The bad news just keeps coming for SWAT fans.
Hot on the heels of CBS’s unexpected decision to cancel SWAT after eight seasons, the network is adding insult to injury by pulling the show from its schedule for what is going to be quite an extended break. Following the show’s March 14 episode, CBS will be pulling SWAT from its lineup with a long break ahead for fans and we have basketball to thank.
CBS remains the home to the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship coverage and with March Madness heating up, CBS will soon be turning over several nights of its primetime lineup to coverage of the games. This includes Friday night with CBS set to air March Madness coverage across the final weeks of the month which will result in the network pulling its entire lineup of scripted originals from their usual timeslots beginning on March 21.
As CBS will be turning over its primetime block on Friday to March Madness coverage, this means we’ll have no new episodes of SWAT or its fellow Friday night dramas NCIS: Sydney and Fire Country coming our way nor will we at least get to enjoy reruns to tide us over until the shows return on April 4.
The timing of SWAT’s break definitely couldn’t come at a worse time for the show which is once again fighting for its future. While CBS has canceled the series after eight seasons and does not seem interested in entertaining the idea of a ninth season, the cast of the show has been hard at work in rallying the fandom once again in hopes of finding the show a new home.
Shemar Moore has already picked up the sword and raced into battle to try to save the show for a third time. In a passionate video shared on Instagram, Moore assured fans the fight is not over and made a plead to Netflix and the broadcast networks to consider saving the show following CBS’s cancelation.
"Trust me, all of us, the family over at SWAT. We ain’t done chasing bad guys and [performing] helicopter chases and motorcycle chases and car chases and blowing up stuff. We ain’t done,” Moore asserted "Netflix, if you’re interested in a show that is on autopilot that the world is watching, we’d love to come play. NBC, Fox, ABC, hey, you want to come flirt with me? You’re invited to the barbecue. Pick your favorite restaurant. I will pay the bill."
Multiple members of the cast have joined him in rallying the fans with the cast posting messages sharing the fans’ petition to renew the show and encouraging them to keep showing up for the show both in watching the new episodes and making their voices heard in expressing support for the Save Our Show campaign.
SWAT has managed to evade cancellation twice already and it’ll be interesting to see if the show can cheat death a third time in a row. What is certain is that fans and the cast aren’t ready to give up the fight.