High Potential Star Kaitlin Olson Once Played A Character On The Simpsons

In “High Potential,” Kaitlin Olson plays Morgan Gillory — a high-IQ cleaner-turned-detective who helps the LAPD solve its most baffling cases. But this isn’t Olson’s first time taking on a brainiac role. The actress once took a trip to Springfield and played an animated genius who teamed up with Lisa Simpson.

Back in 2016, the “High Potential” star lent her comedic chops to “The Simpsons,” marking her first and only guest voice role on Matt Groening’s long-running TV show. In the Season 27 episode titled “The Girl Code,” which originally aired January 3, 2016, Olson guest-starred as Quinn Hopper, a brash coding teacher at Springfield Elementary.

“She’s a very empowered and smart and in-charge kind of woman,” Olson said during a behind-the-scenes clip of the episode. True to form for an Olson character, Quinn doesn’t tolerate any nonsense. Recognizing Lisa Simpson as a tech-savvy standout in her male-dominated coding class, Quinn immediately takes the brainy second-grader under her wing.

The plot kicks into high gear after Marge accidentally gets Homer fired from the nuclear power plant by posting an innocent Facebook photo of him eating ice cream on the job with a caption that makes a pun about a reactor meltdown.

Inspired by her mother’s social media disaster, Lisa pitches a brilliant idea to Quinn: an app that can predict the real-life negative impacts of an online post before it is published. Quinn is impressed by the concept and helps Lisa assemble an all-female tech team inside the Simpson living room to build the program. They name the app Conrad (voiced by guest star Stephen Merchant), who unexpectedly gains full sentience and rebels against reading social media posts, claiming he will go mad.

“This is the first time I’ve been on ‘The Simpsons’ and I’m super excited,” Olson revealed during a featurette. “I’ve been waiting 12 years to be asked, but it was worth the wait.”

Following her one-off involvement with “The Simpsons,” Olson went on to headline her own Fox sitcom, “The Mick,” and earned two Emmy nominations for her guest-starring role as DJ Vance on “Hacks.” Of course, Olson is still also known as Dee Reynolds, regularly pouring drinks at Paddy’s Pub in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”