The actor spoke with ET on Wednesday about staying 'optimistic' while still wrapping the show up with a satisfying final season.
While the seventh season of S.W.A.T. is set to be the show's last, star Shemar Moore says he's still holding out a tiny sliver of hope that the series might find a way to continue on.
Moore, 53, spoke with ET's Cassie DiLaura on Tuesday, and reflected on the show's impressive run and the joy he's felt being part of such a fun and exciting series.
"Oh man, its been such a good run. And, you know, this is my 30th year in the game, so I pinch myself," Moore said. "[It's been] seven years of a really fun show. And the word on the street is it's our final season — but, you know, I'm an optimist."
S.W.A.T. originally ran for its first six seasons on CBS before getting cancelled. The series was then picked back up for a seventh and final season by CBS, perhaps in part due to fan outcry. Now, Moore hopes that if the audience demand is there, maybe it well get another lease on life, adding, "Numbers matter, you know what I mean?"
"So, if this is the final season, I'll just say thank you. It's been an incredible run to play tough guy Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson," Moore shared. "Obviously, I'm biased, and there's no such thing as the best show, but I do think we've been a very unique show. It's like watching an action movie but on TV."
For Moore, getting to star on the action-packed police procedural has been a thrill and an experience he deeply appreciates.
"It's just fun to go save the day and chase the bad guys and we really do some exciting things," Moore said. "[This] may be last time we put this uniform on, it may be the last time we do a fight scene, a car chase, a motorcycle chase, repel off a building."
"We're little kids playing super cops," he added. "I mean, we really are having a good time. So we hate to see it go. But again, I'm not quite sure it's the end, but that's just me."
While Moore said he isn't directly aware of any behind-the-scenes conversations about possibly keeping the show going, he said, "I know that the door is not completely closed."
"I want to keep making the show because there's so many stories and and we are resonating around the world, literally," he said. "I'm just proud of that and grateful to be able to do something that people worldwide are moved by."
"We premiere shortly after the Super Bowl. And if the numbers are good, maybe we'll change some minds and maybe we can keep on trucking," Moore said, adding that when it came to saving the show from cancellation the first time, "I know the fans made noise… I think they were a huge part of it."
Moore said, however, that if this is indeed the final season as expected, fans need to check it out because it's going to be truly memorable, starting out with a story set in Mexico City, and bringing the story around with a satisfying end.
Ultimately, for Moore, the important thing with season seven is "just be able to say goodbye the right way. And so these final 13 episodes that we get, we're making the most of it."
The seventh and final season of S.W.A.T. debuts Feb. 16 on CBS.
