Why was the original SWAT Cancelled?

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The Complete First Season
The Final Season

February 17, 1975 – April 3, 1976 37 one hour episodes (2 seasons) in color on ABC Created by: Robert Hamner and Lee Stanley

Produced by: Leonard Goldberg and Aaron Spelling

Steve Forrest
Robert Urich
Rod Perry
Mark Shera
James Coleman

Lt. Dan ‘Hondo’ Harrelson
Officer Jim Street
Sgt. David ‘Deacon’ Kay
Officer Dominic Luca
Officer T.J. McCabe

The story revolves around the highly trained and well equipped police officers of a special unit called Special Weapons And Tactics team or (S.W.A.T.). They are called up when a situation involves hostages, well armed suspects or other dangerous circumstances that regular patrol units were not equipped to handle.

The leader of the team was Lt. Dan ‘Hondo’ Harrelson (Steve Forrest) who had twenty years of experience as a cop. The other team members were Sgt. David ‘Deacon’ McKay (Rod Perry), Officer Jim Street (Robert Urich), Officer T.J. McCabe (James Coleman) and Officer Dominic Luca (Mark Shera). The setting was never identified but their police badges read WCPD leading to speculation that it stood for West Coast Police Department, (note: The Rookies badges read SCPD Southern California Police Department ..?)

The TV show was canceled after its second season because of controversy over the violence it portrayed.

Video Clip of S.W.A.T. Intro

Passings

Steve Forrest passed in 2013 at his home, he was 83
Robert Urich died of Synovial cell sarcoma (cancer) in 2002, he was only 55

S.W.A.T. made its debut as a two part episode of The Rookies in 1975 and became a spin-off of that series.

Interestingly both shows were canceled at almost the same time in 1976 but for different reasons.

SWAT saw the exit of one of its original cast members during the season five finale. Actress Lina Esco has departed the CBS series after playing Officer Christine Alonso for 106 episodes. The groundwork for the character’s exit from the show was laid weeks ago with Alonso’s plans to leave SWAT and take over the safe house for Mama Pina. Esco confirmed her exit from the CBS show in a post on her Instagram account.

Per Deadline, Esco said the following about her exit from the CBS series:

“Bringing to life a strong, smart, bisexual character like Chris Alonso has been both a pleasure and a powerful opportunity to increase visibility for diverse women everywhere. Five years later, I am leaving S.W.A.T. to pursue new creative endeavors. Chris never backs down from the unknown and as an actor and director, I’m excited to step out of my comfort zone and embark on a new chapter, too.

That said, this is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make. I’m forever grateful to my S.W.A.T. family – my fellow cast, writers, and producers – for an incredible journey. To the amazing S.W.A.T. fans, you are the heart of the show. I can’t thank you enough for your support and for walking beside me through all of Chris’ journey!”

SWAT has been renewed for a sixth season, and it will return to Friday nights next fall.

What do you think? Are you sad to see Esco leave SWAT after five seasons on CBS?

Cast & crew
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Trivia

When I was a kid, that's what the viewers wanted in the police show. At the time the most realistic police show was Adam-12. In the 1960's and 1970's, Jack Webb produced the most realistic shows on television. Aaron Spelling did his thing even back then. One thing about SWAT was that they did function as a team.

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By what name was S.W.A.T. (1975) officially released in India in English?

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