Summary

• S.W.A.T. season 8 has been set to premiere on CBS on Friday, October 18.
• The season will premiere at 8:00 p.m., followed by new episodes of Fire Country and Blue Bloods.
• It remains to be seen if the show, which has been nearly cancelled twice, will return for season 9.

S.W.A.T. season 8 coming to the air was never a guarantee, as the show was previously announced to be ending with season 7.

Now, just over a year after the cancellation reversal, the official release date for S.W.A.T. season 8 has been set by CBS. As part of the network's announcement of a great deal of their scripted and unscripted slate for the Fall 2024-2025 season, the return of the Moore-led action procedural show was announced to take place on Friday, October 18 at 8:00 p.m. It will be followed by new episodes of Fire Country season 3 at 9:00 p.m. and Blue Bloods season 14 at 10:00 p.m.

Will S.W.A.T. Season 8 Break The Show’s Renewal Curse?

S.W.A.T. Has Been Cancelled And Uncancelled Multiple Times

Although S.W.A.T. season 8 getting a release date shows that production on the season seems to be going smoothly, it remains to be seen if the show ever gets renewed for season 9. CBS has vacillated back and forth multiple times on the show. Before reversing their decision to end the show with season 7 and allowing season 8 to move forward, the network had previously cancelled the show after season 6, only to go back on that decision after less than a week.

Because of the back-and-forth nature of the show’s cancellations, the possibility of more S.W.A.T. episodes coming to the small screen after season 8 ends still seems entirely up in the air. Ultimately, it seems likely that the show’s future will hinge upon its ratings. While the average number of viewers per season has shrunk since the show premiered in 2017 (a considerably better time for network television), it has maintained a solid audience between seasons 5 and 7. Below, see how the show’s average number of viewers has changed over the years:

If the show can maintain an average of six million viewers or more per episode, it seems possible that S.W.A.T. could continue into season 9. However, that level of audience engagement is what has resulted in two years in a row of cancellations, so it will likely need to draw in an audience considerably more robust than that to be considered perfectly safe. It remains to be seen how the show performs, but given slightly diminishing returns, an average closer to six million seems more likely than not, so the show may have another bumpy ride ahead of it.

Source: CBS