'S.W.A.T. Exiles' season one. Starz Logo text S.W.A.T. Exiles showrunner Jason Ning admits to being fond of the series S.W.A.T. long before he was tapped to guide the newest version for Starz. “I was a fan from a craft standpoint of the insane action they were pulling off on a weekly basis, and [that] it’s an earnest show about leadership and cops fighting bad guys,” Ning, whose credits include The Brothers Sun on Netflix and Lucifer, tells The Hollywood Reporter.
S.W.A.T. followed Shemar Moore’s Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, a former marine, and his SWAT team Twenty Squad, in his native Los Angeles. Loosely based around real-life police experiences and inspired by the original 1975 series and the 2003 film, S.W.A.T. had a very unusual ending at CBS with the network un-canceling it after cancellation. The series, which premiered in November 2017, was first canceled in May 2023 after six seasons, and then uncanceled after a reported battle. Moore was also vocal about the first cancelation, calling it “a fucking mistake”
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On Feb. 16, 2024, CBS premiered what was to be the seventh and final season — but then reversed that decision and renewed it again for an eighth and final season that ended its CBS run for good on May 16, 2025. News of Sony Pictures TV greenlighting a spinoff came days later and, just like that, S.W.A.T. was saved yet again in a new version.
So, what’s different? That approach, says Ning, who was adamant about not wanting to keep S.W.A.T. on cruise control, was inspired by real-life challenges in this field. “I had read an article about how the Navy SEALs were having a really hard time integrating Gen Z into their ranks, and I thought, ‘We have this younger generation with a very different relationship to authority, hierarchy, even ideas of service. What happens when Gen Z lands on Hondo’s doorstep?’
“That felt like an amazing source of conflict, and then I married that idea with [the fact] that I’ve always loved stories about underdogs. I’m a big fan of the show Slow Horses. What happens if Hondo is handed a group of people who have all been discounted or written off for completely different reasons?”
Those five underdogs, or new characters, are Jude Callan (Ronen Rubinstein), Ethan Cole (Freddy Miyares), Cassidy Han (Zyra Gorecki), Samantha “Sammy” Bishop (Lucy Barrett) and Malik Henderson (Adain Bradley). They range from a tech genius who has a problem with human interaction to a cop influencer to one succeeding with a disability.
Ning’s mission wasn’t to change S.W.A.T.’s magic, but to evolve it. Although the original “set such a high bar for action,” says Ning, “our mandate wasn’t just more action; it had to be better action. We still want the helicopters and the pursuits and those huge tactical sequences [because] that’s part of the promise of S.W.A.T., but I wanted the action to really reveal character. Who’s making decisions in those moments? Who hesitates? Who takes the risk? Who saves somebody that they couldn’t save five minutes earlier? What happens to the characters after the action? What are the consequences emotionally of that action?”
Reiterating Ning, Moore is excited for people to see the spinoff. “We haven’t lost the signature S.W.A.T. action, but it’s become a little more character-driven, story-driven. It’s more serialized, so you have to watch week-to-week to see what’s going on with the characters and the stories,” he says. “We get it right because we’re superheroes, but sometimes we mess up and we don’t get it quite right. We keep on fighting till we do.”
Moore stresses that he’s not the same guy fans have known for nearly a decade.
“You still get to see Hondo,” he says, “but I’m a little darker. I’m a little grumpier. Life’s not as sweet for Hondo, but he’s still out there fighting for the right cause, fighting for those who can’t help themselves, fighting for himself.”
Moore’s career kicked into high gear back in 1994 with his breakout role as photographer Malcolm Winters, brother to Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John), on the iconic soap The Young and the Restless. After a little over a decade, Moore, who had several movie roles and even hosted the iconic Black music show Soul Train, successfully transitioned to primetime TV with Criminal Minds in 2005, playing Derek Morgan for 251 episodes until 2016. And now, with Starz already greenlighting season two ahead of S.W.A.T. Exiles Sept. 25 season one debut, his S.W.A.T. journey is still on.
THR spoke more in depth with Moore about what makes the spinoff different, his new costars, staying in shape for the show in his 50s, and why he still made time to revisit Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless.
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A decade later, we’re still in the S.W.A.T. universe. Why are you still here?
I’m having a lot of fun with it. It’s a fun franchise. I’m very grateful to Starz and Sony to see the good in the mothership, the old show. We did eight years of chasing bad guys and all the crazy action and being superhero cops. I’d rather wear the uniform of the superhero cops than the tights and the cape. But now I think the world has taken notice and given us so much support through the years.
We don’t hit you over the head with politics. We don’t hit you over the head with religion. We hit you over the head with a good time, a thrill ride and then we lace in some valid topics [ranging] from Black Lives Matter to human trafficking and so forth, [but] it was also nice to include some humanity as a message, and this new show, I think, is taking it to another level. It’s a little darker. It’s a little edgier. It’s a little grimier. It’s not as grand. The old show had more of a James Bond feeling with all the electronics and computer screens.
Where do we find Hondo?
Life’s not as sweet for Hondo, but he’s still out there fighting for the right cause, fighting for those who can’t help themselves, fighting for himself. You pick up with him being divorced, being exiled from the system and asked to come back. But there’s a caveat: He’s being set up for failure, and he has to figure out how to defy those odds and figure out who’s against him. He has to take a group of bad news bears and turn them into super cops. It’s a Gen Z crowd. In real life, I’m 56 years old, trying to keep my Black from cracking. In TV life, Hondo might not be quite 56, but he’s got to deal with these young recruits who don’t jive the way he jives, so they’ve got to figure out a way to jive together and save lives.
S.W.A.T. Exiles season one. Starz In S.W.A.T., the whole team was more in line and had the same kind of philosophy. But this new group has different philosophies about what SWAT is and what policing even is.
Born in 1970, I’m Gen X, and there’s just a different mindset. We didn’t have all this technology, iPhones, or social media. We didn’t have instant access to information. We were the generation who went out and played. No tablets. We were out in the streets playing kickball and playing in creeks and climbing trees. And we didn’t come home until the street lights came on.
But this Gen Z crowd is very different. They move differently. And I think that’s what makes this new version of the show fun. You still get the disciplined grimy mentality of the Hondos and the Hicks and the Deacons, but then you meet this new young crowd who are very social media aware, very gadget aware. And what’s interesting is watching Hondo with this group trying to bridge the gap of personalities, but also, you know 10 toes down and standing on the integrity of being a cop, the risk of being a cop that lies at stake. This is life and death. Helping them learn the skill set to save lives and stay alive. There’s a lot more layers to this version of S.W.A.T.
That sounds interesting.
It’s still S.W.A.T., but it’s very different. It may take take people an episode or two to get used to the new look, the new feel. But I think very quickly, even after the pilot, they’re going to be intrigued. The signature action is still there, but meeting the new [team] and [figuring out] the chemistry and who they are and why they are — it’s a very diverse group of youngsters. We’ve got a social media girl Sammy [Lucy Barrett], and Cassidy [Zyra Gorecki], who has a prosthetic leg in real life and as a character. Then we’ve got the nerdy one [Ethan played by Freddy Miyares] who’s very techy, and messes with drones and technology. So it’s just a new take and new colors to the way we’re telling the stories.
David [Ning] shared that there’s such a thing as a copfluencer, which is where Sammy comes from.
She’s a hoot. She’s all about social media, getting clicks and likes, but she’s a badass with guns. She knows how to shoot a gun. Hondo comes from a different generation and mindset, so you see kind of Hondo being a fish out of water because he has nobody to really connect with. You know Deacon does pop in and out. You know, as his brother, Hicks pops in and out, and that’s familiar territory to Hondo.
The Malik character Adain Bradley plays is almost a baby Hondo. If Hondo had a son, he might look like him. How is the chemistry between you and the younger actors? Do you feel fatherly towards them?
It’s a very different dynamic, both on screen and off. The backgrounds of the actors and actresses are all very different. But somehow that makes for an interesting chemistry and dynamic between us. I don’t know if I’m quite dad, but I do feel like they’re my kids, and I got to figure out how to raise them.
He also has a commander who is not necessarily on his side.
Yeah, she’s something. [The actress] is Lenora [Crichlow]. She plays Blake. She’s wonderful. A tremendous actress. We created a nice bond being nemesis. Off camera, there’s nothing not to like about her. She’s a sweetheart. She’s very smart. She’s English, so she’s got that cool accent. She’s all about the work, and she’s sassy. They got her character in love with snacks and chips, and she loves hip-hop. Her introduction is one of the coolest.
And then there’s a mole. The trailer shows that. But, by the end of the first episode, the audience sees that Hondo’s got a traitor in his midst and who it is, but Hondo doesn’t know.
It’s an interesting take. Hondo is trying to build a team and build trust, and he finds out very quickly that the system is against him. Then he finds out it’s in house. It’s one thing for the top brass to be coming after him, like the mayor and congresspeople. But, within your own team, you got somebody trying to stab you in the back? Hondo’s got to constantly be on guard.
S.W.A.T. Exiles season one. These episodes go by fast too. They don’t feel 40-something minutes long. You don’t even realize you’ve watched an episode for almost an hour.
The writing is so intriguing, and then our job as actors is to deliver the performances so that you feel and believe it. There are no lulls in the storytelling and all the actors are wonderful and hungry and bring the heat. Crew members were coming up to me while we were shooting, going, “I just read episode two, man. Hondo’s doing this and Sammy’s doing that. I can’t wait to see episode three.” And that’s exciting.
It’s fun to watch a show and you’re not going to bed. You don’t want to go to the bathroom. You don’t want to miss anything. You can’t wait to see the next one. People may have to watch it week to week, or they may hold out a little bit so they can binge-watch three and four. I’m the type of person who will watch all 10 episodes in a weekend. It grabs you and it doesn’t want to let go.
How are you keeping up physically?
I’m not gonna lie, at 56, it’s harder than it was 10 or 15 years ago. But there’s grind in me. I love what I do. I believe in myself. I’m in the gym four to five days a week. I’m doing a whole bunch of cardio. I’m going to the Santa Monica stairs, running up and down. There are hiking trails. I’m in my backyard skipping rope. I’m doing push-ups, lunges, whatever I gotta do.
Not too long ago, you were back in Genoa City where it all really started for you. Why were you so open to going back to The Young and the Restless as Malcolm?
That was my training ground. That was the place that got my feet wet. I got to share the stage with Kristoff St. John, who was like a brother to me, may he rest in peace. Him embracing me when I was scared, when I was nervous, when I was unsure, gave me the confidence to believe in myself that this life, this career was possible. So when Young and the Restless calls [I’m there]. If Criminal Minds ever called and they wanted me or needed me for whatever reason, I’m there.
Obviously, I can’t do it full time because I’m busy chasing bad guys with Hondo. But you go back to the source. I go back to Young and the Restless to pay homage to the years I spent growing as an actor and as a young man. I go back because of my history. So if I can go back to pay homage and also give the fans something to smile about? I do. It’s not about the money. We all want to make money. We all deserve to make money. But for me, it’s about loyalty and the gratitude of what those steppingstones did for me to get me this far.
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S.W.A.T. Exiles premieres Friday, Sept. 25 on Starz.
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