Soon after the S.W.A.T. series finale in May, as fans and the cast were campaigning to get the show renewed, it was announced that the series would be coming back in a new form, as the spinoff, S.W.A.T. EXILES.
Unfortunately, as of writing, only Shemar Moore, who led the original crime series as Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, is returning in the new show, with the spinoff set to feature a new supporting cast.
Slowly, S.W.A.T. cast members have started sharing their thoughts on the move, with Jay Harrington, who played Sergeant David “Deacon” Kay, the latest to break his silence.
While speaking with TVLine in an exclusive interview, Harrington was asked if he ever had any idea that the surprising spinoff decision was coming, to which he said, “Not at all.”
“Because of the way things had happened over the years with [S.W.A.T.] being cancelled, coming back, I had the thought, ‘OK, we could come back.’ There’s a chance, you never say die, especially with the streaming world and such,” he went on. “My choices in my head were that, or it’s over. I did not have a spin-off on my bingo card, for sure.”
Harrington revealed that he personally found out about the spinoff from Moore the day before, saying, “He wanted to be the one to tell us, and say ‘your reps will find out shortly.’ That’s when I told my reps, and they had no idea.”
While he admitted, “As a human being, of course you’re going to feel stung,” Harrington clarified that there were no hard feelings, saying, “Look, I’ll be very clear. I’ve been in this business for a long time. You don’t get ‘owed’ things just because you put in your time. If that’s the route they’re going to go, I wish it success.”
“So if there was any disappointment, it’s that when they announced it, we weren’t mentioned at all. That was it,” he declared, explaining that even those feelings weren’t long-lasting.
Harrington proclaimed, “I’m not going to let that take away from what I know in my heart is eight years of putting in some great work.”
While Moore is the only original S.W.A.T. cast member currently signed on for S.W.A.T. EXILES, there is still potential for other cast members to make appearances in some way.
