Justin Hartley’s Latest Move Causes Anxiety For Tracker’s Future On CBS

Tracker has become one of the most-watched shows on television after its first two seasons, but series star Justin Hartley is about to start work on some new projects. Hartley’s starring role in Tracker sees him play Colter Shaw, a rewardist who earns a living by finding missing people and items.

There is a lot of anticipation for Tracker season 3, but the show is headed for some changes. Hartley is also heading for some professional changes, making Tracker’s future on CBS a little less certain than it was before.

Justin Hartley’s Company Expands With New Projects

Hartley Owns The Company ChangeUp Productions

Photo by Darko Sikman for CBS, Courtesy Everett Collection

Justin Hartley is not solely an actor. He has also worked as a director and producer. In fact, Hartley is one of the executive producers on Tracker through his company, ChangeUp Productions. He launched the company in 2019.

Also in 2019, Hartley signed a deal with 20th Television to develop projects with the other company. Ahead of the premiere of season 3 of Tracker, Hartley has signed another. This new deal is an update to the 2019 contract, allowing Hartley’s company and 20th Television to continue to develop more projects.

Deadline first broke the news of the new deal for Hartley.

The major project to come out of the first deal is Tracker, which means Hartley could be on his way to developing a new project that is equally as popular. That certainly brings about the potential for Hartley having a lot of irons in the fire and possibly slowing production on Tracker.

Plenty of actors have their own production companies that finance projects in which they do not personally appear. It’s unlikely that Hartley developing more projects would bring Tracker to a halt, but it could mean longer waits between seasons while Hartley is busy with the business end of the production company.

Tracker Has Become So Much More Dependent On Hartley

Tracker Has Downsized Its Cast Twice

Image for CBS via MovieStillsDB

Though Justin Hartley might be playing the titular Tracker in Colter Shaw, the first season of the series kicked off by creating an ensemble of characters who helped him on his jobs. From his handlers to the attorneys he knows to the technological experts who track cell phone movements for him, Colter Shaw has a group of people he can trust.

Tracker Series Regulars	Tracker Role
Justin Hartley	Colter Shaw	Image via CBS
Fiona Rene	Reenie Green	Image via CBS
Chris Lee	Randy	Image via CBS
Eric Graise	Bobby Exley	©CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection
Velma McEnany	Velma Bruin	Photo by Sergei Bachlakov for CBS, Courtesy Everett Collection
Robin Weigert	Teddi Bruin	Photo by Michael Courtney for CBS, Courtesy Everett Collection

In between seasons of Tracker, that group of people has been getting smaller, shrinking the number of series regulars for the show.

Following the first season, one of Colter’s handlers, Teddi Bruin, was written out of the show. After Tracker season 2, the announcement came that Colter would also lose his other handler, Velma Bruin, and his first “man behind the screen,” Bobby Exley.

Heading into season 3 of Tracker, the only series regulars remaining are Colter himself, lawyer Reenie Green, and Bobby’s cousin Randy, who also serves as one of Colter’s tech consultants. While there are certainly recurring characters who pop up in the show, shrinking the ensemble so much means the show depends on Colter even more.

More than ever, Tracker season 3 will be resting on Justin Hartley’s shoulders in the role of Colter Shaw. While Hartley has always been the face of the show, a smaller ensemble means less screen time for those other characters and an even larger focus on Colter than there was before.

Hartley has already been wearing a producer hat for Tracker, so adding more projects to his slate might not be a huge issue for the show, but it’s still likely to produce a little anxiety in Tracker fans who want him to play the role as long as possible.