High Potential has been a breakout hit for ABC, even earning the coveted spot after the upcoming Super Bowl LXI. The procedural follows Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson), a single mom with a photographic memory and a knack for relating to strangers, who becomes a consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department. She is paired with Daniel Sunjata’s Detective Adam Karadec who has a by-the-book approach to crime solving. Based on the French series HPI: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel, it was developed for American audiences by Drew Goddard. There’s been yet another behind-the-scenes shake-up in its short history. Deadline reported Nora and Lilla Zuckerman will take over as showrunners in Season 3, replacing Todd Harthan. He previously took over the role after Rob Thomas’ exit.
R.J. Decker has taken over High Potential’s typical Tuesday time slot. Following in the footsteps of Will Trent and The Rookie, ABC has pushed the series to its mid-season schedule. As viewers look to fill their time until High Potential returns for Season 3 in early 2027, Bones is the perfect replacement with its similar tone and crime-of-the-week format. But for fans of Morgan and Karadec’s romantic tension, the FOX series has one of the best slow-burn romances in television history.
What Is ‘Bones’ About?
Much like Morgan and Karadec’s unlikely partnership, Bones follows a forensic anthropologist who works with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to solve murders where the bodies are typically difficult to identify. Its titular Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel) works in the Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian Institute, a fictionalized version of the Smithsonian, and authors a popular series of crime novels. She partners with FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), a former military sniper. Despite their initial reluctance, they soon become enmeshed in each other’s lives.
The staff at the Jeffersonian round out most of the series cast, led by Dr. Cam Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), who fits a similar archetype as Judy Reyes’ Selena Soto in High Potential. She oversees the “squints,” as they’ve been nicknamed by Booth, including the “bug and slime guy” Dr. Jack Hodgins (TJ Thyne), artist and technology expert Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), and a slew of interns. Freaks and Geeks alum John Francis Daley joins the cast in Season 3, playing FBI psychologist Dr. Lance Sweets, and FBI star John Boyd plays FBI Special Agent James Aubrey starting in Season 10.
The series is loosely based on the life of Kathy Reichs, a real forensic anthropologist and author. Bones borrows its leading lady’s name, and not much else, from Reichs’ long-running book series which kicked off with Déjà Dead in 1997. As an Easter egg in the show, Brennan names her books’ main character after Reichs.
‘Bones’ Features One of TV’s Greatest Slow Burn Romances
Olson and Sunjata’s instant chemistry had fans wishing for an on-screen romance since the pilot, eagerly awaiting a longing glance, a reassuring hug, or a conspiratorial laugh. But before there was “Morgadec,” as they’re affectionately known online, there was the years-long slow burn at the heart of Bones. Booth and Brennan set the standard, often ranking among the trope’s all-time best on publications like BuzzFeed or TVLine. Deschanel discussed the writers’ reluctance to put the couple together, explaining to On the Red Carpet, “They would call it ‘curses,’ where they get the characters together too soon.”
Though, High Potential gender bends the Bones archetypes. While Morgan is the consultant with her photographic memory, she more closely matches Booth’s demeanor and also balances the dangers of the job with being a single parent. Karadec might be the detective, but his rigidity more closely matches Brennan. But Booth and Brennan push their differences even further, disagreeing on subjects like religion and marriage. Her scientific approach was initially at odds with his reliance on his intuition, but time strengthened their appreciation of the other’s skills. Soon their bond was forged in the field, fighting the clock to save each other from serial killers, jumping in front of guns, and putting their own careers at risk. They were eventually assigned a therapist to assess the health of their professional partnership, but continued the sessions for essentially couple counseling.
They continue to resist their undeniable tension, blaming maintaining their friendship and the dangers of the job. In the episode, “Man in the Cell,” Booth references the reason one of his relationships ended after an on-the-job attack, with the added context of they they would never work. “People who work in high-risk situations, they can’t be involved romantically because it leads to things like what happened,” Booth explains to Brennan. He added, “There’s this line and we can’t cross it.”
‘Bones’ Aired More than 200 Episodes
In the modern streaming landscape, short seasons and long hiatuses have become the norm. But Bones is an immersive experience, premiering on FOX in 2005 and running for 12 seasons. That is a total of 245 episodes.
Despite airing its series finale in March 2017, the show continues to expand its audience. “It keeps growing and growing,” Deschanel told On The Red Carpet in 2025. “It’s also hard for me to believe that it’s been 20 years, so it’s fun to see people discovering the show and then people like to watch it and then like to binge it.” Bones is currently streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, and Hulu.
Bones is the perfect series to fill the months until High Potential returns on ABC, which can also be streamed on Hulu and Disney+. Deschanel and Boreanaz’s overwhelming chemistry elevates the series from just another procedural and sustains its long run. And thanks to its hundreds of episodes, it has a cast of fleshed out characters for an engaging experience.
- Release Date
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2005 – 2017-00-00
- Network
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FOX
- Showrunner
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Hart Hanson
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Emily Deschanel
Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan
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