CBS broke its late night lineup by announcing that it had canceled the popular police procedural. Special Forces after six seasons. The upcoming sixth season finale, set to premiere on May 19, will also be the series finale.

Special Forces, which was renewed for a sixth season in April 2022, followed by LAPD Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (shemar Moore), a native of Los Angeles, who was chosen to lead a specialized LAPD special forces unit along with other highly trained operatives. Starred in the show Rochelle Aytes as Hondo’s girlfriend Nichelle, along with Jay Harrington, Kenny Johnson, David Lim And Alex Russell. The show was a one-season reimagining of the 1975 police drama of the same name, as well as a 2003 feature film starring Colin Farrell. The logline for the season 6 (and now series) finale states that the SWAT team is “working with the DEA and their iron-jawed leader, Mac Boyle (Timothy Hutton) to stop a ruthless cartel boss waging war on the streets of Los Angeles as he exacts revenge on those who killed his son.”

COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY

SCROLL TO CONTINUE CONTENT

“For six seasons amazing talent Special Forces cast led by Shemar Moore, writers, producers and crew led by executive producers Sean Ryan, Andy Dettman And Aaron Rahsaan Thomas brought us compelling, action-packed episodes that also touched on important social issues and contributed to the success of our prime-time lineup.” - President, CBS Entertainment. Amy Reisenbach says in the statement. “We sincerely thank them for their incredible work and passion, and also thank our dedicated fans who tuned in every week.”

Three people in the form of special forces are talking
Image via CBS

Special Forces Was canceled despite rising ratings

Co-production between CBS and Sony TV. Special Forces received an ax on the network despite its audience doubling year on year after the show was rescheduled to Fridays. This is especially true for the current season, during which Nielsen reported Special Forces averaging 6.82 million viewers over the seven-day period, compared to 6.41 million during Season 5. Thus, it is clear that the drop in ratings was not a factor in the cancellation of the series.

Rather, Deadline reported that CBS conceded to one of its most popular shows because the network was unable to come to an agreement with Sony on a new licensing deal. This publication reported Special Forces remained CBS’s most expensive series to write, and Sony and CBS ultimately dropped a seventh season after the proposed deal would have continued to increase the series’ cost per episode. The emergence of additional well-received pilots such as Elsbeth And matlock the reboot also reportedly gave CBS more leeway to move away from police procedures. Bye Special Forces can be bought in other chains, it is unlikely to find a new home.

Executive producer Ryan basically told The Hollywood Reporter in a previous interview, “There’s no reason the show shouldn’t be picked other than the economics of the business is changing. CBS and Sony will or won’t. find a way to economically make Season 7 work.”