‘This is Us’ Star Lands New CBS Series After Final Season

Justin Hartley is going from NBC to CBS. Following the end of the fan-favorite tear-jerker drama This Is Us, the former soap opera star is producing and starring in a pilot order to The Never Game, a drama series adaptation of Jeffery Deaver’s novel Ken Olin is directing, per Deadline. The order was originally picked up in Sept. 2021. But due to Hartley’s commitment to the final season of This Is Us, The Never Game was pushed to the off-season. There was also a change in the writer, with Ben Winters replacing Michael Cooney. Winters’ script was delivered to CBS in mid-July and was very well received by the network. As a result, it’s been fast-tracked to production.

The series is based on Deaver’s novel, and features Hartley as lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw. Per the logline, Shaw “roams the country as a “reward seeker,” using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement to solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family.” Milo Ventimiglia and Chris Sullivan are also starring in the project, joining their This Is Us co-stars.

“I couldn’t be happier that The Never Game is coming to CBS, and that Colter Shaw will be brought to life on screen soon,” Hartley said at the time the series was announced. “When I read the book, I was immediately drawn to the character and the story; developing this project with Ken has been a true labor of love. Colter is going to kick some serious ass, and I can’t wait for audiences to meet him.”

Hartley isn’t new to the NBC family. He rose to fame as Fox Crane on the daytime soap opera Passions where he starred in the series from 2002 to 2006. His other acting credits include Smallville and The Young and the Restless among others.