SEAL Team (TV series) explained

Creator:	Benjamin Cavell
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	7
Num Episodes:	114
List Episodes:	List of SEAL Team episodes
Camera:	Single-camera
Runtime:	43−49 minutes
Network:	CBS
Network2:	Paramount+

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, until October 31, 2021. Afterwards, the series moved to Paramount+ for the remainder of its run, and concluded on October 6, 2024.

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.

Overview

The series follows Bravo Team, a sub-unit of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group,^{[2] [3] [4]} the most elite unit of Navy SEALs, as they plan and undertake dangerous missions worldwide with little notice, and the burden placed on them and their families.

Episodes

See main article: List of SEAL Team episodes.

Cast and characters

See main article: List of SEAL Team characters.

• David Boreanaz as Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Jason Hayes a.k.a. Bravo 1/1B, the leader of a Navy SEAL team (Bravo Team) dealing with the recent loss of one of their own.^[5]
• 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.^[5] He becomes a member of Bravo Team at the end of "The Exchange", and twice briefly served as the team's second-in-command.
• Neil Brown Jr. as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Raymond "Ray" Perry, formerly Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator, a.k.a. Mako 1/MK-1, former Bravo 2/2B, Jason's most trusted friend and the longest tenured member of the team.^[5] Ray is promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2 in season 4. Since season 6, Ray acts as Bravo Team's Office-in-charge.
• Jessica Paré as Amanda "Mandy" Ellis (seasons 1–4; recurring seasons 5–7),^[5] 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.^[6]
• A. J. Buckley as Chief Special Warfare Operator Percival "Sonny" Quinn, formerly Special Warfare Operator First Class 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.^[5] Sonny is promoted to Chief Petty Officer in season 7.
• Toni Trucks as Lieutenant Lisa Davis, formerly Logistics Specialist First Class, then Ensign,^[5] and, since season 3, a DEVGRU Intelligence Officer assigned primarily to Bravo Team.
• Judd Lormand as Commander, formerly Lieutenant Commander, Eric Blackburn (seasons 2–4; recurring seasons 1, 5–7), Bravo Team's former 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 (seasons 6–7), a SEAL for fifteen years and the son of Syrian immigrants. Omar was Foxtrot's second-in-command, prior to 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.^[7]
• Beau Knapp as Special Warfare Operator First Class Laurance A. "Drew" Franklin IV a.k.a. Bravo 6/6B (season 7), the newest member of Bravo Team who joins their mission in Sweden and then becomes assigned full time.
• Dylan Walsh as Captain Walch (recurring season 7), the recently appointed commanding officer of DEVGRU, who is by-the-book, but also has aspirations for politics.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] On March 27, 2018, CBS renewed the series for a second season.^[12] 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.^[13] On May 9, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a third season,^[14] 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.^[15] On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a fourth season.^[16] 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;^[17] if a deal were reached, the series would air some of its fifth-season episodes on CBS before moving to Paramount+.^[18] Four days later, the deal was finalized.^[19]

On February 1, 2022, Paramount+ renewed the series for a sixth season.^[20] On January 18, 2023, Paramount+ renewed the series for a seventh season.^[21] On November 15, 2023, it was announced that the seventh season is going to be the final season.^[22]

Casting

On March 14, 2017, it was announced that Jim Caviezel would topline CBS' then-untitled Navy SEAL drama pilot^[23] 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.^[24] On August 15, 2018, it was reported that Judd Lormand had been upgraded to series regular for season 2.^[25] 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.^[26] On July 10, 2019, it was reported that Jamie McShane and Rudy Dobrev were cast in recurring roles for the third season.^[27] On August 7, 2019, Emily Swallow was cast in a recurring capacity for the third season.^[28] On January 27, 2021, Shiva Negar joined the cast in a recurring role for the fourth season.^[29] On December 12, 2023, Beau Knapp was cast as a series regular for the seventh and final season.^[30]

Authenticity

From the beginning, the show has looked to former operators for their real-life experience to make the show as authentic as possible.^[31] 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.^[32] Tyler Gray who plays Trent is a former Delta Force operator.^[33] Veterans who have fought and served together in Iraq and Afghanistan will often reunite on the show.

Broadcast and release

The series premiered in the United States on CBS on September 27, 2017.^[34] The second season premiered on October 3, 2018.^[35] The third season premiered on October 2, 2019.^[36] The fourth season premiered on December 2, 2020.^[37] The fifth season premiered on October 10, 2021.^[38] The sixth season premiered on September 18, 2022 on Paramount+.^[39] 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.^[40]

Home media

Season	of episodes	DVD Release dates^[41]
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1	22	August 14, 2018^[42]	October 15, 2018	November 21, 2018
2	22	September 10, 2019^[43]	November 18, 2019^[44]
3	20	August 25, 2020^[45]
4	16	September 7, 2021^[46]
5	14	September 13, 2022
6	10	May 23, 2023

Reception

Critical response

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 solidly written first season offers compelling characters and hints at broader potential, even if it's somewhat undermined by an overall sense of predictability."^[47] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[48]

Ratings

• Note: The fourteenth episode of the first season and third-season finale aired out of their regular timeslots, at Wednesday 10 pm.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2018	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)	W.G. Snuffy Walden, A. Patrick Rose		^[49]
2019	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series, or Movie	Peewee Piemonte, Julie Michaels		^[50]

See also

• The Brave—Similar type of series but focused on a fictional Defense Intelligence Agency unit
• 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
• Ultimate Force—Similar type of series but focused on the British Army's Special Air Service
• The Unit—Similar type of series but focused on the United States Army's Delta Force

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ausiello . Michael . CBS Orders Boreanaz' SEAL Team, Moore's S.W.A.T., Cumming's Instinct, Piven's Wisdom, Plus 2 Comedies. . May 12, 2017.
2. Borderlines . CBS . November 15, 2017 . SEAL Team . 1 . 7 . We have one Dev Group operator in country and en route. . c. the 32 minute mark; the speaker is Mandy Ellis.
3. The Exchange . CBS . November 22, 2017 . SEAL Team . 1 . 8 . Whatever teams we go to, we're Tier One operators now . 3 minute mark (of 59 minutes); the speaker is Trent.
4. Getaway Day . CBS . January 31, 2018 . SEAL Team . 1 . 8. . 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.
5. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie . March 22, 2017 . David Boreanaz to Topline CBS' Navy SEAL Drama Pilot . Deadline Hollywood. March 22, 2017.
6. Web site: SEAL Team Season 2 Finale Recap: Who Got Booted from Future Missions?. Mitovich. Matt Webb. May 23, 2019. TVLine. en. June 1, 2019.
7. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Raffi Barsoumian Cast as New Series Regular on Paramount+ Series. Petski. Denise. June 23, 2022. TVLine. en. June 23, 2022.
8. Web site: Petski . Denise . 2023-12-15 . 'SEAL Team' Adds Dylan Walsh as Recurring for 7th & Final Season . 2023-12-16 . Deadline . en-US.
9. Web site: Goldberg. Lesley. Navy SEALs Drama Lands CBS Pilot Order. The Hollywood Reporter. January 27, 2017. September 28, 2017.
10. Web site: Holloway. Daniel. CBS Series Orders: '9JKL,' 'Me, Myself & I,' 'Instinct,' 'Wisdom of the Crowd,' 'Seal Team,' 'S.W.A.T.'. Variety. May 12, 2017. September 28, 2017.
11. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. 'SEAL Team' Gets Full-Season Order From CBS. Deadline Hollywood. October 12, 2017.
12. Web site: SEAL Team, S.W.A.T. Renewed at CBS. Ausiello. Michael. TVLine. March 27, 2018. March 27, 2018.
13. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. 'SEAL Team': John Glenn Joins CBS Series As New Showrunner, Two EPs Depart. Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2018. July 14, 2018.
14. Web site: CBS renews 'Madam Secretary,' 'MacGyver,' 'Bull,' 'SEAL Team,' 'SWAT' and 'Hawaii Five-0' . Levin. Gary. . May 9, 2019. May 9, 2019.
15. Web site: Patten . Erik Pedersen, Dominic . Pedersen . Erik . Patten . Dominic . September 18, 2019 . 'SEAL Team' Showrunner John Glenn Exits After Probe By CBS; Overall Deal Canceled . October 9, 2022 . Deadline . en-US.
16. Web site: CBS Renews 18 Series, Including Freshmen 'FBI: Most Wanted', 'Bob ♥ Abishola', 'All Rise' & 'The Unicorn'. Deadline Hollywood. Peter. White. Nellie. Andreeva. May 6, 2020. May 6, 2020.
17. Web site: 'SEAL Team' & 'Clarice' To Move From CBS To Paramount+; Military Drama To Get Network Sendoff. White. Peter. May 14, 2021. May 15, 2021. Deadline Hollywood.
18. Web site: SEAL Team, Clarice May Move From CBS to Paramount+ If Renewed. Mitovich. Matt Webb. May 14, 2021. May 15, 2021. TVLine.
19. Web site: 'SEAL Team' & 'Evil' Officially Move To Paramount+; 'Clarice' Remains In Negotiations. Deadline Hollywood. Nellie. Andreeva. May 18, 2021. May 18, 2021.
20. Web site: 'SEAL Team' Renewed For Season 6 By Paramount+; Will More CBS Dramas Make Move To Streamer?. Deadline Hollywood. Andreeva. Nellie. February 1, 2022. February 1, 2022.
21. Web site: Otterson. Joe. SEAL Team Renewed for Season 7 at Paramount+. Variety. January 18, 2023. January 18, 2023.
22. Web site: 'SEAL Team' To End With Season 7 On Paramount+. Deadline Hollywood. Peter. White. November 15, 2023. November 15, 2023.
23. Web site: Jim Caviezel To Topline Navy SEAL Drama Pilot In Return To CBS . Deadline Hollywood. November 16, 2018 . March 14, 2017.
24. Web site: A.J. Buckley Joins CBS' Navy SEAL Drama Pilot; Kevin Daniels In Jenny Lumet Project. Deadline Hollywood. November 16, 2018 . March 8, 2017.
25. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Judd Lormand Upped To Series Regular For Season 2 . Deadline Hollywood. November 15, 2018 . August 15, 2018.
26. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Michael McGrady & Ruffin Prentiss To Recur On CBS Drama . Deadline Hollywood. November 15, 2018 . August 8, 2018.
27. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Jamie McShane & Rudy Dobrev To Recur On Season 3. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. July 22, 2019. July 22, 2019.
28. Web site: 'Why Women Kill' Casts Li Jun Li; Emily Swallow Joins 'SEAL Team'. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. August 7, 2019. August 7, 2019.
29. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Shiva Negar Joins CBS' Military Drama Series As Recurring. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. January 27, 2021. January 27, 2021.
30. Web site: 'SEAL Team': Beau Knapp Joins 7th & Final Season As New Series Regular. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. December 12, 2023. December 12, 2023.
31. Web site: August 29, 2021 . 'SEAL Team': Which Cast Members Served in the Armed Forces? . June 20, 2022 . Outsider . en-US.
32. Web site: April 13, 2020 . 5 ways SEAL Team proves authenticity matters . June 20, 2022 . Hidden Remote . en-US.
33. Web site: November 10, 2021 . 'SEAL Team' Has Veterans Who Work on Show 'Straight Off Deployment' . June 20, 2022 . Outsider . en-US . July 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220727082126/https://outsider.com/american-entertainment/seal-team-veterans-work-on-show-straight-off-deployment/ . dead .
34. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. CBS Sets Fall 2017 Premiere Dates For 'Young Sheldon', '9 JKL' & Returning Series. Deadline Hollywood. June 1, 2017. June 1, 2017.
35. Web site: CBS Fall 2018 Premiere Dates: 'Big Bang' & 'Young Sheldon' To Help Launch 'Magnum PI' & 'Murphy Brown' Revival. Deadline Hollywood. Andreeva. Nellie. July 9, 2018. July 14, 2018.
36. Web site: CBS Sets Fall Premiere Dates: 'Bob ♥ Abishola', 'All Rise', 'Evil', 'Young Sheldon', 'NCIS', 'Blue Bloods' & More. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. Nellie. Andreeva. June 13, 2019. June 13, 2019.
37. Web site: CBS Pushes 'SEAL Team' Season Premiere After 'The Amazing Race' Was Moved Due To Election Coverage'. Deadline Hollywood. Peter. White. November 6, 2020. November 6, 2020.
38. Web site: CBS Fall Premiere Dates: New 'NCIS', 'CSI', 'FBI' Series Plus Returning Comedies, Dramas & Reality Fare. Deadline Hollywood. Erik. Pedersen. July 12, 2021. July 12, 2021.
39. Web site: 'SEAL Team' Season 6 Gets Premiere Date, Trailer From Paramount+. Deadline Hollywood. Bruce. Haring. August 19, 2022. August 19, 2022.
40. Web site: SEAL Team: Bravo's 'Problem Kids' Must Evolve in Emotional Final Season Trailer — Get Premiere Date. TVLine. Matt Webb. Mitovich. June 25, 2024. June 25, 2024.
41. Web site: SEAL Team DVD Release Date.
42. https://www.amazon.com/SEAL-Team-Season-David-Boreanaz/dp/B07D515634/ref=pd_sim_74_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07D515634&pd_rd_r=FB94XTPV8RNWH9TASJCQ&pd_rd_w=8jFOw&pd_rd_wg=2l61l&psc=1&refRID=FB94XTPV8RNWH9TASJCQ SEAL Team: Season One | DVD | Box Set | David Boreanaz (Actor), Max Thieriot (Actor)
43. Web site: SEAL Team: Season 2 (DVD) . Amazon . July 21, 2019.
44. Web site: SEAL Team Season 2 [DVD] [2019]]. August 29, 2020. Amazon UK. November 18, 2019 .
45. Web site: SEAL Team: Season 3 (DVD). Amazon . June 12, 2020.
46. Web site: SEAL Team: Season 4 (DVD). Amazon . September 7, 2021 . November 7, 2021.
47. Web site: SEAL Team: Season 1. Rotten Tomatoes. January 5, 2019.
48. Web site: SEAL Team - Season 1 Reviews. Metacritic. September 14, 2018.
49. Web site: Nominees/Winners. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. March 6, 2019.
50. Web site: Awards & Nominations. April 29, 2020.