Keeping The Beat

Shawn Ryan lays down the law on the cop drama S.W.A.T.

- Fred Schruers

TWO-PLUS DECADES OF making hit shows have taught Shawn Ryan certain efficiencies. The San Fernando Valley headquarters he has established as show runner of CBS’s new primetime series S.W.A.T. is just minutes from both his home and the facility where the series will shoot. The outpost is strictly utilitarian, from his own office full of overstuffed chairs to the facility’s far end where a table holds the coffee maker and enough energy bars to feed a village.

Like S.W.A.T.’s lead actor Shemar Moore (veteran of 11 seasons on Criminal Minds) and also like star Michael Chiklis of Ryan’s former, long-running cop drama The Shield, the show runner has a shaved dome and an athlete’s bearing. He’s a tall, muscular guy who might, in a friendly way, out-rebound you five-to-one in a pickup hoops game. As he walks a visitor past an oversize city map and stills from the show’s pilot episode, it’s clear he’ll be working long hours here during production: “On all my shows, I was never someone that was seen on set a lot. I make ceremonial appearances just so that everyone can know that I’m here and available. But most of my work will be done in this building.”