I remember back in the 70s the show SWAT and its cast were introduced in an episode of The Rookies. There was one of the eager young idealistic cops in a hostage negotiation situation when along came Steve Forrest and his team and just blew hell out of the place and the criminal. That episode in the end showed just how much we need a SWAT team when they don't negotiate.Echoing John Wayne was Steve Forrest as the SWAT team leader 'Hondo' Harrelson and part of his team was future series stars Robert Urich of Vegas, etc, and Mark Shera who joined Barnaby Jones. If you liked a lot of loud explosions SWAT or Special Weapons And Tactics was your show.My guess is that it only lasted for two seasons because how many different ways can you blow something or shoot the crap out of a place to make it interesting. And you never got into any of the personal lives of the team really.I think the Canadian series Flashpoint better handles the whole concept of SWAT.

In 1975 I was still in the army.We'd been through "Mod Squad" and similar 'groovy' attempts at television showing us that it was awkward to be a Vietnam vet - because ALL of them were either cops or robbers. What the medium at the time was NOT showing, was that things hadn't changed since the First World War: when the troops come home, they are not the same people they were when they went away.OK. That's something best discussed on another day.SWAT is crap because the actors make the notion of watching paint dry exciting. It might be an early Spelling production, but it's as terrible as the 'seventies Hannah Barbera cartoons. 'Wooden' is an insult to trees.There is NO attempt to be 'real' or even occasionally-accurate when it comes to weapons per se and why people steal/use them.Occasional 'through-the-scope' sniper views make me want to weep. Trust me, you don't want to know.Stories/scenarios are as hackneyed as the characters. Let's face it: pneumonic plague (?!) is not got rid of as easy as "We've been inoculated, therefore you're safe". That particular episode with 'Little Billy' surviving is, indeed, a classic.Did I offer 2/10? I must be dreaming...

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.

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.