The main leading cast members throughout the series were:

• Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless) as Sergeant II Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr.
• David Lim (Quantico, 5th Passenger) as Officer III Victor Tan
• Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted, Hot In Cleveland) as Sergeant II David “Deacon” Kay.
• Patrick St. Esprit (Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Narcos) as Commander Robert Hicks
• Alex Russell (Under My Skin, Only The Brave) as Officer III James “Jim” Street
• Kenny Johnson (Mayor of Kingstown, Bates Motel) as Officer III+1 Dominique Luca
• Rochelle Aytes (Mistresses, The Purge TV Series) as Nichelle Carmichael
• Anna Enger Ritch (Walker, Chicago Med) as Officer III Zoe Powell
  
  

Actors Moore, Lim and Harrington appeared in every episode of the show’s run, anchoring the procedural-style series which functioned on a ‘case of the week’ basis, meaning cast and characters were largely ever-changing.

When S.W.A.T. first launched, the show had a stable rating average of 9.13 million, which slowly declined through to season four.

However, a scheduling change proved to give S.W.A.T. a new lease of life, with seasons five and six seeing a notable increase in viewership after it was moved to Friday night.

S.W.A.T. has been credited for boosting the traditionally difficult time slot for CBS in the US.

It was the notable improvement that allowed the team to levy a last-minute seventh season renewal despite the broadcaster announcing its cancellation.

S.W.A.T.’s stunt team received the highest recognitions from award shows and bodies – including four Primetime Emmy nominations.

However, the show failed to take home any trophies, only getting 13 nominations across all awards bodies during the show’s run.

S.W.A.T.’s official rating in the UK, as certified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), is 15 for the complete run.

There is minimal sex or nudity, and profanity is used sparingly.

Due to the nature of the show, there is present and consistent violence including fist-fighting, and use of guns, armour and other professional weaponry.

Blood, gore and injury is kept mild with few exceptions, but there is consistent presence of perilous situations like kidnap, inferred assault, and the aftermath, and depictions of dead bodies.

In a dramatic twist and despite it being previously confirmed that season seven of S.W.A.T. would be its last, the CBS series is returning for an eighth season.

At the time of writing (April 2024) there has been no talks of any spin-offs or reboots in the works.

The show itself is a reboot, and actually exists in the same world as The Shield, another crime procedural which ran from 2002 to 2008.

The first three seasons of The Shield are available to stream on UKTV Play in the UK.

By the end of season seven, S.W.A.T. will have run for seven seasons, amounting to 134 episodes overall.

Each season roughly ran for around 22 episodes a piece – with the exceptions being season three, which only had 21, and season four, which only ran for 18.

The reason for this was the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, which forced restrictions and shut downs industry-wide.

Season seven has also been given a reduced run of only 13 episodes. The show was actually initially cancelled after six seasons, but CBS was talked into saving it for one last, shortened, run. And now, for a second time, the show has avoided cancellation and will be returning for an eight season.

The Shield ran for seven seasons and 88 episodes.

Seasons one to seven of S.W.A.T. are available to watch now on Sky Max, Sky Go, and NOW.