S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

S.W.A.T. is an American police procedural action crime drama television series created by Robert Hamner, developed by Rick Husky, and produced by Hamner, Aaron Spelling, and Leonard Goldberg under Spelling-Goldberg Productions. The series aired for two seasons on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. A spin-off of The Rookies, developed from a two-part pilot aired on February 17, 1975, S.W.A.T. follows a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team operating in an unnamed Californian city. The series stars Steve Forrest, Robert Urich, Rod Perry, Mark Shera, and James Coleman as the titular team's officers.

S.W.A.T. was filmed in and around Los Angeles. Richard Kelbaugh, a former LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT officer, served as a technical advisor. The series' opening theme was composed by Barry De Vorzon; an official rearrangement by Rhythm Heritage reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States on the chart date of February 28, 1976.

S.W.A.T. was popular with audiences, but controversies surrounding its depictions of violence ultimately led to the cancellation of a third season. However, its legacy spawned a 2003 film adaptation directed by Clark Johnson for Columbia Pictures, and a 2017 television series remake developed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan for CBS, both of the same name.

Synopsis
S.W.A.T. is set in the same fictional universe as The Rookies, in an unnamed Californian metropolis loosely based on Los Angeles, and follows the newly-established SWAT unit of the Western California Police Department (WCPD). The series specifically follows Olympic SWAT, a five-man SWAT team assigned to Olympic Precinct, headquartered in the precinct's basement. Issued equipment ranging from weapons like the M16 rifle, Winchester Model 70, and Federal Riot Gun, to crucial tools like grappling hooks, tear gas, and bulletproof vests, SWAT is trained and equipped to resolve situations regular police units cannot, such as standoffs, crisis negotiation, hostage-takings, robberies, active shooters, assassinations, bomb threats, organized crime, and terrorism.

Heading Olympic SWAT is Lieutenant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, the squad leader and the series' protagonist, assisted by Sergeant David "Deacon" Kay, the team's chaplain and sole African-American officer. Under Harrelson and Kay's command are Jim Street, a former patrol officer who joins SWAT after his partner is killed by an anti-police gang; Dominic Luca, a single-but-seeking Italian-American who joins SWAT from the Narcotics Division and often serves as comic relief; and Travis Joseph "T.J." McCabe, the team's sniper who is selected for SWAT for his natural marksmanship skills. Their SWAT vehicle and mobile command center, an early-1970s International Harvester Metro Van fitted with an armory and police radio, is driven by "Sam", an unseen, mostly silent character played by an uncredited actor.

The personal lives of the SWAT officers, particularly Harrelson, were focal points of numerous episodes; Harrelson's wife Betty and their two young sons often appeared as major characters and plot points. Police officials and friends of the team were also recurring characters, such as Chief Edward Roman, the WCPD's chief of police, and Hilda, a sandwich vendor known for selling cheap sandwiches made of leftovers to Olympic Precinct.

Cast

 * Steve Forrest as Lt. Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson
 * Robert Urich as Officer Jim Street
 * Rod Perry as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay
 * Mark Shera as Officer Dominic Luca
 * James Coleman as Officer Travis Joseph "T.J." McCabe
 * Ellen Weston as Betty Harrelson (recurring role)
 * Rose Marie as Hilda (recurring role)
 * Richard O'Brien as Chief Edward Roman (recurring role)

Notable guest stars

 * Charles Aidman
 * Loni Anderson
 * Luke Askew
 * Joanna Barnes
 * Carl Betz
 * Peter Breck
 * Timothy Brown
 * Frank Campanella
 * Darleen Carr
 * Michael Conrad
 * Elisha Cook Jr.
 * Ji-Tu Cumbuka
 * James Darren
 * John Dehner
 * Susan Dey
 * Elinor Donahue
 * Ike Eisenmann
 * Anthony Eisley
 * John Ericson
 * Farrah Fawcett
 * Anitra Ford
 * Anne Francis
 * Christopher George
 * Bruce Glover
 * Frank Gorshin
 * Virginia Gregg
 * Laurence Haddon
 * Deidre Hall
 * Marianna Hill
 * Mitzi Hoag
 * James Hong
 * Diana Hyland
 * Sam Jaffe
 * Anthony James
 * James Keach
 * Steven Keats
 * Sandra Kerns
 * Geoffrey Lewis
 * Robert Loggia
 * John Lupton
 * Janet Margolin
 * Murray Matheson
 * Jim McMullan
 * Jimmy McNichol
 * Heather Menzies
 * Donna Mills
 * Sal Mineo
 * Cameron Mitchell
 * Lynne Moody
 * Stu Nahan
 * Leslie Nielsen
 * Simon Oakland
 * Annette O'Toole
 * Lara Parker
 * Neva Patterson
 * Ed Peck
 * Judson Pratt
 * Logan Ramsey
 * Aldo Ray
 * Bert Remsen
 * Andrew Robinson
 * Al Ruscio
 * James Shigeta
 * Phil Silvers
 * Tom Skerritt
 * Mark Slade
 * William Smith
 * Austin Stoker
 * Don Stroud
 * Susan Sullivan
 * Kenneth Tobey
 * Berlinda Tolbert
 * Ronne Troup
 * Forrest Tucker
 * Joe Turkel
 * John Vernon
 * Gary Vinson
 * Leslie Ann Warren
 * Michael Warren
 * Carl Weathers
 * Robert Webber
 * Stuart Whitman
 * Hal Williams
 * William Windom
 * Ben Wright
 * H. M. Wynant
 * Harris Yulin

Broadcast and syndication
On October 1, 2011, S.W.A.T. began airing on Antenna TV for a period of time and in Australia on 7mate in 2012. In May 2016, it began airing on getTV. In December 2021, it aired on Rewind TV.

The series occasionally airs in weekend binges on the OTA network Decades.

Episodes also airing on the Roku Channel for an undetermined length of time. Currently the show airs on MeTv+ weekdays at 11:00am PST.

DVD
The first season of S.W.A.T. was released on DVD on June 3, 2003 to tie-in with the release of the feature film. Season Two's episode "Time Bomb" was actually produced for Season One and, as such, "Time Bomb" is Episode 8 on the Season One DVD set. The Season One DVD set has a total of 13 episodes.

On February 10, 2012, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series; they subsequently released the second and final season on DVD on May 22, 2012.

On January 16, 2018, Mill Creek Entertainment released S.W.A.T.: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

Streaming
As of March 2009, the show can be purchased on iTunes.

Reception
The violent television series premiered at a time when violence on television began to become a subject of controversy, and the actual LAPD Metropolitan Division on which the fictional SWAT team had been modeled was harshly critical of its depiction of such teams.

Film adaptation
A film version of the series, S.W.A.T., was released in 2003 starring Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson. Steve Forrest has a cameo role as a police truck driver and Rod Perry (the original TV series' "Deacon" Kay) plays the father of LL Cool J's character Deacon "Deke" Kaye.

In 2011 and 2017, two direct-to-DVD sequels titled S.W.A.T.: Firefight and S.W.A.T.: Under Siege were released; they bore little connection to the TV series, the 2003 film, or to each other.

Television series remake
On May 12, 2017, a new version of S.W.A.T. starring Shemar Moore as Hondo was ordered to series by CBS. The new series premiered on November 2, 2017. This remake series was far more successful with a seven season run and 120 episodes.