Despite the cancellation of S.W.A.T. at CBS, Sony is moving forward with a new spinoff, S.W.A.T. Exiles, with star Shemar Moore reprising his role as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson. The new spinoff doesn't have a home yet but I have an idea on where would be the perfect place for it to land.
I'd love to see S.W.A.T. Exiles land on Netflix. Previous seasons of the series do well there already and removing the constraints of network TV rules could help grow the franchise even more.
After dodging cancellation two times, CBS finally pulled the plug on the long-running series just ahead of the two-hour S.W.A.T. season 8 finale. Previously, CBS cancelled S.W.A.T. after the conclusion of its sixth and seventh seasons, eventually changing its mind and granting the show another season at the eleventh hour.
Sadly, the third time isn't the charm for the series, which is based on the 2003 movie of the same name starring Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez and LL Cool J.
However, there's light at the end of the tunnel as Sony, the production company behind the show, shocked everyone by not only greenlighting a spinoff but ordering a whole season of it without knowing where it's going to land.
With its intentions made clear, Sony is now shopping the series to networks and streamers. While CBS and Paramount Plus could win the bidding war, it's entirely possible that the show could land somewhere else, and Netflix would be a contender given how the original show already performs there.
Netflix has swooped in to save shows from cancellation before. In this case, they'd become the streaming home for a franchise already with a proven track record among its subscribers, so a spinoff that could become a big hit. Not only would S.W.A.T. Exiles have a new home, but it could flourish in the streaming universe without the constraints of network television.
That was the case when Netflix saved Lucifer from cancellation and it went on to become one of the platform's biggest hits. The wildly popular series followed Tom Ellis as the Devil, stuck on earth and living large as a club owner and police consultant in Los Angeles. The series started out at Fox, but despite strong ratings year after year it kept landing on the bubble and the network eventually opted to cancel it. That's when fans across the globe rallied to save the show by calling upon streamers to give it another chance.
Netflix answered the call, giving the show two more seasons and a chance to go out the way the creators intended. The two Netflix seasons featured some big differences thanks to its new home in the streamer-verse. Lucifer could now use more colorful language and could toe the line with carefully plotted nude scenes. While the show could have done more, showrunners admitted they didn't want to go overboard just because they could, rather they wanted to stay true to the original series as it was created for network television.
The great news is that S.W.A.T. will live on through the new spinoff and now it's just a matter of time before we see where it lands. For my money, I'd like to see it land on Netflix, where the show can up the ante with intense action scenes that more closely parallel those in the movie while adding in coarse language and other thrilling elements that might not pass muster on network TV.
Past seasons of S.W.A.T. are available to stream on Paramount Plus and Netflix.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
