NCIS Meets Reacher In Network TV’s Most Popular Action Series

Published Jul 30, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT After joining Screen Rant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers. For the past two years, a new action show has ruled network television, taking the spot previously occupied by MacGyver, 24, and more recently by NCIS. The show in question has even challenged hugely successful streaming rivals like Prime Video’s Reacher for supremacy at the top of the viewing charts. Across three seasons and 55 episodes, the CBS vigilante thriller Tracker has proven that classic network TV formats and formulas can still pack a punch when it comes to the action genre. Fronted by Justin Hartley, whose best-known roles range from This Is Us to Smallville, it follows the escapades of Colter Shaw, a survivalist and modern-day bounty hunter. In this sense, Tracker feels a lot like Reacher, although its pacing, stylistic approach, and ensemble of technical support characters are more reminiscent of fellow CBS series NCIS. Either way, it’s managed to outperform both in terms of overall viewing figures since 2024. Unsurprisingly Tracker heads up the CBS schedule for fall 2026 in its usual Sunday evening slot. Only Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoff Marshals is able to challenge the show’s spectacular ratings, and the crime Western continues to serve as its lead-in. Tracker season 4 promises more of the same gritty, suspense-filled plotlines punctuated with high-intensity action sequences and explosive gun battles. There’ll be plenty for fans of both Reacher and NCIS to enjoy. CBS Action Series Tracker Feels Like NCIS Crossed With Reacher CBS When Tracker managed to dethrone NCIS as the most watched CBS show in 2024, many viewers inevitably drew similarities between the two series. In fact, this action thriller created by Ben H. Winters is essentially an all-terrain, vigilante version of the NCIS formula, with a lone wolf in place of multiple protagonists within a larger team. Both shows fundamentally follow a case-of-the-week format, although Tracker does feature a single overarching mystery in each season that runs alongside self-contained weekly storylines. At the same time, they differ when it comes to the purpose of their respective plots, in that one simply seeks to solve crimes whereas the other looks for fully-fledged resolutions. One thing that may have helped it overtake NCIS in the ratings is the departure of lead actor Mark Harmon from the long-running crime procedural. Harmon’s supervisory agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the closest character in his series to Tracker’s strong-and-silent central antihero Colter Shaw. Yet, Shaw has far more in common with another iconic small-screen protagonist from the present decade. Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher is also a hard-as-nails vigilante, who works on his own to dispense justice despite his status as a vagrant social outcast. Reacher perhaps burns a little faster than Tracker, with higher-octane thrills. But it’s no coincidence that these two series have climbed to the top of TV ratings in the same era. Audiences are apparently looking for hard-hitting lead characters operating outside but alongside the law. Tracker Is The Most Watched Action Show On Television Image via CBS Marshals has overtaken Tracker’s ratings earlier this year, but it remains the most watched series on television that sits definitively within the action genre. It has the second highest viewership of any network show for 2025–2026, and just five streaming releases outrank it. None of these releases are action shows, and only His & Hers overlaps with Tracker in genre terms. Most Watched Action TV Shows 2025–2026 Network/Streaming Platform Tracker CBS/Paramount+ Fallout Prime Video The Rookie ABC/Hulu/ Disney+ NCIS CBS/Paramount+ FBI CBS/Paramount+ Source: Nielsen via Variety With the series losing some ground with critics and viewers alike in season 3, it isn’t clear whether it can sustain such impressive ratings into season 4, especially with the likes of Marshals already challenging its throne. Nevertheless, its achievements over the past two and a half years set it apart from any other show on CBS. Tracker reflects the overwhelming popularity of a new breed of action series, which combines formulaic procedural elements with unflinching physical grit, cutting-edge visuals, and an anti-establishment perspective on justice. Even if it doesn’t stay at the top of network television for long, another show like it is probably waiting in the wings. Release Date February 11, 2024 Network CBS Showrunner Elwood Reid Tracker follows lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw as he navigates the country as a reward seeker. Utilizing his expert tracking skills, he aids private citizens and law enforcement in solving various mysteries while grappling with issues from his fractured family.