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Is SWAT Season 4 premiering in the fall a dangerous plan?

By Alexandria Ingham

"Vice" - The SWAT team searches for an escaped convict who plans to kill Tan and every member of law enforcement who helped put him in prison years ago. Also, Chris comes face to face with internal corruption when she arrests a young man who is given a free pass due to his powerful father, and a surprise visit by Hondo's sister, Winnie (April Parker Jones), puts pressure on his relationship with Nichelle (Rochelle Aytes), on S.W.A.T., Wednesday, April 22 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (L-R): David Lim as Victor Tan and Jay Harrington as David "Deacon" Kay. Photo: Best Possible Screengrab/CBS ©2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"Vice" - The SWAT team searches for an escaped convict who plans to kill Tan and every member of law enforcement who helped put him in prison years ago. Also, Chris comes face to face with internal corruption when she arrests a young man who is given a free pass due to his powerful father, and a surprise visit by Hondo's sister, Winnie (April Parker Jones), puts pressure on his relationship with Nichelle (Rochelle Aytes), on S.W.A.T., Wednesday, April 22 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (L-R): David Lim as Victor Tan and Jay Harrington as David "Deacon" Kay. Photo: Best Possible Screengrab/CBS ©2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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Could a fall premiere date be a bad idea for SWAT Season 4?

CBS originally decided that SWAT Season 4 would be held to the midseason. Plans have now changed and the series will premiere in the fall.

TVLine reported the news, sharing that Survivor can’t yet film in Fiji. That means the show isn’t going to be ready for the fall lineup. Wednesday nights will start with The Amazing Race and then SEAL Team and SWAT will follow just like the 2019-2020 season.

This could be a dangerous plan for the series, though. It all comes down to the success of the show.

A midseason start was promising for the future

The live ratings haven’t been great, and part of that is definitely the timeslot. CBS has struggled with the 10 p.m. timeslot on both Wednesdays and Thursdays for some time. SWAT Season 3 saw some good upticks in views when Chicago PD on NBC aired a rerun. It’s clear people aren’t watching the LA cop drama live because of the one set in Chicago.

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Putting the show at the midseason arguably wouldn’t solve that, but it would be a reprieve. Shows that air in the fall are held to a higher standard than shows that air in the midseason. With a midseason start, there was a chance of SWAT Season 5 despite potentially lower ratings.

Now, the pressure is back on. SWAT needs to perform well enough in the Wednesday night slot as a fall show.

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Will the fall schedule even go ahead as planned?

Of course, we’ve got to assess whether the fall schedule that CBS (and ABC and NBC) has planned is even going to work out. Filming in LA is starting to be allowed, but there are some extremely strict guidelines. Shows that film mostly in the studio will likely go back first. Those that film on location, which is something SWAT does, may have to be held back a little.

I’ve not heard of any shows returning to filming just yet. It’s usually happened around about this point of the year for fall shows. CBS may need to make further changes if filming doesn’t resume soon.

Next. 5 big questions for the SWAT Season 4 premiere. dark

What do you think about SWAT Season 4 premiering in the fall? Are you worried about the future of the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

SWAT Season 4 is set to premiere in the fall on Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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