Co-Editor-in-Chief, TV

It was May 17, 2017. The Plaza Hotel’s Food Hall and adjacent multi-story spaces were packed for CBS’s annual upfront party — a lavish display in the network’s final years of dominance. After winning the lottery — beating the daunting odds of pilot season, in which hundreds of scripts vie for 20 pilot spots and, ultimately, a handful of series that get picked up by a major network — the teams behind CBS’s new shows were beaming. Except for the producers of the military drama SEAL Team, who were not in a celebratory mood.

The reason was an attempt by CBS executives to replace the female lead opposite star David Boreanaz in the pilot, Jessica Paré. A red flag had already been raised for observant attendees at the network’s upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall earlier that afternoon when the cast of SEAL Team walked onstage without Paré. The absence spoke volumes, because it was a broadcast ritual: If your pilot is picked up, you go to the upfronts—unless you get a call that you’ve been recast.

Nothing was official at the time, but SEAL Team producers were very concerned — rumor had it that then-CBS CEO Les Moonves himself had suggested Paré be replaced. As a former actor, Moonves had remained heavily involved in casting decisions and had the final say in everything, determining the fate of shows and actors. (Moonves stepped down in the fall of 2018 following a series of sexual misconduct allegations.)