S.W.A.T. TV reboot to examine Black Lives Matter issues

Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS

It’s a reboot for Trump America.

The new CBS drama, S.W.A.T., will take on “real life” subjects, according to Shemar Moore, who stars as the leader of an elite police unit in Los Angeles.

“We’re taking on the Trump years,” Moore told reporters Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. He also added that while the new show shares the same name, font, and theme song of its predecessor, that’s the only thing it has in common with the old ’70s drama that started Steve Forrest and Robert Urich. “Black lives matter as much as all lives better. It’s every ethnicity. It’s fair, it’s racism, it’s the subject matter today… It’s a perfect time for S.W.A.T. The whole world will be able to relate to this, and hopefully we are gonna show you both sides of the conversation. Blue, civilians, both sides of the argument. Bridge the gap. Create some understanding.”

But executive producer Shawn Ryan — who first rose to prominence by creating the anti-hero cop Vic Mackey for FX’s The Shield — insists the new S.W.A.T. will be “pro-cop” and “pro-community.”

“We want to point at interactions with people that don’t always get the cameras pointed at them,” Ryan said. “[Moore’s character] will be policing a South L.A. neighborhood that he also lives in. How does he deal with this community, I want the camera to show all aspects in L.A. In The Shield, I took a much harder, more cynical view of the interaction between police and community. I think I was in a better mood when I signed up for this show. I’m a little more optimistic.”

“I think the assumption from people is that we are going to make a dumb action show,” Ryan continued. “You hear ‘S.W.A.T.,’ there is gonna be some gun play, some chases. We are going to have some elements that are very familiar to the CBS audience, but we’ll also have some moments that are not always so familiar. I give viewers a lot of credit. Our challenge is to represent the truth of what’s happening.”

And they’ll have fun doing it, Moore promises.

“This is S.W.A.T. It’s a thrill ride,” he said. “I’d like to think we put a little more stank on it.”

S.W.A.T. debuts Nov. 2 on CBS.