ABC spring lineup High Potential and The Rookie January 2027 return dates, Digi Mart USA News: ABC’s fall procedural lineup has two weeks left before its mid-season finales and winter hiatus, but premiere dates for the spring lineup have only just been announced.
Like 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Nashville, Grey’s Anatomy, and R.J. Decker, ABC’s procedurals premiering new seasons this January all concluded their most recent seasons last spring.
Fans of those shows only had to wait through the standard summer hiatus, while fans of High Potential and The Rookie will wait up to nine months before their shows return.
For Will Trent, which has been on this timeline since its debut, the schedule is expected. The Rookie and High Potential, however, initially aired in both the fall and the spring and have since been moved to the spring alone.
Their return dates were not announced until last week, leaving just under two months before they return the first full week of January.
The Rookie has been on the spring schedule for three seasons, but High Potential has only just been moved there. That choice is particularly jarring because the series is only in its third season and its second season was highly successful.
Just as the show was gaining momentum, it was placed on break for nine months, leaving fans to speculate about the fallout of the Season 2 finale’s intense cliffhanger.
The Rookie began as a show about a man starting over at forty-five and became a full ensemble drama around season three. Fans of the show may be used to the schedule by now, but it remains frustrating to watch a beloved network show air for only about a third of the year before going on break for the rest.
Both shows ended their most recent seasons with major cliffhangers. In The Rookie, the fan-favorite pairing of Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) became engaged in a beach proposal, only to be abducted seconds later.
In High Potential, Captain Nick Wagner (Steve Howey) went to a meetup for information about the mystery of what happened to Roman Sinquerra, and Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) found him shot and left for dead, leaving his fate unresolved over the hiatus.
Both series have likely lost some momentum after their unusually long breaks, and many viewers will need a refresher on previous events before the new episodes air. The publisher argues that ABC should do better with its spring lineup and stop moving shows to mid-season after they have previously aired for the full season.
High Potential returns to ABC on Tuesday, January 5, at 9:00 P.M. EST.
The Rookie returns the following night, Wednesday, January 6, at 9:00 P.M. EST.
