We’re nonetheless simply a few months into the 2025 TV schedule, and CBS already has nice information for a lot of of its present collection. No fewer than 9 reveals have been renewed for the 2025-2026 TV season, with Ghosts even getting a double renewal. Tracker followers particularly have quite a bit to have fun, because the renewal for Season 3 comes simply days after Justin Hartley’s drama returned from its winter break with a midseason premiere that delivered some long-awaited closure. The excellent news jogged my memory of what Hartley shared about why Tracker ought to be inconceivable to make, and it is clear that every one the laborious work paid off but once more.
After I spoke with Justin Hartley about Colter Shaw’s dedication to lastly shut a case that has been on his thoughts for a decade, he opened up concerning the taking pictures schedule to provide 22 episodes that air between October and (normally) mid-Might. He shared that it “takes eight days for us to movie one episode,” and typically they only “should take a break in order that the writers can catch up, so the editors can catch up, so the taking pictures schedule can catch up.”
Contemplating how action-packed Tracker is on a weekly foundation – to not point out quite a lot of filming areas throughout Vancouver – I famous to the actor that it would not appear to be it ought to be attainable to movie a full episode in simply over every week. (You could find all episodes to this point streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.) Hartley responded:
It should not be attainable, and fairly frankly, my physique is agreeing with you as nicely. My physique and my mind are like, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ [laughs] However we get by means of it. A part of it, truthfully, is simply ensuring that the actors – as it’s best to, it is the naked minimal – come ready, and it all the time blows my thoughts if you present as much as units with actors and it is like, ‘How do you present up and never know your traces? How did you sleep final evening?’ However on our present, we have been actually fortunate.
Justin Hartley had opened up concerning the “grueling” schedule for Season 1 that resulted in nice scores and an early renewal in 2024; that does not appear to have modified for Season 2. The This Is Us alum was clear that whereas he encountered actors who weren’t fully ready for work elsewhere in his profession, that did not apply to Tracker. He went on:
Folks are available in and so they obtained their stuff. That saves loads of time, as a result of we do not have loads of time. We’ll do two takes, possibly one or two takes, after which we have got to maneuver on, since you simply haven’t got time for 5, six, seven takes. Now we have top-of-the-line crews, and I believe our writers are so nice, and the appearing has been so good on the present that I believe that that helps with all that stuff. However yeah, eight days is a haul.
Once we spoke simply days earlier than the winter premiere in Tracker‘s new Season 2 time slot at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sundays, Hartley mentioned that the present was simply “ending [Episode 16]” with one thing like “a month and a half left.” All in all, regardless of how a lot time is left earlier than Season 2 wraps, it is not stunning that the community gave an early renewal.
Per CBS’ renewal announcement, Tracker at present ranks because the #1 leisure collection. Plus, the scores after 35 days are much more spectacular than the scores after every week of availability. On the finish of 2024, Tracker averaged an viewers of 11.4 million viewers in Stay+7 day totals. In Stay+35, Tracker is hitting greater than 18 million multiplatform viewers. Not solely is {that a} huge whole for a community TV drama, nevertheless it’s a lift of 4% from the Season 1 totals final yr.
So, what’s subsequent for Colter Shaw within the second half of Season 2? With the tip of thriller about Gina Pickett’s destiny, the serialized story can change again to the Shaw household drama. Whether or not which means a return of Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw stays to be seen, however Hartley teased that the chances of a return from Melissa Roxburgh as Dory Shaw are good. As for Colter’s first case following the winter return, try the promo for the brand new episode on February 23:
Watch On
Tracker kicks off CBS’ new Sunday evening lineup within the new yr, adopted by Morris Chestnut’s freshman collection Watson at 9 p.m. ET and Season 5 of Queen Latifah’s The Equalizer at 10 p.m. ET. Of these three, solely Tracker has renewed for a brand new season, though it is not stunning that Watson‘s destiny has but to be determined, as solely two episodes to this point have aired.
The opposite eight not too long ago renewed reveals along with Justin Hartley’s hit drama are Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Elsbeth, Ghosts, Fireplace Nation, NCIS, NCIS: Origins, NCIS: Sydney, and Hollywood Squares, becoming a member of beforehand renewed dramas FBI and Matlock.