Posted in: ABC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: high potential, The Rookie, Will Trent

High Potential, The Rookie, Will Trent: TV's Best Drama Series Lineup?

ABC's Tuesday lineup of High Potential, The Rookie, and Will Trent could very well be the best top-to-bottom night of network drama going.

On January 6th, ABC isn't just rolling out the returns of Nathan Fillion-starring The Rookie, Kaitlin Olson-starring High Potential, and Ramón Rodríguez-starring Will Trent. The network is also launching the best top-to-bottom night of dramatic television for the new year – at least, for now (more on that in a minute). I understand that posting something like that is inviting people to dismiss it as clickbait. I also know that some folks are going to get defensive and view something like this as a slap in the face to their favorite shows.

To clarify, this is not intended to disparage any other shows on other networks throughout the week. We're all about Matlock and Elsbeth (but CBS runs only two dramas on Thursday nights), as well as NBC's The Hunting Party, CBS's Watson, CBS's Boston Blue, and more. But ABC's Tuesday nights have a top-to-bottom lineup of shows that are scoring with critics and fans – and pulling in some big numbers along the way. With that in mind, we have some thoughts on why the three shows are scoring well with viewers, as well as some facts that demonstrate just how effectively they're doing so… and how CBS has a scheduling plan in place for March that could challenge ABC for the title.

"The Rookie," "High Potential" & "Will Trent": Procedurals Are Dead! Long Live Procedurals! Much like my feelings on "found footage" when it comes to horror films, I don't view procedurals as being this narrowly defined genre of programming that doesn't allow creators to stretch their wings creatively – and The Rookie, High Potential, and Will Trent make the cast wonderfully when it comes to what network dramas have to offer. Fillion's John Nolan, Olson's Morgan Gillory, and Rodríguez's Will Trent couldn't be any more different, yet they share the bond of being flawed yet stoic characters who see the need to keep fighting the good fight – even when they're dealt the kind of devastating setbacks that make them easier to relate to on a personal level.

They're also about more than just their leads. There isn't enough space to go over each and every member of each show's ensemble cast to give them the flowers that they deserve. But I think it speaks volumes about Fillion, Olson, and Rodríguez as confident leads that they surround themselves with actors who could carry a main storyline (or a spinoff) without missing a beat. If you need an example, look no further than The Rookie and the "Chenford" storyline, involving Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O'Neil), a storyline that is largely separate from John Nolan's but has become righteously popular with fans.

And then there's the connection between the casts and their respective creative teams, and their viewers. Between seasons, fans get a steady stream of updates and interactions on social media or through live conventions/fan events. During the season, you've got interactions going down between episodes to not only shorten the wait between episodes but also keep the online community vibe going. Those factors (and many others) combine to create the perfect environment for success. Speaking of which…

"The Rookie," "High Potential" & "Will Trent": A Broadcast/Streaming Dream Team – Early in December, Nielsen released its multiplatform+35 ratings charts for 2025 (through the end of November), which had a whole lot of good news for fans of ABC's primetime dramas. Some of the highlights:

• Currently midway through its second season, High Potential is in a dead heat with CBS's Justin Hartley-starring hit series Tracker for the title of most-watched entertainment series (minus sports and news programming) on broadcast television during the 2025 calendar year (the second half of the 2024-2025 TV season, and the first half of the 2025-2026 season). Each series averages approximately 16.5 million viewers.
• Meanwhile, The Rookie is not only a huge hit with Teens (12-17) but also ranks in the Top 5 with Kids (2-11). To be clear, we're talking about a drama series entering its eighth season, with a cast and storylines that many thought tended to skew only towards a more adult audience. Thanks to the streaming factor, that assumption no longer holds water.
• As for Will Trent, the drama series was in the Top 10 for both Total Viewers (P2+) and "Top 50 Broadcast 2025 Year-to-Date Multiplatform 35-Day Ranker. In addition, the series grew its total viewer audience in Live+7 ratings for the third year in a row, the only drama to accomplish that.

CBS Has Big Sunday Plans Beginning March 2026: As impressive as Tuesday nights are going to be for ABC, CBS has a plan in place beginning in March 2026 that could challenge High Potential, The Rookie, and Will Trent for the title of best night for television dramas. On March 1st, Tracker will be joined by Morris Chestnut-starring Watson on Sunday nights (moving from Monday nights), with Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" spinoff, the Luke Grimes-starring Y: Marshals, debuting between the two shows. Hartley's series is already a proven success, and Watson has been generating solid numbers and growing buzz. If Sheridan can bring the "Yellowstone" magic to broadcast television, we're looking at a strong Sunday night lineup for CBS – and now, two great top-to-bottom nights of television drama.

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