SWAT Season 8 gets a slightly later return to normal in the fall

The wait for SWAT Season 8 is on. The good news is the wait for this season isn’t as long as the wait we had for Season 7.

We already knew that SWAT would remain in the fall schedule. It will continue to air on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT in 2024. However, it is moving to the 10 p.m. ET/PT timeslot in 2025, taking over Blue Bloods’ time slot.

CBS has now set the premiere dates for the fall season. These dates are a little later than normal, but the majority of shows premiering in October 2024. That includes SWAT, and here’s what we know so far.

SWAT Season 8 premiere date on CBS

CBS has set the SWAT Season 8 premiere date as Friday, Oct. 18. This is a little later than we’re used to.

We have had October premieres for SWAT in the past. This has always been at the start of the month in a normal year, though. We can’t include the pandemic and the strike years, as dates were pushed back for out-of-the-ordinary reasons.

What’s the deal with the fall 2024 premiere dates? CBS hasn’t confirmed the reasons for this. We did wonder if it was to do with reduce episode counts if the networks are looking to save money. However, a lot of shows will still have 20 to 22 episodes, so that isn’t likely the case. This series should have 22 episodes to Season 8. Is it to avoid competition with NBC and ABC? That still doesn’t make sense as CBS tends to compete well on Friday nights.

What we do know is that there are some new cast members joining the team.  Niko Pepaj has been upped to series regular and Annie Ilonzeh will join in a recurring status as the two new members of Hondo’s team. We will have Deacon back, but Street and Luca will not return.