ABC‘s flagship series High Potential has found a new showrunner — and it’s a duo. Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, who ran the breakout first season of Poker Face, have been named executive producers and showrunners of the hit crime drama starring Kaitlin Olson ahead of its upcoming third season. They are replacing Todd Harthan, who stepped down in March after serving as showrunner for the first two seasons of the 20th Television-produced High Potential to focus on his new new series, Disney+’s Eragon.
The high-profile showrunner assignment falls under Zuckerman sisters’ overall deal with 20th Television. Under the pact, they most recently wrote and executive produced the Buffy reboot pilot, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which did not move forward at Hulu.
On High Potential, created and executive produced by Drew Goddard, the Zuckermans are working with the same top executives they worked with on Buffy: New Sunnydale: 20th TV President Karey Burke; Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich, who oversees 20th TV, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals; and Simran Sethi, who also works across the network and the streamer as President, Scripted Programming, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment.
“We are so grateful to be working with Craig, Karey, Simran and our partners at 20th and ABC on this exciting new chapter of High Potential,” Lilla and Nora Zuckerman said. “The fact we get to collaborate with Drew, Sarah and Andrea at Goddard Textiles and the incomparable Kaitlin Olson is a dream come true. We’re looking forward to climbing into the brilliant, bustling mind of Morgan Gillory and crafting intricate mysteries worthy of her genius.”
The change at the helm puts female showrunners in charge of a series with a female lead, something that is not as common in television than it probably should be.
Created by Goddard based on the French series Haut Potentiel Intellectue (HPI), High Potential stars Olson as Morgan, a single mom who discovers her ability to solve crimes — leading her to partner with a detective played by Daniel Sunjata.
The Season 2 series regulars also included original cast members Javicia Leslie, Deniz Akdeniz, Amirah J, Matthew Lamb and Judy Reyes as well as new addition Steve Howey who joined with a one-year deal.
Season 3 will be executive produced by Goddard and Sarah Esberg of Goddard Textiles, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman and Olson. Andrea Massaro of Goddard Textiles is co-executive producer.
Season to date, High Potential averages over 16 million total multiplatform viewers, ranking as the third most watched broadcast series in that category and #1 among Adults 18-49, based on Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings that measure Live+7 linear and 35-day streaming viewing. The series’ Season 2 premiere rose to 21.48 million total viewers after 35 days on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms.
The Zuckerman sisters executive produced Rian Johnson’s Peacock series Poker Face and served as showrunners on its award-winning first season. They have The Spy Coast, based on the Tess Gerritsen novel, in development at Amazon and are currently writing Scream 8 for Project X and Spyglass. The Zuckermans, whose series credits also include Fringe, Haven, Suits, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Prodigal Son, are repped by UTA and Lichter Grossman.
