SEAL Team is an American military drama television series created by Benjamin Cavell.[1] The series is produced by CBS Studios, and began airing on CBS on September 27, 2017.[2]
The series follows an elite unit of United States Navy SEALs portrayed by David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Jessica Paré, Neil Brown Jr., A. J. Buckley, and Toni Trucks. On May 9, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a third season,[3] which premiered on October 2, 2019.[4] In May 2020, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on December 2, 2020.[5][6] In May 2021, it was announced the series was renewed for a fifth season and would be moving to Paramount+. The fifth season premiered on October 10, 2021.[7] In February 2022, the series was renewed for a sixth season which premiered on September 18, 2022.[8][9] In January 2023, the series was renewed for a seventh season.[10] In November 2023, it was reported that the seventh season is going to be the end of the series.[11]
Max Thieriot as Special Warfare Operator First Class Clay Spenser a.k.a. Bravo 6/6B (seasons 1–6), a second-generation Navy SEAL in training for Tier One status who is questioned as to his readiness for combat.[15] He becomes a member of Bravo Team at the end of "The Exchange", and twice briefly served as the team's second-in-command. Clay died late in season 6, trying to help a veteran from killing himself.
Jessica Paré as Amanda "Mandy" Ellis (seasons 1–4; guest season 5 – present),[15] Bravo Team's CIA liaison. Due to her actions of giving up the location of a CIA asset in "My Life for Yours", Mandy is demoted from her rank of officer and is now serving as an interrogator for the CIA.[16]
A. J. Buckley as Special Warfare Operator First Class Percival "Sonny" Quinn a.k.a. Bravo 3/3B, a loyal but sometimes volatile SEAL who is at his best in firefights and prefers them over a leadership position.[15]
Judd Lormand as Commander, formerly Lieutenant Commander, Eric Blackburn (recurring season 1; main seasons 2–4;[17] guest star season 4 – present), formerly Bravo Team's commanding officer, promoted to Executive Officer of DEVGRU during season 4.
Raffi Barsoumian as Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Omar Hamza a.k.a Bravo 2/2B, former Foxtrot 2/2F (season 6), a SEAL for fifteen years and the son of Syrian immigrants. Omar has a deep understanding of the Middle East, and calls upon that knowledge to help navigate missions in the region. Omar is former Foxtrot second-in-command, prior the team being decommissioned. He was transferred to Bravo team, to fill the spot left by Clay and becomes the second-in-command for the team, when Ray becomes acting as Officer-in-charge.[18]
Dylan Walsh as Captain Walch, a recently appointed commanding officer of DEVGRU, who is by-the-book, but also has aspirations for politics (recurring season 7).[20]
Production
Development
Following the success of History Channel's Six, on January 27, 2017, it was announced that CBS had given the pilot order for another Navy SEAL project.[21] The episode was written and authored by Benjamin Cavell who was expected to be an executive producer, alongside Ed Redlich, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Christopher Chulack. Production companies involved with the pilot include Chulack Productions, East 25 C, Timberman/Beverly Productions and CBS Television Studios. On May 12, 2017, CBS officially ordered the pilot to series.[22] A few days later, it was announced that the series, now titled SEAL Team, would premiere by September 27, 2017, and air on Wednesdays at 9:00 P.M.
The series received a full-season order on October 12, 2017, bringing the first season to a total of 22 episodes.[23] On March 27, 2018, CBS renewed the series for a second season[24] which premiered on October 3, 2018.[25] On May 22, 2018, it was reported that both Cavell and Redlich were exiting their roles as executive producer and showrunner, and John Glenn replacing him as showrunner.[26] Spencer Hudnut replaced John Glenn as showrunner in 2019 after an internal probe by CBS that resulted in his dismissal and canceling of his overall deal.[27] On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a fourth season,[5] which premiered on December 2, 2020.[6] On May 14, 2021, it was reported the series was undergoing talks to move to the streaming service Paramount+ if renewed for a fifth season;[28] if a deal were reached, the series would air some of its fifth-season episodes on CBS before moving to Paramount+.[29] Four days later, the deal was finalized.[30] The fifth season premiered on October 10, 2021.[7]
On February 1, 2022, Paramount+ renewed the series for a sixth season, which had premiered on September 18, 2022.[8][9] On January 18, 2023, Paramount+ renewed the series for a seventh season.[10] On November 15, 2023, it was announced that the seventh season is going to be the final season.[11]
Casting
On March 14, 2017, it was announced that Jim Caviezel would topline CBS' then-untitled Navy SEAL drama pilot[31] but on March 22, 2017, it was announced that David Boreanaz had been cast in the pilot's lead role of Jason, replacing Caviezel.[15] On March 8, 2017, it was reported that A.J. Buckley would play Sonny.[32] On August 15, 2018, it was reported that Judd Lormand had been upgraded to series regular for season 2.[17] On August 8, 2018, it was announced that Michael McGrady and Ruffin Prentiss would recur as Captain Harrington and Summer Kairos in the series' second season.[33] On July 10, 2019, it was reported that Jamie McShane and Rudy Dobrev were cast in recurring roles for the third season.[34] On August 7, 2019, Emily Swallow was cast in a recurring capacity for the third season.[35] On January 27, 2021, Shiva Negar joined the cast in a recurring role for the fourth season.[36] On December 12, 2023, Beau Knapp was cast as a series regular for the seventh and final season.[19]
Authenticity
From the beginning, the show has looked to former operators for their real-life experience to make the show as authentic as possible.[37] Not only does the series have former Navy SEALs like Mark Semos and Kenny Sheard in the writers’ room, but over 70% of its crew are veterans, and almost the entire stunt team are former special operators.[38] Tyler Gray who plays Trent is a former Delta Force operator.[39] Veterans that have fought and served together in Iraq and Afghanistan will often reunite on the show.[citation needed]
Broadcast and release
The series premiered in the United States on CBS on September 27, 2017. Canada's Global TV premiered the show at the same time as the United States premiere.
Streaming
All episodes are available to stream with Paramount+.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 71% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "SEAL Team's solidly written first season offers compelling characters and hints at broader potential, even if it's somewhat undermined by an overall sense of predictability."[46]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[47]
Six—Similar fictional hourly drama based on the Tier One SEAL team
Strike Back—A British/American action-adventure/spy-drama television series follows actions of Section 20, a secretive branch of the British Defence Intelligence service
^"Borderlines". SEAL Team. Season 1. Episode 7. November 15, 2017. Event occurs at c. the 32 minute mark; the speaker is Mandy Ellis. CBS. We have one Dev Group operator in country and en route.
^"The Exchange". SEAL Team. Season 1. Episode 8. November 22, 2017. Event occurs at 3 minute mark (of 59 minutes); the speaker is Trent. CBS. Whatever teams we go to, we're Tier One operators now
^"Getaway Day". SEAL Team. Season 1. Episode 8. January 31, 2018. CBS.. The television news broadcast in the background of the wake specifically names the unit as Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team 6.
