Section 4

This was my favorite show as a kid! It's one of the best of the '70s cop shows, and never fully got the recognition it deserved. It gave the audience a look at a police unit many didn't even know existed at the time. Aaron Spelling and Robert Hamner showed them as a group of men who had to depend on each other and work as a team in very difficult situations.

Back then, people WANTED to see action shows, but the writers still had a lot of restrictions on content and visuals. What's called `violence' in this show you can find in children's television these days. This show managed to get the violence of crime across without the gore most shows rely on today.

SWAT also had a very good ensemble cast. Steve Forrest (as Lt. Harrelson) obviously had a bit more to do, but the writers did a great job of showing the personal and professional sides of all the characters. In the '70s, these shows were truly episodic - there were no story arcs or follow-ups to an episode, unless, of course, it was a two-parter. A story began, developed, and wrapped in an hour. Yet, the writers managed to give some depth to these characters (and the actors something to work with) from time to time.

Robert Urich (Jim Street) was a good actor, and I think because he was considered the `GQ' man of the group, he was given a bit more screen time than the others. I absolutely loved him in `Vegas'. Rod Perry (`Deacon Kay'), Mark Shera (`Dominic Luca' - the object of MY personal teenage crush), and James Coleman (`T.J. McCabe') ALL gave consistently good performances and delivered in every episode.

In my opinion, SWAT is a great example of '70s police action episodic television. And personally, I'm VERY glad they've put it on DVD.

I wish that they would make shows like this today. I don't know about everyone else my age but I'm sick of these shows today like CSI, Cops, N.Y.P.D. BLUE etc. We see that on the news every night. I'm ready for shows to become fun again! And who wants to see blood and guts during dinner? But anyway S.W.A.T. has a wonderful cast, great action and is worth a look for fans of Starsky & Hutch and The Rookies.

S.W.A.T was a spin-off off the other great police drama of the 1970s - "The Rookies" SWAT told the stories of an elite police unit called Special Weapons and Tactics Unit or S.W.A.T for short.

They handled situations to dangerous for the regular police.

The show was very violent for the time and the SWAT officers were more violent than the criminals they were going against.

What was cool about this show was the title music which hit the TOP 10 in 1975 and the team scrambling into their truck, speeding to a scene, and then rushing into action. They did it without the body armor and helmets we see such officers wear today.

When I kid, my friends and I would play SWAT and today I wish I could watch the repeats.

Without the theme music and action it would be a run of the mill police show.

The movie was pretty good too, so I bought the Season One DVD series. The 1st review here was right on accurate! Ditto everything he said! The TV series seems to have been well reflected in the Movie, even the character names are the same. Some of the TV show scenarios wound up in the movie also.

As a kid growing up in the seventies, I just couldn't wait for the next episode of swat. Came on after the Bay City Rollers. I know the younger folks probably think of this show as kind of goofy or something, but I believe its better than some of the cop shows we have today. Todays shows are very much more violent and I wouldn't let children watch them. Great theme song, M-16s and a big blue van. Wow!! These guys always got their man, and the issues they handled sometimes went with the time which the show ran. Steve Forrest was great, as was the rest of the team. I have the first season DVD set and hope they produce the second season. I hope TV Land brings this series back soon.