- Tracker dethroned NCIS as CBS’s most-watched show, garnering 10.8 million viewers per week in its first season.
- Colter Shaw’s straightforward approach and diverse cast make Tracker a refreshing watch compared to NCIS.
- Tracker’s cohesive storyline, deep mysteries, and focus on happy endings set it apart from the long-running NCIS series.
Key differences between Justin Hartley’s action drama and NCIS allowed Tracker to dethrone the police procedural as CBS’ most-watched television show. According to TV show ratings released by TVLine,NCIS had 9.7 million viewers tuning in each week for the 2023-2024 broadcast season, while Tracker topped that, garnering 10.8 million viewers per week in its first season. This achievement for Tracker is even more impressive when taking into consideration that it dethroned NCIS for the first time in five years.
While NCIS is one of the network’s most successful shows of all time, lone-wolf protagonist Colter Shaw had a successful first season on the network.Tracker scored an early renewal for Tracker season 2 after airing just four episodes. The reward-seeker offered something fresh to the network, with many of the things that worked for Tracker in its first season being things that NCIS cannot achieve as an aging series. The series has been renewed for NCIS season 22, but major differences between the dramas will make for worthy competition in the next TV season.
Tracker’s Single Season Makes It Easy To Get Into
So far, Tracker comprises a single season, unlike the NCIS franchise’s legendary expanse of episodes and spinoff shows. To see the Colter Shaw drama in its entirety, watching all 13 episodes of its first season at just over 40 minutes per episode, it might take a day or two if watched vigorously. When looking for something new and exciting to watch, Tracker makes for a nice weekend binge. This simple starting point pales in comparison to the makeup of the shared NCIS universe, which includes five existing NCIS shows with more in the works.
With the franchise recently celebrating the 1000th NCIS episode, it would take quite a bit longer to get familiar with the legendary police procedural. NCIS has been on CBS since 2003, and it has four spinoff shows that have released a multitude of episodes each as well, including NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai’i, and NCIS: Sydney. Getting to know the full story would require watching over 1000 episodes across five shows. If binge-watched, it would take about a month to cover the entire NCIS universe, even when watched back-to-back without taking any breaks [via CBS].
Colter’s Past Is Complicated, But His Present-Day Story Is Straightforward
Something that makes Justin Hartley’s character appealing is Colter Shaw’s duality of mystery and straightforwardness. While he has a complicated past that he will need to continue to resolve in Tracker season 2, Colter questions very little about how he should operate in the present. He is a man of percentages, using statistics and likelihoods to guide his decisions with logic above anything else. The ease with which Colter navigates harrowing circumstances has a calming effect when watching the show.
On NCIS, characters’ pasts and futures are more muddled and complicated, as are the difficult familial relationships that come with their demanding schedules as NCIS agents. Many of them don’t have a balance between their work and their family life, and it’s something that Colter Shaw does have. As hard as he works to return loved ones to their families, Colter is able to enjoy the adventure that comes with his lifestyle in the Tracker season 1 finale ending. The duality of Hartley’s character makes following the tracker a balanced and pleasurable experience.
