Tracker Producer Comments on Potential Spinoffs
CBS’s Tracker was an instant hit for the network, garnering high ratings and positive reviews with its first season premiere earlier this year. While the show quickly grew in popularity, fans shouldn’t expect any spinoffs to be in development just yet.
According to TVLine, showrunner and executive producer Elwood Reid said there won’t be a spinoff anytime soon. While Reid has heard suggestions about splitting the show to create a larger brand, he doesn’t think it would be a good idea to go that route so soon. Reid noted that Tracker doesn’t have the same constraints as a police procedural, so there’s still a lot to explore on the show before it feels like it needs to expand with a spinoff.
“This show is so special with Justin [Hartley at the center], it was really important that we continue to expand the world, expand the cases, and [expand] what Tracker can do,” Reid said. “Unlike a lot of other shows — unlike a New York or Chicago cop show where they’re always solving a murder — I can go into any world, I can go into auto racing, I can go into Nashville, I can go into any world I want.”
It’s a strange show to branch out from. Executive producer Ken Olin added, “Elwood and I, we’re pretty happy doing this [a show]. It’s a strange show to branch out from, ‘It’s not easy to break out anymore…. I mean, look, Dick Wolf was very successful and all that, but are those [shows] old too?”
Reid clarified that he’s not entirely opposed to a spinoff happening at some point. It’s just that it’s an idea that “makes sense and seems obvious to us.” He added that if they were “lucky enough” to find a character compelling enough to “develop into a franchise, Ken and I would be first in line.”
Which Tracker characters could be spun off into a spinoff?
It’s not like Tracker doesn’t have a few viable directions to take with a potential spinoff series. Supernatural and The Boys star Jensen Ackles debuted in the first season as Colter’s brother Russell, and the actor will reprise the role for multiple episodes in Season 2. Hartley’s real-life wife, Sofia Pernas, also appeared in the first season as Billie Matalon, another Tracker, marking another example of a character capable of leading a spinoff series.
Ben H. Winters developed the series based on Jeffery Deaver’s The Never Game. Justin Hartley leads the cast as Colter Shaw. Other cast members include Robin Weigert, Abby McEnany, Eric Graise, Fiona Rene, and Lee Tergesen.
