Just because S.W.A.T. was canceled for a third time doesn’t mean the fight for its future — and potential spinoffs — is over.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Annie Ilonzeh reflected on the fight to bring S.W.A.T. back, saying, “This show is so damn good. I’m talking about the things that happened in front of the camera that you guys experienced, the things that happened behind the camera — all of it as a whole. It is such a bummer [but] we’re still fighting.”
Ilonzeh and the rest of the cast have been thrilled by the overwhelming fan support.
“We’ve got our petition with 70,000 signatures and it’s continuing to grow. Every time we do a massive push on our socials, people [join the] fight when they sign and they start reposting and we do have some bites,” she explained. “We are crossing our fingers. So there is a particular discussion being had. I hope I can say [soon] that we really did it. We rallied for a third time.”
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Ilonzeh continued: “But we’re making noise. They do see it — producers and streamers that are interested — they are like, ‘OK, this is something.’ So if we can plug and play, we’re all geared up to go. We don’t want this ride to be over.”
While most shows on CBS have had exceptional luck, S.W.A.T. was put through the wringer. Based on the 1975 TV show and 2003 film adaptation of the same name, S.W.A.T. centered on the Los Angeles Police Department.
Premiering in 2017, Shemar Moore‘s action drama aired six seasons at CBS before it was picked up for a seventh and final run. CBS ultimately reversed the decision and S.W.A.T. got a season 8. But the celebration didn’t last long — the network cancelled the show for a second time in March 2025.
“What a great accomplishment, if we could get to double digit seasons. It’s still great to be able to celebrate long-lasting TV with a built-in fan base. That becomes your family,” Ilonzeh noted. “We’re crossing our fingers with our numbers going up on the petition. But also we are hopeful that they really take that noise serious and go, ‘Let’s do this.’”
If S.W.A.T. did receive a second revival, that would likely be the last fight for the show behind the scenes, with Ilonzeh adding, “I was just talking to Shemar yesterday and he was like, ‘If we do this for a third time — whenever we do get canceled again — I will be OK with it. I’m not fighting for a fourth [time] because we really did it and we end on that.’ We will end on the fight and the win and relish in all of this and squeeze the life out of it. We will know that we did it, we did our job and we can walk away happy campers.”
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Ilonzeh, who has been on the show since season 8, isn’t ready to say goodbye to Devin Gamble. Luckily, the actress is all for a potential spinoff.
“It is a hardcore yes. No doubt. I would be elated and over the moon. It has just been brought up in conversation — especially between newbies. We could totally do this newbie spinoff,” she told Us. “We really do take that seriously that we’re women in this field that’s dominated by men — and maybe underrepresented on TV or anywhere. We take that so seriously. I would love to have Gamble at the forefront of a show still in the S.W.A.T. world. That would be amazing.”
S.W.A.T. airs on CBS Fridays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
