Olson, Kaitlin (1975- )

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    In ‘High Potential,’ Kaitlin Olson Gets Smart

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    Earlier this month, the actress Kaitlin Olson was in her Los Angeles kitchen slicing a lemon.“I was really cutting it hard,” she said. “I put 100 percent of my effort into it.”The knife slipped, nearly severing her pinkie, which explained why, on a morning a few days later in Manhattan, Olson, 49, had accessorized her black silk blouse and black pants with a black finger splint. (She also wore an array of diamonds, one the size of a kumquat.) The look was working. A waiter asked if she was in town for fashion week.There are few things that Olson — tall and emphatically blond, with screwball energy — does lightly. As concerns comedy, physical stunts and also apparently cooking, her approach is full contact. On the set of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the cheeky FX comedy she has co-starred in for nearly 20 years, she has broken her foot, slashed open her calf and suffered at least one possible concussion. “Definitely worth it,” she said of the scene.This wasn’t her first food-prep injury, and she skipped the emergency room. She didn’t have the time. In addition to “Sunny,” she is a guest actor on the HBO show “Hacks” and the star of a new ABC procedural, “High Potential,” in which she plays a cleaning woman with savant-like tendencies who consults for the police. It premieres on Tuesday.In “High Potential,” Olson’s character cleans the police station … and soon helps the officers solve cases.David Bukach/DisneyWhile it is not Olson’s first series lead (that would be the Fox comedy “The Mick”) or her only chance to flaunt her aptitude for drama (see also: “Hacks”), “High Potential” showcases her dizzy, daffy, sardonic gifts. Which Olson appreciates.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      New to ‘It’s Always Sunny’? Watch These 5 Episodes

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      The sitcom, about to become American TV’s longest-running live-action comedy, isn’t everyone’s kind of humor. These episodes capture the show’s brand of boundary-pushing satire.“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is one of the most successful comedies in TV history, but it isn’t for everyone.The show has obviously done something right — its upcoming 15th season, debuting Wednesday on FXX, will make it the longest-running live-action sitcom in U.S. television history. But fans of today’s gentler comedies, like “Schitt’s Creek” and “Ted Lasso,” will find little optimism or redemption in “Sunny.” They won’t even find much character growth.What they will find is a brilliant ensemble of self-centered neurotics who somehow manage to be likable, despite their best efforts. (Think “Seinfeld,” if everyone were stupider and worked in a South Philly Irish pub.) The show, which is available to stream on Hulu, has at times been called offensive. Its creator, Rob McElhenney, calls it “satirizing ignorance.” If you aren’t yet familiar, here are five great episodes (technically six) that should give you the overall flavor — somewhere between a delicious Jim’s cheesesteak and a beer with a cigarette butt in it.‘Mac and Charlie Die’Season 4, Episodes 5-6Spoiler alert: Mac and Charlie, two of the show’s main characters (played by McElhenney and Charlie Day, an executive producer), do not die in this two-parter. They do, however, fake their deaths in order to avoid being murdered by Mac’s jailbird father (Gregory Scott Cummins). It’s a long story. “First step,” Mac warns Charlie, “do not douse yourself with lighter fluid.” Step 2 involves removing a lot of Charlie’s teeth.‘The Nightman Cometh’Season 4, Episode 13A longtime fan favorite, this episode follows the rehearsal and performance of a stage musical written by Charlie, who is generally relegated to doing “Charlie Work.” (“Basement stuff,” as he once described it. “Cleaning urinals, blood stuff, your basic slimes, your sludges — anything dead or decaying, I’m on it.”) That’s probably with good reason; his musical’s many terrible double entendres suggest a flair for the kind of unintentional offensiveness that would get him fired from most other jobs.‘The D.E.N.N.I.S. System’Season 5, Episode 10Dennis (Glenn Howerton) is the gang’s Lothario, whose depravity is matched only by his arrogance. But just in case, he has designed a program, “a careful, systemic approach that has allowed me to become the playboy that I am today.” “You’re a complete sociopath!” his sister, Dee (Kaitlin Olson), exclaims in horror. As is often the case, she speaks for the audience as the show knowingly eviscerates its male characters’ macho toxicity.‘A Very Sunny Christmas’Season 6, Episode 13This hourlong special finds the gang determined to live in the holiday spirit but thwarted by ghosts of Christmas past. The episode includes several of the most memorable moments in Sunnydom, including a scene in which Frank (Danny DeVito) sews himself into a leather couch. There’s also a bloody animated spoof of Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, involving chain-saw dismemberment, a meat grinder and a singing group of racist California Raisins.‘Chardee MacDennis: Game of Games’Season 7, Episode 7In what is probably a meta moment reflecting the frustrations of brainstorming another new plot, the gang undertakes a game of its own making that includes stoppage time for injuries, a level devoted to “emotional battery and public humiliation” and a lot of drinking. “It’s about to get real dark, real quick,” Dee says, before the game devolves into a frenzy of absurdity and nihilism. Just another day at Paddy’s Pub. More