SWAT season 7 is not coming to CBS in 2023

It’s been an interesting few months for SWAT fans.

As the 2022 season came to a close earlier this year, the show was one of only a few CBS series that was waiting to learn its fate heading into May Sweeps. This typically isn’t where you hope your favorite show will be as the season nears its end, but all signs at the time pointed in the direction of a renewal for the show which remained a strong performer on Friday nights.

So when CBS announced it would not be bringing the series back and had canceled SWAT after six seasons, fans were understandably shocked and heartbroken — as was the cast.

The good news is that CBS and Sony Pictures listened to the fans outpouring of support for the series and reversed the show’s cancelation order, instead renewing the series for a final season. The bad news is that fans are going to have to wait until 2024 for the final season to arrive.

When is SWAT season 7 coming out? (Release date predictions)

Although CBS has not yet released its midseason schedule, the earliest we could see SWAT season 7 arrive on CBS would be sometime in early 2024. This is because the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA writers’ and actors’ strikes prevent production from beginning on the show, meaning CBS will not be able to prep the season in time for it to release in the fall.

Recently, it’s been hinted that the earliest fall staples such as SWAT will be able to return is February 2024. This is contingent upon the strikes ending sometime in early to mid-September, which would allow production to begin in time to debut the new seasons in February.

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Should the strikes run into late September or carry over into October, we’d likely be looking at a March 2024 premiere for the shows. However, if the strike goes too late into the year, there is a chance CBS could be faced with a difficult decision about the timing for releasing the show’s final season.

Unlike many shows, SWAT was already looking at a 13-episode season; however, if the strikes continue late into the fall there is a strong chance some shows won’t be able to produce 13-episode seasons resulting in even shorter seasons. Given SWAT is coming to an end, we imagine CBS will do everything it can to give the fans a 13-episode season but things could get interesting if the studios don’t come to the table with reasonable offers to the unions soon.

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