After many highs and lows over the years, S.W.A.T.'s journey on CBS has just hit another high: despite previously being one of many shows set to end in 2024, the Shemar Moore-led series has been saved yet again. While not many shows will get a reprieve from cancellation twice, the star called it months ago that his series might not end after Season 7 in the 2024 TV schedule after all. Far from boasting about being right with the Season 8 renewal, he wasted no time in sharing an extremely grateful response.
Yes, S.W.A.T. will return for Season 8 as part of CBS' lineup in the 2024-2025 TV season. While CBS had already renewed shows like NCIS and the FBIs this spring, S.W.A.T.'s is the one that comes as a shocker, after it was set to end following the seventh season. On Instagram, Shemar Moore shared a video of a speech about the show being a "dream job" while speaking to the cast and crew before breaking the very good news. Take a look:
Shemar Moore may not be racing his co-star at the Season 7 wrap party, but he and the rest now have 22 more episodes – a.k.a. a full broadcast network season – to look forward to. For now, if you want to revisit earlier episodes of the current season, you can find them streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
The S.W.A.T. news isn't just remarkable because not many shows reach eight seasons nowadays or that it had been cancelled to end with Season 7. No, this was S.W.A.T.'s second save from cancellation, after CBS previously axed the series after Season 6 back in 2023. That cancellation was later followed by the announcement of a seventh and final season and arrival streaming for fans with a Netflix subscription. Now, onward from Season 7 to Season 8!
Based on the numbers, it's not hard to see why the network would want to give S.W.A.T. another shot. Airing on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET ahead of Fire Country, the show wins the time slot in viewership and currently ranks #17 on the list of Top 20 primetime broadcast dramas with 6.1 million. S.W.A.T. also gets a big boost in delayed viewership, with 8.8 million viewers in Live+35 day multiplatform totals. Basically? Not many shows would do so well on a Friday night, and it's no wonder Shemar Moore's prediction about Season 8 came true.
The Season 8 news also comes after CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach explained in early 2024 why shows like S.W.A.T., Young Sheldon, and Blue Bloods were getting one last season after their ends were announced. Who could have known at the time that S.W.A.T. would be removed from that list within just a couple of months?
While the 2024 TV season was shortened due to delays from the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike, Season 7 isn't over yet. New episodes continue airing on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with the seventh season finale scheduled for Friday, May 17. I'm curious to see if it will end with all (or most) of its loose ends tied up since the season finale was intended as the series finale, or if there was enough time left before filming the episode that it doesn't have to feel like the end. Keep tuning in to find out!
