Is S.W.A.T. TV Show Based on a True Story?

Developed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan for CBS, ‘S.W.A.T.’ (2017-ongoing) is a police crime action drama series that revolves around the elite Special Weapons And Tactics squad of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and how it keeps Los Angeles safe from criminals and illegal activities. The show deals with a lot of sensitive issues of the current times, like police brutality, racism, and drug trafficking.

The aforementioned issues, combined with the realistic and authentic approach that the makers left no stone unturned to provide the viewers with, make ‘S.W.A.T.’ a highly captivating procedural drama that can easily make some viewers wonder if it is inspired by true events. Well, if you are one of them, we have the answer!

Is S.W.A.T. a True Story?

No, ‘S.W.A.T.’ isn’t based on a true story. However, the history of the show and its characters go way back before Season 1 dropped in 2017 on CBS. The first time viewers heard the names Hondo, Jim, and Deacon was in 1975 when ‘S.W.A.T.’ arrived as a spin-off of 1972’s ABC procedural drama “The Rookies” that centers on three police officers, namely Mike Danko, Terry Webster, and Willie Gillis, and their exploits in a fictional police department in Southern California. It stars Sam Melville as Danko, Georg Stanford Brown as Webster, and Michael Ontkean as Gillis. It ran for 4 Seasons from 1972 to 1976. The spin-off resulted from a two-hour episode of Season 3 (1975).

1975’s ‘S.W.A.T.’ ran for 2 Seasons from 1975 to 1976 after which it was cancelled due to the level of violence the plot involved which led to controversy. In that show, we had Steve Forrest as Hondo, Robert Urich as Jim, Rod Perry as Deacon, and Mark Shera as Dominic among others.

Then in 2003, came the movie ‘S.W.A.T.’ starring Colin Farrell as Jim and Samuel L. Jackson as Hondo along with Michelle Rodriguez, Jeremy Renner Olivier Martinez, and Josh Charles. The plot involves a SWAT team escorting a drug lord to prison. The catch is that he has offered $100 million to anyone who helps him escape. As per renowned movie critic Roger Ebert, “…the movie’s ambition is essentially to be the same kind of police movie they used to make before special effects upstaged human beings. The result is one of the best cop thrillers since ‘Training Day’.”

Finally, CBS revamped the franchise by co-producing it with Sony Pictures TV and released Season 1 of ‘S.W.A.T.’ in 2017 with the squad facing a wide range of issues outside the LAPD department, inside it as well as on a personal level for each character as well. Everything was going well and the show was receiving a lot of appreciation when suddenly after Season 6 (May 2023), the decision was taken to axe it. As per Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva, it is “because CBS and lead studio Sony TV could not come to a financial agreement.”

“I’ve got sunglasses on because I’m a little bit sad. We got canceled, SWAT. SWAT got canceled. It makes no sense…We’ve done nothing wrong. We did everything that was asked for… But to abruptly get told that you’re canceled when you led us to believe last week and the week before that we would have some semblance of a season 7 to at least say goodbye, if not continue, and to abruptly be told you’re done.” stated Shemar Moore in a video he posted on his Instagram profile, reacting to the news. Needless to say, fans of the show shared Moore’s feelings and raised their voices against the decision.

Within days, CBS declared that the show would be coming back for its seventh and final season. The joint statement by Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, and Katherine Pope, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, read, “We have listened to our viewers and their outpouring of passion for S.W.A.T. and we have reached an agreement to renew it for a final season of 13 episodes to air during the 2023-2024 broadcast year”. The release date is yet to be announced but the fans of the franchise have earned the right to rejoice as they will be able to give Hondo and his team the proper send-off they deserve, bringing an end to a franchise that has a history spanning more than 45 years.