He’s on track for post-Super Bowl success

For Justin Hartley, this is a new world – strong and silent … subtle sub-text … muted emotions …
That’s in “Tracker” (shown here), which debuts Feb. 11 after the Super Bowl, then stays in CBS’ Sunday line-up. It definitely was not the vibe of “This Is Us,” his previous show.
“After six years of babies and dogs, we wanted to do something (different),” Ken Olin, a producer-director on both shows, said in a virtual press conference. He added, tongue-in-cheek, that Hartley “wanted to carry a gun and get in fights.”
He does that as Colter Shaw in “Tracker,” crossing the country in an RV to find things (people, mostly) and collect rewards. There are modern touches – high-tech friends he can reach online – but mostly he’s like the quiet heroes of “Have Gun Will Travel” or “The Fugitive” or “Run For Your Life” or countless movies.
“I’ve always been a fan of that kind of character,” Hartley said. But it’s a change from his “This Is Us” years, when feelings were voiced and emotions were unmuted.
“It’s a bit scary” to be silent,” Hartley said. He’ll sometimes think: “I’ve been still and silent for a good, solid 40 seconds. Is that boring? (Will) people think I’m asleep?”
Olin has also starred in a talk-about-feelings show, in his case “Thirtysomething.” But he liked “the old PI (private investigator) shows that I grew up with.”
Then he found Jeffery Deaver’s “Never Game” novel, about a survivalist who finds people. “He’s a good man,” Hartley said, “and he wants to do good things for people.” But he’s also restless, the survivor of a “really unique, strange kind of childhood.”
He’s a loner, wich works better in books than on film. “You have to (show) what’s going on in his head, without just him talking to himself all the time,” Hartley said,
So he was given:
— Two phone friends (played by Abby McEnany and Robin Weigert), who can look things up and book new jobs. “I’m always looking for the jobs that will give us the most money for the least risk for our boy,” Weigert said.
— A computer whiz. That was planned as a grizzled military veteran, about 55. Then Eric Graise, much younger, impressed in the auditions. In real life, Graise admitted, he’s “not the guy you call for computer stuff. I’m more of a Dungeons & Dragons kind of nerd.”
— Colter’s mother, originally Mary McDonnell, then re-cast with Patricia Clarkson.
— A lawyer who likes – and argues — with Colter. “She doesn’t take any of his bull,” said Fiona Rene, who plays her. “I think she likes to fight.” She provides some verbal bursts, in a strong-and-silent sort of show.