Bill Inoshita/CBS
The saga of S.W.A.T. is certainly a peculiar one. The CBS series was repeatedly canceled and then un-canceled until it was finally put down for good this spring. That is, until it turned out that Sony TV and star Shemar Moore, who’d lobbied loudly and frequently for the series to return after each cancellation, had one more trick up his sleeve: a new spin-off show called S.W.A.T. Exiles that will focus on Moore’s character Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson as he sets out on a new adventure.

Moving on to a sequel series, essentially, apes a nearly identical move made with Blue Bloods, another recently ended CBS show that had been around forever. That series is moving star Donnie Wahlberg from New York City to Boston for a new spin-off that leaves Tom Selleck and company behind in the Big Apple. S.W.A.T. Exiles, by contrast, is still keeping Moore in L.A., which would make it hypothetically very easy for a former cast member to pop in at any time.

Let’s see what we know so far about S.W.A.T. Exiles.

S.W.A.T. Exiles expected premiere date
Sony TV has ordered a 10-episode first season of S.W.A.T. Exiles that is expected to start shooting this summer, but it’s currently missing something pretty important: a network or streamer to actually air the episodes. That makes it tough to guess when we’ll see these episodes, but with how quickly Sony is moving it’s very possible that S.W.A.T. Exiles will have its premiere this winter sometime. Paramount+, the streaming arm of S.W.A.T.’s home of CBS, is certainly a candidate to host the series.

What will S.W.A.T. Exiles be about?
The logline is that after a big mission goes wrong, Hondo is called out of retirement to run a new, experimental S.W.A.T. unit made up of young and inexperienced folks. Hondo will have to work extra hard to relate to the new squad given the large generation gap — it’s likely that Sony took inspiration from the recent Bad Boys movies, which have a similar story bent and were also Sony productions.

In a lengthy interview with Variety, Sony TV boss Katherine Pope described the spin-off like this:

“It’s a bit of a take on the culture generation clash of Gen X versus Gen Z. Where Hondo is all about duty, hierarchy, and chain of command, the Gen Zers are a little more like, ‘I might need to take a mental health day. I want to talk about it. I want to understand it.’ It’s kind of our take on Top Gun Maverick. How do you actually learn from each other? How do we build bridges around not just generational divides, but all forms of divide? There’s a lot of division going on in our world. If we just took some time to listen and to try and be part of a team, and what that really means, it would probably be better for all of us.”

It’s worth noting that Hondo was definitely not retired at the end of the S.W.A.T. finale, so you can probably expect a time skip.

S.W.A.T. Exiles cast and crew
Shemar Moore is still the only announced member of the cast, and S.W.A.T. Exiles will be run by Jason Ning, who recently served as showrunner on Fox’s Lucifer.

What the heck actually happened with S.W.A.T.?
S.W.A.T. was canceled for a third time following its eighth season in March 2025, and this time there was no rescue from CBS or Sony or anyone else. So despite the fact that the series ended with the squad intact, and without any kind of real ending, the story of Twenty Squad has come to an end.

The reason for the switch to a spin-off series is an issue that studio bookkeepers are always wrestling with — the longer a series runs, the more expensive the returning cast becomes as main cast members typically receive a pay bump with each new season. When S.W.A.T. was rescued from cancellation last year, it also dumped some longtime cast members to slim down those costs a bit. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

The announcement of the spin-off series, and the news that Shemar Moore would be the only cast member coming back for it, was a surprise not only for fans but for the S.W.A.T. cast members being left behind. S.W.A.T. star David Lim posted on Instagram that he and the others felt “brushed aside” by the news.

“I’d be lying if I said the rollout of the new spin-off didn’t sting. It was tough to see it announced just two days after our finale — with no mention of the cast who helped build S.W.A.T. from day one. After 8 incredible seasons, it felt like we were brushed aside when there could’ve been a moment of reflection and recognition — for the people who built this show, and for the impact it had on so many.”

Moore responded by calling himself “the Tom Brady of S.W.A.T.” and compared the move to a spin-off with football teammates being traded.

“Just like in sports, Tom Brady might be the quarterback, but people get traded. Tight end gets traded, the right running back gets traded, the receivers get traded, but the teams keep on pushing with their quarterback, and I’m that guy. So proud, so grateful. Not going to apologize for nothing. Busted my ass for 31 years to do what I do, and excited about the future.”

Could some of the other S.W.A.T. cast members show up?
Despite some potential bitterness about the spin-off leaving them behind, Sony TV’s Katherine Pope told Variety they hope to bring some of those other folks back on occasion.

“It’s a universe. There is a clear world that we’re exploring here. We’re a few weeks in. We’re still putting it all together, but for sure, I think you can expect some of your favorites to be a part of it in some way,” Pope said

Where to watch S.W.A.T.
The first seven seasons of S.W.A.T. are streaming on Netflix, and Season 8 is available on Hulu.