The 2025 TV schedule has been a wild time for the world of S.W.A.T., because the present’s third cancellation by CBS has really caught with no last-minute rescue. Shortly after the collection finale aired on the community, nonetheless, information broke that main man Shemar Moore would really be reprising his function as Hondo for a brand new spinoff referred to as S.W.A.T. Exiles with a brand new solid. For Rochelle Aytes, who recurred on the drama between Seasons 3-8, she nonetheless has a house on CBS due to Watson, and she or he spoke with CinemaBlend about sticking round after S.W.A.T.
Lower than two months after Rochelle Aytes’ closing look in S.W.A.T. as Nichelle Carmichael reverse former Felony Minds co-star Shemar Moore, she debuted as Dr. Mary Morstan reverse Morris Chestnut on CBS’ new doctor-detective drama Watson. The first-season present earned an early Season 2 renewal, which Aytes described as “only a blessing.” I went on to ask the actress the way it feels for her to have Watson as a brand new CBS dwelling with S.W.A.T.‘s finish then looming, and she or he shared:
It is bittersweet, as a result of I actually did get pleasure from my 5 years on S.W.A.T., but it surely’s simply such a blessing. I am so grateful to CBS for preserving me within the household, preserving me working, and it is yet one more fantastic character that I get to dwell in and play. The solid of S.W.A.T. [and] the crew was wonderful. Now I am blessed to have an incredible solid and crew on Watson, so I could not ask for the rest.
The early renewal for Watson did not come as an enormous shock, after it acquired off to a really sturdy begin with its post-NFL premiere in January. Plus, per CBS, viewership numbers ranked the collection premiere as CBS’ most-watched scripted episode of the 2024-2025 TV season in addition to the most-streamed CBS Unique scripted episode. Viewers weren’t essentially lacking out in the event that they weren’t watching dwell on CBS; followers have been clearly testing the drama with a Paramount+ subscription as nicely.
However after working with Shemar Moore on Felony Minds after which extra often on S.W.A.T., what has it been like for Rochelle Aytes to have The Resident‘s Morris Chestnut as a co-star? I requested Aytes that very query, and she or he solely had good issues to say about Chestnut as Dr. John Watson. She stated:
Working with Morris has been such a deal with. Initially, he’s such a pleasant human being. He is able to work. He is skilled. He is so candy, and we simply speak concerning the characters. We rehearse. He is all the time prepared to go over traces as a lot as attainable, and he is proper there. He is so there for me and I am there for him. I believe due to that, we’re in a position to join and belief one another, and I believe that that’ll proceed to develop… It is extra like we’re a group, and it has been enjoyable to work with him.
Fortunately, the large dying of the Season 1 finale wasn’t Mary or John, so we’ll get to see extra of the exes when Season 2 premieres. The solely unlucky information is that the second season will get a midseason premiere identical to the primary did, which suggests no extra Watson till early 2026 as a part of CBS’ 2025-2026 TV lineup reveal.
For now, followers can all the time revisit the 13-episode first season of Watson streaming on Paramount+, in addition to the eighth and closing season of S.W.A.T. For the primary seven seasons, you will have to make use of a Netflix subscription.
As Shemar Moore himself famous when he was nonetheless pushing for the present to be rescued, the action-drama was a success with streaming on Netflix. As for S.W.A.T. Exiles, no community or platform has been introduced for the spinoff on the time of writing, so the wait is on for updates.
