Many TV fans arguably know actress Tracy Spiridakos best as Chicago P.D.’s Det. Hailey Upton, and her absence from the NBC drama following her Season 11 finale exit has certainly been felt, and her return for Season 13’s big crossover only reminded fans what was missing. Thankfully, Spiridakos is wearing a badge once more for the new crime drama Anna Pigeon, and it sounds like there’s already reason to sound the celebratory sirens.
A new entry to the 2026 TV schedule, Anna Pigeon is based on the series of hit novels authored by Nevada Barr, with Spiridakos starring in the titular role of a National Park Service Law Enforcement Ranger stationed at Glacier National Park in Montana. (Don’t expect any Yellowstone universe crossovers.) The series premiere dropped on August 7, and it sounds like audiences wasted little time in getting their eyeballs on it.
According to Nielsen (via Deadline), the debut episode "Track of the Cat" averaged an impressive 2.25 million viewers across its first three days after release across USA, E! and Syfy. Within that total, around 269,000 fell into the key 18-29 demographic.
For USA, that makes Anna Pigeon the highest-rated original series to debut on USA in nearly eight years, with 2018's The Purge and Unsolved likely being the most recent shows to score higher for the cable channel. Not that it's cranking original shows out the way things went in the past, but it's still a fantastic show of promise for the new show, and it seems pretty clear that it's main star had a lot to do with it.
Speaking of, here's a recent post throwing back to her first day of work on the new show.
Speaking of social media, it's also noted that Anna Pigeon's first trailer release sparked over 9.5 million impressions since it dropped.
- I Rewatched Tracy Spiridakos' First Episode Of Chicago P.D. After Upton's Departure, And I Appreciate Her Final Season More Now
- How Jesse Lee Soffer, LaRoyce Hawkins And Co. Responded After Tracy Spiridakos Left Chicago PD
- Chicago P.D.'s Tracy Spiridakos Shows Off Doll Version Of Halstead Behind-The-Scenes On Season 11
To be fair, it's probably more than just Tracy Spiridakos drawing viewers into the nature-filled drama. For one, it was created by Rookie Blue and Saving Hope co-creator Morwyn Brebner, with both of those series lasting 5 or more seasons. Also behind the camera is Back to the Future and The Chicken Sisters star Lea Thompson, who serves as director for the season.
On the cast side, we've got Reservation Dogs' Paulina Alexis, Star Trek: Discovery's Ronnie Rowe, Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer, Sons of Anarchy's Kim Coates, Letterkenny's Melanie Scrofano and plenty of others. Helfer and Spiridakos playing sisters should be the norm in everything either one of them stars in going forward.
Check out the behind-the-scenes video below laying out what else fans can expect to see playing out across Season 1.
With hopefully more positive viewership updates coming in the weeks ahead, Anna Pigeon airs Friday nights on USA at 10:00 p.m. ET, followed by inside-look specials focusing on each episode.
