SEAL Team is an American military action-drama television series created by Benjamin Cavell and the series originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 27, 2017, to October 31, 2021, and then on Paramount+ for an additional three seasons from November 1, 2021, and has concluded on October 6, 2024. This series is produced by Chulack Productions, East 25 C, Timberman/Beverly Productions, John Glenn Entertainment and CBS Studios.
The series follows Bravo Team, a component unit of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as DEVGRU or Seal Team Six. SEAL Team received a pilot order from CBS in January 2017 and was ordered to series in May 2017.
In February 2022, it was renewed for a sixth season and was premiered on September 18, 2022. In January 2023, it was renewed for a seventh and final season has premiered on August 11, 2024.
Overview[]
The series follows Bravo Team, a sub-unit of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, the most elite unit of Navy SEALs, as they plan and undertake dangerous missions worldwide with little notice, and the burden on them and their families.
Cast[]
- Main article: Cast Members
Actors
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Role
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Season
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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| David Boreanaz | Jason Hayes | |||||||
| Max Thieriot | Clay Spenser | |||||||
| Jessica Paré | Mandy Ellis | |||||||
| Neil Brown Jr. | Ray Perry | |||||||
| A.J. Buckley | Sonny Quinn | |||||||
| Toni Trucks | Lisa Davis | |||||||
| Judd Lormand | Eric Blackburn | |||||||
| Raffi Barsoumian | Omar Hamza | |||||||
| Beau Knapp | Drew Franklin | |||||||
Trivia[]
- Over 75 US Military veterans have been hired for background characters and stunt work.
- Tyler Grey, who plays Trent Sawyer a.k.a Bravo 4, is a former US Army Ranger. He served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, 2nd Battalion as a sniper. He qualified and was selected to participate in SFAS for the infamous, secretive, and illusive Army Special Forces Unit SFOD-D, otherwise known as DELTA Force. He was medically discharged after sustaining injuries from an improvised explosive device in 2005. His wounds are noticeable on his right forearm. But be polite and courteous and refrain from view that as the only thing you see in a Legend like Tyler Grey
- After 2011 U.S. Military Special Operations Forces started wearing the 4-tube Panoramic Night Vision Goggles (PNVGs) that provides a wider field of vision, & depth perception as to not run into walls, trees, ect.
- The character of Jason Hayes is based on Mark Owen, an alias for a Navy SEAL Tier One leader who has written two books including one about the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden.
- Jim Caviezel was originally to play Jason Hayes but left due to creative differences.
- David Boreanaz first got offered and passed on SEAL Team after just coming off a long 12 year run on Bones (2005) but changed his mind after being asked again.
- David Boreanaz and A.J. Buckley previously worked together on a 2007 episode of Bones titled The Glowing Bones in 'The Old Stone House,
- The Pilot was shot in New Orleans during March & early April 2017.
- The Special Patrol Insert Extraction (SPIE) system used by the Blackhawk to rescue Bravo Team in Season 2's My Life for Yours was a first for network TV, it has never been done before on broadcast.
- Scenes from Season 2's You Only Die Once were shot at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, with active service United States Marines.
- The cast & crew flew to Puerto Rico to film location shots & scenes for a multi episode Season 2 story arc.
- Some episodes in Season 3 were actually filmed in Belgrade, Serbia
Episodes[]
- Main article: Episode Guide
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired (U.S. dates) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Network | ||||
| 1 | 22 | September 27, 2017 | May 16, 2018 | CBS | ||
| 2 | 22 | October 3, 2018 | May 22, 2019 | |||
| 3 | 20 | October 2, 2019 | May 6, 2020 | |||
| 4 | 16 | December 2, 2020 | May 26, 2021 | |||
| 5 | 14 | 4 | October 10, 2021 | October 31, 2021 | ||
| 10 | November 1, 2021 | January 23, 2022 | Paramount+ | |||
| 6 | 10 | September 18, 2022 | November 20, 2022 | |||
| 7 | 10 | August 11, 2024 | October 6, 2024 | |||
Production[]
Development[]
On January 27, 2017, it was announced that CBS had given the production a pilot order for the Navy SEAL project. The episode was written by author Benjamin Cavell who was expected to executive produce 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. A few days later, it was announced that the series, now titled SEAL Team, would premiere on 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. On March 27, 2018, it was renewed for a second season. 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. On May 9, 2019, the series was renewed for a third season. 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. On May 6, 2020, the series was renewed for a fourth season. On May 14, 2021, it was reported that the series was undergoing talks to move to the streaming service Paramount+ if renewed for a fifth season. If the deal finalizes the series is expected to air some of its fifth season episodes on CBS before moving to Paramount+. Few days later, the deal was finalized.
On February 1, 2021, the series was renewed for a sixth season. On January 18, 2023, the series was renewed for a seventh season, then on November 15, has confirmed that the series would be the final season.
Casting[]
On March 14, 2017, it was announced that Jim Caviezel would topline CBS' then-untitled Navy SEAL drama pilot but on March 22, 2017, it was announced that David Boreanaz had been cast in the pilot's lead role of Jason, replacing Caviezel. On March 8, 2017, it was reported that A.J. Buckley would play Sonny.
On August 15, 2018, it was reported that Judd Lormand had been upgraded to series regular for season 2.
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.
On July 10, 2019, it was reported that Jamie McShane and Rudy Dobrev were cast in recurring roles for the third season. On August 7, 2019, Emily Swallow was cast in a recurring capacity for the third season. On January 27, 2021, Shiva Negar joined the cast in a recurring role for the fourth season.
On December 12, 2023, Beau Knapp was cast as a series regular for the seventh and final season.
Authenticity[]
From the beginning, the show has looked to former operators for their real-life experience to make the show as authentic as possible. Not only does the series have former Navy SEALs, like Mark Semos and Kenny Sheard in the writer's room, but over 70% of its crew are veterans, and almost the entire stunt team are former special operators. Tyler Gray who plays Trent is a former Army Ranger. Veterans that have fought and served together in Iraq and Afghanistan will often reunite on the show.
Broadcasting and release[]
The series premiered in the United States on CBS on September 27, 2017. The second season premiered on October 3, 2018. The third season premiered on October 2, 2019. The fourth season premiered on December 2, 2020. The fifth season premiered on October 10, 2021. The sixth season premiered on September 18, 2022, on Paramount+. The seventh and final is scheduled to be released on August 11, 2024, with two new episodes and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.
Home media[]
All seasons was released for DVD owned and partnered with CBS/Paramount.
| Image | DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
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SEAL Team - Season One | 22 | August 14, 2018 |
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SEAL Team - Season Two | 22 | September 10, 2019 |
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SEAL Team - Season Three | 20 | August 25, 2020 |
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SEAL Team - Season Four | 16 | September 7, 2021 |
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SEAL Team - Season Five | 14 | September 13, 2022 |
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SEAL Team - Season Six | 10 | May 23, 2023 |
Reception[]
Critical response[]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 69% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.75/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "SEAL TEAM, solidly written first season offers compelling characters and hints at broader potential, even if it's somewhat undermined by an overall sense of predictability." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Ratings[]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | No. of episodes |
Premiered | Ended | TV season | Rank | Avg. viewers (in millions) | ||
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| Date | Premiere viewers (in millions) |
Date | Finale viewers (in millions) | ||||||
| 1 | Wednesday at 9:00 pm | 22 | September 27, 2017 | 9.88 | May 16, 2018 | 6.14 | 2017–18 | #28 | 9.87 |
| 2 | 22 | October 3, 2018 | 5.02 | May 22, 2019 | 4.24 | 2018–19 | #39 | 8.29 | |
| 3 | 20 | October 2, 2019 | 5.25 | May 6, 2020 | 4.53 | 2019–20 | #34 | 8.02 | |
| 4 | 16 | December 2, 2020 | 4.24 | May 26, 2021 | 3.83 | 2020–21 | #38 | 6.44 | |
| 5 | Sunday at 10:00PM Sunday 10:30PM (2–3) |
14 | October 10, 2021 | 3.73 | October 31, 2021 | 3.19 | 2021–22 | #45 | 5.83 |
Crew[]
- Main article: List of crew
Gallery[]
