Tracker’s much-debated format change gets an interesting update from CBS.
Justin Hartley’s live-action adaptation of The Never Game has been a massive success ever since it premiered in 2024. Unlike the traditional procedural, Tracker doesn’t rely on a big ensemble and focuses more on Colter Shaw as he operates mostly by himself on the ground. The premise of the series is simple — Hartley’s character makes a living by finding missing people. Originally, that was intertwined with a bigger family mystery that is now resolved after the 2025-2026 TV cycle.
When Tracker returns as part of CBS’s fall 2026 lineup, it will be starting a new era in more ways than one. Firstly, it will tackle a brand new overarching narrative after solving Ashton Shaw’s death. Secondly, it will be moving production from Canada to Los Angeles. After three seasons, an evolution of some sort is needed. With the way Tracker season 3 ended, the series is open to an entirely new frontier that would shift its storytelling format, including delving deeper into McIntyre’s operation and Colter spending more time in his home base rather than roaming the country in his trailer.
A new social media post from Tracker announcing season 4’s release date has its caption confirming that, amid the questions about the show’s potential official format change, the series will maintain its DNA of being about tracking missing people. “Every missing person has a story. Every lead matters,” it read. Check out the post below:
Keeping Tracker‘s original storytelling format makes sense. It’s on network TV, which means that it is guaranteed a yearly release of around 18 episodes upwards, assuming that it gets renewed annually. Granted that CBS has started doing shortened seasons, like what it’s doing with some NCIS spinoffs, Fire Country season 5, and Matlock season 3, but given how successful Hartley’s show is, the chances of that happening are very slim to none — at least in the near future.
For what it’s worth, this doesn’t mean that Tracker season 4 can’t evolve. Because it relies on only one main character, the repetitiveness of some stories is more obvious compared to the traditional procedural on basic broadcast channels. Because of this, CBS needs to find ways to infuse fresh stories into it. A wider selection of creative weekly cases would be a good start, but a new overarching storyline with fresh players could also drum up new hype for the project.
Luckily for CBS, Tracker season 4 has more room for additional storylines with the central Shaw family mystery now officially resolved. This makes it easier for Hartley’s project to introduce fresh concepts that could shake things up for the procedural. It’s also time to fully utilize Colter’s allies, as fleshing them out to be multidimensional characters could help Tracker diversify its narratives.
Tracker
6/10
- Release Date
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February 11, 2024
- Showrunner
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Elwood Reid
- Writers
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Ben H. Winters, Hilary Weisman Graham