It didn’t take long for one of the most popular TV action thrillers to find a new home after being canceled by CBS in 2025. After the network tried to cancel the hit police drama S.W.A.T following Season 6 in 2023, the series was renewed for a seventh season following an outcry from viewers. That was supposed to be the end, but Season 7 gave way to an eighth and final chapter before the show was officially canceled for good. However, fans haven’t seen the last of Hondo.
Moving to the Starz network this fall, the new spin-off S.W.A.T. Exiles is poised to premiere on September 25, 2026. With Shemar Moore returning as team leader Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson Jr., the now-grizzled veteran is tasked with leading a new experimental unit of green, naive tactical police officers in the Los Angeles Police Department. By moving to premium cable, the hope is that Exiles won’t be hamstrung by censorship and will be able to increase the harrowing action accordingly.
‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’ Pulls Hondo out of Retirement to Lead a New Unit
After eight seasons, 163 episodes, and three cancellations, CBS’s action-thriller series S.W.A.T. finally came to an end in 2025. The show revolved around LAPD officer Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Moore), a former Marine and lifelong Angeleno who leads the Special Weapons and Tactics team of misfits. Loyal to a fault and devoted to stomping out institutional racism within the police department, Hondo is drawn out of retirement in the new spin-off, S.W.A.T. Exiles. In addition to Moore, several cast members from the original show will return in some capacity, including Patrick St. Esprit, Jay Harrington, and David Lim (via Entertainment Weekly).
Story-wise, Exiles finds Hondo coming out of retirement to lead a new last-ditch, experimental S.W.A.T. unit. The premise is built around the conceit that Hondo must connect with a younger crop of millennials, Gen-Zers, and Gen Alphas, causing a major culture clash for the old-school, no-nonsense Generation X tactical leader. In bridging the age and culture gap, Hondo is tasked with uniting the ragtag band of misfits who are on thin ice, preparing them for the most dangerous assignments of their lives, and preserving the program that shaped him into the dutiful officer he’s become.
Slated for 10 episodes to air weekly, S.W.A.T: Exiles will run from September 25 to November 27, 2026. The real question becomes how the move from CBS to Starz will change things going forward.
‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’ is Expected to Be Much Grittier & More Realistic Than ‘S.W.A.T.’
As unfortunate as S.W.A.T.‘s cancellation was in 2025, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. With the move from CBS to Starz, I’m hoping that Exiles will be a much grittier and more realistic depiction of the LAPD’s tactical maneuvering. No longer will the show be beholden to broadcast network censorship, which tamps down excessive violence and profane language. Now that it’s at Starz, Exiles won’t have the same obligation and will probably provide viewers with more visceral brutality, colorful dialogue, and moral complexity.
Think of it as the inverse of Marshals, the oft-panned Yellowstone spin-off that left Paramount+ for CBS. The show completely changed for the worse by adopting a traditional procedural model, stripping away the intense violence and realistic cussing that put the Taylor Sheridan franchise on the map. Now, as fans follow Hondo to Starz, they will see him in a new light, one that feels much more authentic to how genuine S.W.A.T. teams operate. The transition from a broadcast network to a niche pay channel also gives showrunner Jason Ning an opportunity to tinker with the staid procedural format and give audiences something more innovative.
Regardless of how much it changes, with Hondo and the original S.W.A.T. crew returning for Exiles, the popular action thriller is set for an official return this autumn.
