PASADENA, Calif. — CBS enters the 2024-25 TV season this fall from a position of strength thanks to the successful launches of “Tracker” and “Elsbeth” earlier this year. Justin Hartley stars in “Tracker” as a for-hire hunk who tracks down missing people.
Hartley describes his Colter Shaw character as a hero with a broken family past but not one that haunts him as he builds his own family with friends and colleagues. “This guy leads with his heart and we don’t necessarily see that when we think of a character like this,” Hartley said during CBS’s portion of the Television Critics Association summer 2024 press tour. “He’s able to be there and fix all these problems of other people but there’s this one thing he can’t get out of the way of — (himself) — as smart as he is.
” Executive producer Elwood Reid (“Big Sky,” “Barkskins”) describes “Tracker” as an elevated old-fashioned show. Old-fashioned in that there’s a case-of-the-week; elevated by Shaw’s backstory. “The key to that is the mix: If we do too much (serialized story), you’re gonna lose people,” Reid said.
“I’m always hammering the writers in the room, we don’t want to give too much away about this character. The minute we start to give it away, the mystery around him starts to diminish. I hope when you’re watching you get a little kernel each week.
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We’re gonna be on the air a while and there’s a lot to unravel about this character and the other char.
