If you’ve been scrolling through Hulu or catching bits of Kaitlin Olson being chaotic on ABC lately, you're probably asking yourself when did High Potential come out exactly? It feels like one of those shows that just appeared out of thin air and suddenly dominated the ratings. Honestly, the timing was a bit of a gamble. Television schedules are usually so rigid, but this show took a weird path to our screens.
The official premiere of High Potential happened on September 17, 2024.
It didn't just drop all at once like a Netflix binge. ABC went the old-school route. They aired the pilot at 10:00 PM ET, right after Dancing with the Stars. It’s a classic "tentpole" strategy. You take a massive, established audience and hope they don’t change the channel when the quirky new crime drama starts. It worked. People stayed.
Why the High Potential Release Date Kept Shifting
Timing is everything in Hollywood, but the industry was a mess leading up to this. You might remember the dual strikes—WGA and SAG-AFTRA—that basically shut down Tinseltown for months. Because of those delays, a lot of shows that were supposed to be "Fall 2023" hits got pushed into the 2024-2025 season. High Potential was one of them.
Drew Goddard, the guy behind The Martian and Daredevil, was attached to this project early on. But with the strikes, the production timeline became a moving target. If you feel like you've been waiting for this show for two years, you basically have.
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Actually, the show is based on a French smash hit called HPI (Haut Potentiel Intellectuel). That one came out back in 2021. If you're a hardcore fan of international TV, you might have seen the original before the American version even went into casting. This created a weird sense of "I've seen this before" for a specific subset of viewers, even though the US version only started its life in late 2024.
Breaking Down the Rollout
ABC didn't just dump the episodes. They used a hybrid model.
- Broadcast premiere on ABC.
- Next-day streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
This "next-day" thing is why so many people are confused about when did High Potential come out. If you’re a cord-cutter, the show "came out" for you on September 18, 2024. If you still have a digital antenna or cable, it was the 17th.
The first season was structured to run through the fall, take a breather for the holidays, and then wrap up. This isn't like the old days of 22-episode seasons. Modern network TV is leaning harder into "limited" or "shorter" seasons to keep the quality high. Kaitlin Olson plays Morgan, a single mom with a 160 IQ who works as a cleaning lady before becoming a consultant for the LAPD. It’s a high-energy role. You can’t churn out 24 episodes of that without the lead actress collapsing from exhaustion.
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The Mid-Season Hiccup
Wait, did it go on hiatus? Yeah.
After the initial run of episodes in late 2024, the show took a scheduled break. This happens every year with "Fall TV," but it always catches people off guard. You’re halfway through a mystery, and suddenly, there’s a three-week gap where nothing airs but Christmas specials. If you were searching for new episodes in December 2024 and found nothing, that’s why. The "second half" of the rollout is often what cements a show's legacy.
Why This Specific Release Window Mattered
Launching in September is a battlefield. You’re competing with NFL Sunday Ticket, Survivor, and the return of every other major procedural like HPI's cousin, Elsbeth.
ABC took a risk putting a character-driven dramedy in the 10:00 PM slot. Usually, that’s where you put the gritty, dark stuff. But Morgan’s character is bright—literally. She wears neon leopard print. Putting her on in the late-night slot was an attempt to capture the "cozy mystery" crowd while they were still buzzed from the energy of Dancing with the Stars.
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Is High Potential Still Coming Out?
If you're looking for Season 2, we’re in the waiting room.
The first season did incredible numbers. It became ABC’s most-watched new series in years. Usually, that’s an automatic "yes" for a second season. Given the production cycles, if Season 1 started in September 2024, we’d likely see a second season in Fall 2025. However, industry rumors always suggest they might try to fast-track more episodes if the streaming numbers on Hulu stay high.
What to Do Now if You’re Caught Up
If you’ve already blazed through everything that came out since September, you have a few options to scratch that itch while waiting for more:
- Watch the original: Search for HPI on streaming services. It’s French, so you’ll need subtitles (or to know French, obviously), but it’s fascinating to see how they adapted the character of Morgane Alvaro into the American Morgan Gillory.
- Check the Hulu "Extras": Sometimes ABC drops "Behind the Scenes" or "Inside the Episode" clips that aren't aired on the main channel.
- Track the ratings: If you’re a nerd for the business side, sites like Variety or The Hollywood Reporter track the "Live+7" numbers. These tell you how many people watched the show within a week of it coming out. High Potential has been crushing these metrics, which basically guarantees its survival.
The reality of "when a show comes out" is no longer a single date. It’s a rolling launch. It starts on a Tuesday night, hits an app on Wednesday morning, and finds a new life on social media clips by Thursday. For High Potential, that journey began on September 17, 2024, and it hasn't really stopped since.
Actionable Next Steps
To stay updated on the High Potential schedule and ensure you don't miss the next batch of episodes:
- Enable "My Stuff" on Hulu: Add the show to your watchlist to get push notifications the second a new episode (or Season 2) drops.
- Follow ABC on Socials: They usually announce "return dates" for mid-season premieres about three weeks in advance.
- Check Local Listings: If you're watching via a DVR like TiVo or YouTube TV, make sure your "Series Record" is set to "New Episodes Only" to avoid cluttering your drive with the inevitable reruns that ABC will air during the summer months.