“Justin wanted to carry a gun and get in fights,” director/producer Ken Olin said

After six seasons of This Is Us, actor Justin Hartley and director/producer Ken Olin join forces once again for the show Tracker.

Where to watch Tracker: Watch on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S., watch on CTV and the CTV app in Canada
Tracker release date: Premiered Feb. 11, with episodes weekly on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT
Cast: Justin Hartley, Abby McEnany, Robin Weigert, Fiona Rene, Eric Graise, Paniz Zade
Number of episodes: 8
Where was Tracker filmed: Vancouver

“I think both Justin and I, after six years of of babies and dogs, … we wanted to do something that would be fun for us to do,” Olin told reporters. “Probably we were looking for something that was a little more story driven, plot driven.”

“Justin wanted to carry a gun and get in fights. So I was in the mood to try to find something that maybe harkens back to the old P.I. shows that I grew up with. … Shows like The Rockford Files and Mannix, and things like that. But I didn’t want to reboot a show. I wanted to find something that was based on a character who had a more contemporary psychological background.”

What is ‘Tracker’ about

Based on the novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, Hartley plays Colter Shaw who’s made a career from being a “rewardist.” That means Colter travels with an Airstream trailer to follow rewards being offered to find a missing person, including children.

Coordinating his next moves are Velma (Abby McEnany) and Teddi (Robin Weigert), who are also responsible for solving problems when Colter gets into trouble, like ending up on the wrong side of law enforcement. That includes working with lawyer Reenie (Fiona Rene), who has some personal history with Colter, but ultimately is a no-nonsense, impressive lawyer.

Of course, Colter also has a tech genius to help him get the information he needs to track down these missing people, courtesy of Eric Graise’s character Bob.

In the first episode, we get a sense of how Colter’s upbringing, with an aggressive, survivalist father, impacted his life, including giving Colter skills to do this job. But there’s a particularly interesting twist, related to Colter’s brother, that creates an interesting personal arc for Colter as well.

Of course, Colter also has a tech genius to help him get the information he needs to track down these missing people, courtesy of Eric Graise’s character Bob.

In the first episode, we get a sense of how Colter’s upbringing, with an aggressive, survivalist father, impacted his life, including giving Colter skills to do this job. But there’s a particularly interesting twist, related to Colter’s brother, that creates an interesting personal arc for Colter as well.