Oval becomes slice of America for new crime comedy

A suburban high school on the Gold Coast has been transformed into a slice of Americana for a new US crime series being made in Queensland.

Set in Washington state in America’s northwest, The CW/ Roku series Good Cop/Bad Cop starring Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Clancy Brown (Dexter: New Blood, Billions) began production last month, with crews arriving on the Gold Coast this week.

Pacific Pines State High School has been turned into the home of the Edenvale Eagles American football team, with the school oval’s rugby league posts replaced by gridiron uprights.

American flags, Edenvale Eagles banners and a rustic old-time scoreboard have also been added to the scenery for production during the school holidays while classic American cars were also on hand.

Extras began arriving on the set on Wednesday morning but said they had been told they were not allowed to talk to the media. However, it is understood the scenes being shot at the school involve players from the Gold Coast Stingrays gridiron club as extras and members of the Brisbane Boys College music program to appear as a marching band for the football game.

Meester and Luke Cook, best known for appearing in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, star as a sister and brother detective team in the eightpart series merging drama and comedy.

Last month, Chloe Rickard, Executive Producer from production company Jungle Entertainment told media the Scenic Rim was “the perfect idyllic small town look for our story”, hinting they hoped to return for multiple seasons.

The series will screen as a Stan Original in Australia.

Stan chief content officer Cailah Scobie said: “Stan continues to be the Australian partner of choice for the international market, and we are delighted to collaborate with global content leaders The CW and Roku to deliver more world-class original content for our audience.”