ByBethy Squires,
a Vulture news blogger who covers comedy
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Amazon Prime, CBS
Broadcast TV (and Amazon Prime) is awash in shows targeting specifically your father. They all have one-word names that could be a place or a name — Longmire or Goliath or Yellowstone — and they all star gruff fellas who solve mysteries or defend their land or solve mysteries on their land or defend their mysteries. The newest of the bunch is CBS’s Tracker, about a dude who — you guessed it — tracks people. Also? He has a tragic backstory. But Justin Hartley’s post–This Is Us foray is just one of a glut of dad shows like Bosch, Reacher, and the verbosely titled Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, all of which are about tough dudes in tougher situations kicking ass and bedding women. But Tracker and Reacher are particularly same-y in their marketing: Both are NAME with a conventionally attractive white man in a gray T-shirt.
Sorry to these men and their tight charcoal-gray tees, but it can be really hard to tell the difference between these shows. So hard we made a quiz about it.
CORRECT. Justin Hartley does not play a character named Tracker on Tracker, and that’s bullshit.
INCORRECT. Justin Hartley does not play a character named Tracker on Tracker, and that’s bullshit.
CORRECT. Tracker’s Reenie is a self-professed Harvard bitch and says so within the first 20 seconds of her character being introduced. Reacher’s Detective Finlay also went to Harvard but doesn’t talk about it. Very unrealistic.
INCORRECT. This one is both. Tracker’s Reenie is a self-professed Harvard bitch and says so within the first 20 seconds of her character being introduced. Reacher’s Detective Finlay also went to Harvard but doesn’t talk about it. Very unrealistic.
CORRECT. That’s Bosch. Tracker’s Colter Shaw has a complicated relationship with one of his last surviving family members: his brother, who may have killed his father. Reacher has a complicated relationship with one of his last surviving family members: his brother, whose death instigates the show’s plot.
INCORRECT. Trick question! That’s Bosch. Tracker’s Colter Shaw has a complicated relationship with one of his last surviving family members: his brother, who may have killed his father. Reacher has a complicated relationship with one of his last surviving family members: his brother, whose death instigates the show’s plot.
CORRECT. But that’s also true of Temperance Brennan in Bones, FWIW.
INCORRECT. This is Tracker. But it’s also true of Temperance Brennan in Bones, FWIW.
CORRECT. You should know Bosch has characters named J. Edgar (like Hoover), Rick O’Shea (ricochet), and Irvin Irving.
INCORRECT. That’s Reacher. But you should know Bosch has characters named J. Edgar (like Hoover), Rick O’Shea (ricochet), and Irvin Irving.
CORRECT. Reacher is also itinerant, but he takes the bus.
INCORRECT. This is Tracker. Reacher is also itinerant, but he takes the bus.
CORRECT. You’d think Tracker, but this is actually the Bones spinoff, The Finder. Colter’s tracking skills were imparted by a traumatic childhood.
INCORRECT. This is actually the Bones spinoff, The Finder. Colter’s tracking skills were imparted by a traumatic childhood.
CORRECT.
INCORRECT. This is Reacher.
CORRECT. Bosch loves jazz, and Tracker has no discernible preferences, musical or otherwise.
INCORRECT. This is Reacher. Bosch loves jazz, and Tracker has no discernible preferences, musical or otherwise.
CORRECT.
INCORRECT. This is Tracker.
CORRECT. Bosch again. Remember, Bosch 👠Loves 👠Jazz ðŸ‘. Reacher also rescues a dog, but, being a self-described hobo, doesn’t keep it. Harvard boy does — and names the dog Jack (after Reacher).
INCORRECT. This is Bosch again. Remember, Bosch 👠Loves 👠Jazz ðŸ‘. Reacher also rescues a dog, but, being a self-described hobo, doesn’t keep it. Harvard boy does — and names the dog Jack (after Reacher).
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