series every once in a while. After all, he's staying in the big CBS family.
We'll have to wait and see. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. Our TV season finale schedule can give you all you need to know about your shows ending.
