'SEAL Team' Fans Weigh in After Reported Major Change for Season 5
As streaming services continued to dominate the television landscape, many networks are pivoting [...]
As streaming services continued to dominate the television landscape, many networks are pivoting some of their traditional cable shows to streamers in an attempt to court new audiences. One of these is CBS, which is moving its shows SEAL Team and Clarice to Paramount+ for their new seasons. Deadline reports that SEAL Team "will kick off its fifth season on CBS next fall and air its first several episodes — likely four — on the broadcast network before migrating to Paramount+. Freshman Clarice's second season will stream exclusively on Paramount+."
With the news that SEAL Team would be transitioning to Paramount+, fans had a lot of opinions. Some were pleased that the show was finding a second life on the streamer, while others were annoyed that they'd have to purchase another streaming service in an increasingly saturated market. "SEAL Team has a shot at running much longer on Paramount+," tweeted one happy viewer. "It would be the final season for sure on CBS. And no worry about network censorship for both series now." With the increasing costs of streaming platforms, fans pointed out that they would have to make some financial choices. "I don't know if I can pay for yet another pay TV service," wrote one viewer. "Jeez! I may have to juggle. I need my (sic) [SEAL Team]."
There was another extremely vocal response to this news, but it wasn't from viewers in the SEAL Team fandom. No, MacGyver fans were tweeting vigorously about the news, wondering why their recently canceled reboot wasn't also getting the Paramount+ treatment. "I really don't get why CBS doesn't move MacGyver to [Paramount+]," one fan angrily tweeted. "It had better ratings than SEAL & Clarice. There is a strong fan demand for MacGyver. Yet CBS keeps ignoring that! Very upsetting."
MacGyver fans have gained a reputation for doggedly hijacking any television conversation online, and this latest move continued to prove that point. "I'm in disbelief," wrote one fan. "They could have done this for MacGyver. No offence to SEAL Team or Clarice but MacGyver has more viewership and is significantly diverse. But what is also surprising is that after over a month of trying to save MacGyver, CBS doesn't even acknowledge the fans." Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.