The Rookie Shifts to Mondays to Accommodate RJ Decker; Scott Speedman’s New Series Set to Premiere on ABC
After its most successful streaming season premiere, ABC’s veteran series The Rookie, featuring Nathan Fillion, is set to shift its time slot. The cop drama will move from its current Tuesday 10 PM position to Mondays at 10 PM, beginning January 26, following the season premiere of American Idol. This strategic change will allow The Rookie to air alongside Idol for the remainder of the season, with its final 15 episodes set to run uninterrupted.
The Rookie’s former Tuesday slot will be filled by new drama RJ Decker, starring Scott Speedman, which is scheduled to premiere on March 3. The series will join Will Trent and High Potential on the night.
Initially ordered as a pilot, RJ Decker was later picked up to series with Speedman as the lead. The show follows a familiar formula: a light crime procedural centered around a distinct character played by a recognizable star, similar to The Rookie, High Potential featuring Kaitlin Olson, and Will Trent, led by Ramon Rodriguez.
This adjustment places RJ Decker directly after High Potential at 10 PM on Tuesdays, leveraging High Potential as a strong lead-in while moving The Rookie to a new night. Over its first seven seasons, The Rookie has shifted between Tuesday and Sunday. Although there may be a decline in traditional ratings with this move to Monday, the series has gained substantial viewership through streaming, particularly during the pandemic when it attracted a younger audience. Its robust social media presence may further enhance awareness of this scheduling change.
The Season 8 premiere of The Rookie has garnered significant engagement, with 475.6K interactions, making it the top social episode among all drama series on broadcast and cable to date this season.
In the interim, the 10 PM Tuesday slot following The Rookie’s exit may feature a mix of repeats and specials, especially given the upcoming State of the Union address on February 24. Additionally, with the Winter Olympics approaching, High Potential is expected to shift to repeats during the events, preserving original episodes for the lead-up to RJ Decker.
After the next week, High Potential will have eight original episodes remaining in its second season, while RJ Decker is believed to have a midseason order for nine episodes. If High Potential concludes its run before RJ Decker does, the latter could move to the 9 PM slot. Final scheduling decisions are still pending.
Based on the novel “Double Whammy” by Carl Hiaasen, RJ Decker follows the story of RJ Decker, a disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who reinvents himself as a private investigator in the vibrant yet crime-infested landscape of South Florida. The character navigates peculiar and bizarre cases with assistance from his journalist ex-girlfriend, her police detective wife, and a mysterious benefactor from his past.
In addition to Speedman, the cast includes Jaina Lee Ortiz, Bevin Bru, Kevin Rankin, and Adelaide Clemens. RJ Decker is produced by 20th Television, with Rob Doherty serving as the writer and executive producer. Executive producers also include Carl Hiaasen, Carl Beverly, and Sarah Timberman, while Paul McGuigan directs and executive produces, with Speedman contributing as a producer.
