Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of High Potential on ABC.
Kaitlin Olson is best known for playing Sweet Dee on FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for the better part of two decades, but she has a brand new project in the 2024 TV schedule before It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 17 is ready in the 2025 TV schedule. High Potential marks her return to a series regular gig on a major network after the end of The Mick back in 2018. After tuning in to the premiere of her new ABC show, I found myself thinking back to her sixteen seasons and counting on Always Sunny, and I have one big takeaway.
What High Potential Delivered In The Series Premiere
In High Potential, Olson plays single mom Morgan, who already has enough on her plate with three kids and job as a police station custodial worker even before she gets involved in a murder investigation. Due to her extremely high IQ, extensive knowledge of obscure facts, and need to fix mistakes when she sees them, she ends up helping the cops instead of facing charges for the number of crimes she commits within the very first episode. (You'll be able to stream the series premiere with a Hulu subscription.)
Standouts of the cast in addition to Olson include Judy Reyes as Selena and Daniel Sunjata as Karadec, and I just wish we'd gotten to see more of SNL alum Taran Killam as Morgan's ex, Ludo. There's still plenty of time for that, though, and High Potential was heavily featured in ABC's promotion for the fall TV season.
My Takeaway As An Always Sunny In Philadelphia Fan
There's certainly going to be no confusing High Potential's Morgan with Always Sunny's Sweet Dee, and I wondered ahead of watching the premiere if I'd be too biased by years of the FXX series to fully adjust to Kaitlin Olson playing a very different character. After all, I missed out on The Mick and have yet to tune into Hacks to see her in her Emmy-nominated guest role. Always Sunny is very definitively a comedy, and as a fan of the long-running sitcom I just wasn't sure what I'd make of Olson as star of a dramedy.
And my takeaway? I 100% want to see more of Kaitlin Olson in roles that combine drama with comedy. If anything, I'd say that High Potential is fundamentally a crime drama, but with Olson singlehandedly bringing the comedy as Morgan so far. I have to imagine that some laughs will come from Ludo so as to not waste Taran Killam's SNL-honed comedic skills, but Olson delivered the drama where needed and brought the comedy whenever High Potential started to veer a little too closely to a generic crime procedural.
Network TV is packed with crime dramas, and I watch a lot of them myself. High Potential could have just been another trying become a breakout hit in a genre dominated by franchises like Law & Order, NCIS, and the FBIs. High Potential makes the most of its status as a dramedy, shows a new side of Kaitlin Olson, and has me hooked for at least one more episode this fall.
Keep tuning in to ABC on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of High Potential. You'll also be able to stream the series on Hulu, where you can also watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 16. Filming for Season 17 will kick off in October, and the timing ties in nicely for Kaitlin Olson with High Potential.
