Why aren't S.W.A.T., Blue Bloods and Fire Country new tonight, March 22?

Tom Selleck in Blue Bloods
Tom Selleck in Blue Bloods (Image credit: CBS)

Family dinner with the Reagans is postponed this week, as Blue Bloods season 14, S.W.A.T. season 7 and Fire Country season 2 are not airing episodes on CBS on Friday, March 22. It's not just that they aren't airing new episodes, the shows won't be on at all. That is because Friday night on CBS this week is going to be filled with March Madness college basketball action.

The annual NCAA men's college basketball tournament is underway, with first-round games continuing on Friday, March 22. CBS is airing games all day (which has also impacted daytime programming like The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful), including during primetime hours. In case you're wondering, in the place of these popular dramas are going to be the Vermont vs Duke game at 7:10 pm ET/4:10 pm PT and the James Madison vs Wisconsin game, scheduled for 9:40 pm ET/6:40 pm PT.

The tournament has already caused a similar disruption to CBS's Thursday night lineup on March 21, with Young Sheldon, Ghosts and the rest of the primetime lineup being swapped out for basketball. But this disruption in CBS programming won't just be limited to this week.

CBS is one of the main networks covering the NCAA tournament, and with third-round games scheduled for Friday, March 29, CBS is listing that games will once again push S.W.A.T., Fire Country and Blue Bloods off the air for that week.

But materials on S.W.A.T. and Fire Country do state that the next new episodes for those shows are going to air on Friday, April 5, at their usual times. At this time, Blue Bloods does not have any material about when its next episode will air.

If there's a silver lining to be found in these shows not airing new episodes this week it's that it gives anyone who may be a few episodes behind time to catch up. To do this, a subscription to Paramount Plus is going to be your biggest help, as all episodes of S.W.A.T., Fire Country and Blue Bloods are available on the streaming service, including the most recent episodes.

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.