High Potential is a Los Angeles show through and through – Morgan’s LAPD precinct, the freeways, the sun-baked crime scenes. The only asterisk is the pilot, which was quietly shot 1,700 km north in Vancouver before the series settled into its real home.
Here’s the short but interesting story of where it’s filmed.
Where was High Potential filmed?
The 2024 pilot was filmed in Vancouver, Canada – the industry’s default move for shooting a first episode fast and affordably. Once ABC picked the show up, production moved to Los Angeles, where the series is actually set, and everything from episode 2 onwards has been shot in and around LA on stages and locations.
That’s why eagle-eyed viewers sometimes clock a slightly different look in the pilot – different light, different streets, a suspiciously damp sheen on the pavement. Vancouver can fake many things, but LA sunshine isn’t really one of them.
The two locations, explained
Vancouver – the pilot
Episode one was produced in Vancouver, dressed as Los Angeles. It’s one of the most-filmed cities on earth, and pilot-for-another-city is its specialty – Fringe, among many others on this site, did exactly the same thing.
Los Angeles – the series
From the series order onwards, High Potential shoots in Los Angeles – precinct interiors on soundstages, exteriors around the city. Kaitlin Olson barely has to commute: her other show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, also films in LA.
Planning a visit
There’s no single pilgrimage site here the way there is for a show with one iconic house or diner – the series moves around LA week to week. If you’re in the city anyway, the Los Angeles filming locations page on this site lists what else has shot nearby, which in LA’s case is roughly everything.
