While Freddie Highmore is currently busy saving lives as Dr. Shaun Murphy on ABC’s The Good Doctor, it looks like the actor is also heading to The CW for a different type of series. The network has picked up Italian period drama Leonardo, which co-stars the Bates Motel alum.
TVLine reports that the network famous for the Arrowverse, teen dramas and supernatural dramas has picked up Australian teen pregnancy comedy Bump as well as the biographical drama Leonardo, which centers on famous painter Leonardo da Vinci. The latter stars Poldark’s Aldan Turner, as well as Freddie Highmore and Matilda de Angelis from The Undoing. With more historical Highmore one the way, what exactly does this mean for The Good Doctor?
If you’re a fan of the ABC medical drama, there shouldn’t be any need to worry. Leonardo is one of several international acquisitions that The CW has ordered as a way to keep its schedule filled while its own original series are on hiatus. The Italian series has already filmed and it’s only eight episodes, with Highmore not even seeming to be a lead in the series. As such, nothing should hinder him from filming The Good Doctor if the medical series gets picked up for another season.
The Good Doctor centers around Freddie Highmore’s autistic Dr. Shaun Murphy at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, and there likely wouldn’t be a show anymore without him. A second season of Leonardo has been commissioned, to be sure, but if Highmore has to fly across the world to film it, it’s likely that series would just work around his Good Doctor schedule, or would simply film scenes that he’s not in. It wouldn’t be the first a show had to work around its lead, as Melissa Benoist was on maternity leave when Supergirl’s final season began production.
There’s currently no confirmation on when Leonardo will make its U.S. debut, but most of The CW’s series acquisitions air in the summer, when the majority of their original programming are on hiatus. So it’s very likely we won’t be seeing Leonardo until sometime next year.
The Good Doctor is in the midst of airing its fifth season, which sees the hospital under new ownership. Freddie Highmore’s performance as Dr. Murphy is a unique one and it would be greatly surprising if ABC made any changes with the hit series due to his relatively small role in The CW's Italian import.
Hopefully there really isn’t anything fans of The Good Doctor have to worry about, but I’m still very excited to watch Leonardo! Its plot, following the painter and his abundant curiosity, mystery and passion, is an intriguing one for sure. Fingers crossed we get a premiere date soon!
In the meantime, catch The Good Doctor on Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC! Check out CinemaBlend’s 2021 fall TV schedule to see what other shows to watch!
