S.W.A.T. Exiles has a second season before its first episode has aired
Starz ordered the second run before the 25 September premiere, with filming set for this autumn. Moore is 56 and trains two hours a day to keep playing Hondo.
Here we go again with another TV spinoff trying to dodge the original's pitfalls, but this time, S.W.A.T. Exiles has pulled off something rare: it's locked in Season 2 before anyone's even seen episode one. Frankly, that's a result most spinoffs can only dream of—especially if you remember what happened with the last S.W.A.T. series.
The filming window for Season 2 of S.W.A.T. Exiles is already set for this autumn.
Shemar Moore, who's back in the lead and clearly not shy about the graft that goes into these shows, spilled the beans ahead of Exiles' debut on Starz—which, by the way, is happening this Friday. Season two isn't just a hope or a press-release tease; it's properly got a filming date in the calendar for later this year.
Shemar’s Relentless Fitness Routine
Moore isn't just turning up and reading lines. At 56, he’s got a training schedule that would break most people half his age. Two hours in the gym each day, five days a week, plus home cardio, the works. He’s thrown in saunas, cold plunges, deep-tissue massages and physio too. Apparently, staying Hondo-fit isn't something you pull off coasting on old muscles; Moore’s pretty open that it's all a bit more effort than when he started out:
‘Working out was way easier 15, 20 years ago,’ he admitted, only half-joking.
And that's not just for vanity or social media. The show’s heavy on in-camera action—eight-day shoots per episode, with the first half dedicated to running about, fighting, leaping over cars, all while stuff explodes around you. ‘You can't do the show S.W.A.T. unless you're in shape,’ he says. Fair enough—nobody wants to watch Hondo get winded jogging to the craft services table.
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Quality Over Quantity
The original S.W.A.T. series ran the cast ragged, sometimes topping twenty episodes per season—and not in the prestige drama sense, but real broadcast TV slog. Moore’s made it clear he’s glad this new spinoff is keeping it tight at ten episodes each run, so production doesn't swallow up their entire year. That old schedule? ‘It’s a lot, it’s a grind,’ to use his words.
Still, don't mistake the shorter run for Moore phoning it in. The plan is muscle, real grit, actual believability. When you see Hondo, you should absolutely buy that he’s dragging a team of rookies out of trouble—again. That’s the promise he’s making, and so far, sounds like it isn’t just empty talk.
S.W.A.T. Exiles kicks off its very first episode on 25 September, 10 p.m. Eastern, exclusively on Starz. Writer Jason Ning is behind it, with Moore leading the exec producing squad alongside Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, James Scura, and Jon Cowan. That’s the team, that’s the date; for once, a spinoff with its house in order.