By James Barber
The military thriller series “SEAL Team” survived its transition from broadcast television to streaming during season five and has earned a renewal for a sixth season from Paramount+. The streaming service made the announcement as part of its network presentation to the Television Critics of America.
Many “SEAL Team” fans were upset when the series was moved from the CBS network to Paramount+ during the show’s fifth season. Despite some loud protestations from fans who swore they’d never pay to watch the show (many of them here in the Military.com comments section), enough old viewers either followed the show over or new viewers discovered it on the streaming service to convince the network to bring the series back for more episodes.
The next season will be the first written without any thoughts about the rules and restrictions that come with broadcast television. “SEAL Team” did get a bit more intense after the move to streaming and there were some curse words that would’ve never been allowed on CBS, but viewers have yet to see what the writers and directors will do with the kind of creative freedom once only available on HBO or Showtime.
Season five ended with an ambush in Mali, and several team members’ lives are in the balance. We can guess that Jason Hayes will survive because it’s actor David Boreanaz who has the massive fan base that fuels the show’s success. We’ll have to wait for the new episodes to see whether Clay Spenser (Max Thieriot), Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr), Sonny Quinn (A.J. Buckley) and Brock Reynolds (Justin Melnick) make it home alive.
“We are very excited to welcome ‘SEAL Team’ back for another season on Paramount+,” Paramount TV Studios head Nicole Clemens said at the presentation. “The show’s loyal fan base followed the series to its new exclusive home, and it has proven to be a high-performing title for the service, consistently in the top 10 most-watched original series. We can’t wait for the fans to see what our brilliant creative team has in store for Team Bravo next season!”
That’s obviously some corporate cheerleading, but the success of a “SEAL Team” move to streaming was no sure thing. They’ve survived the move, and we’ll look forward to the further adventures of Team Bravo later this year.
