‘High Potential,’ ‘Brilliant Minds,’ ‘Penguin’ showcase diverse brains

2024 might be the pivotal year for neurodiversity on TV, as “High Potential,” “Brilliant Minds” and even “The Penguin” feature different types of mental spaces. Traditionalists need not feel left out, though: I’ll also take a look at “Murder in a Small Town,” “Rescue HI-Surf” and “Doctor Odyssey.”

Potentially brilliant

“High Potential” appropriately has the highest potential of this batch. It finds Kaitlin Olson toning down her “Always Sunny” quirkiness enough to be the appealing Morgan, a single mom whose brain can immediately see connections. This makes it difficult for her to hold down most jobs, but – TV naturally being a fantasy world – the local PD hires her as a consultant.

Although Drew Goddard is the showrunner, Rob Thomas had a hand in the creation. There’s residual “I, Zombie” energy here with the uniquely talented crime-solver and the people who circle around her, initially skeptical. Like that show, “High Potential” will have a case of the week and an ongoing mystery. Morgan’s long-missing husband is a macro-sized version of the cases of the week wherein the police detectives assume the obvious but Morgan can see past that to what really happened.

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Sticking with brilliantly diverse minds … “Brilliant Minds’ ” lead, Dr. Wolf (Zachary Quinto), has a flaw (face blindness) that’s also a strength (he sees beneath the surface). I love this concept – giving airtime to various unusual ways brains operate (or misfire, and need to be diagnosed and helped) — but episode one is quite manipulative.

It starts with a strawman setup where several people lambast Dr. Wolf for taking a dementia patient to his granddaughter’s wedding, where music unlocks his memories – for that night. “Brilliant Minds” is careful to note that there’s no cure, but Wolf wants to give the patient some last moments of happiness. No viewer is going to side with the jerks lambasting him for putting human compassion ahead of medical protocols.

His team of interns is appealing, and “Brilliant Minds” effectively shows that Wolf is not a jerk for having face blindness. You just have to be willing to understand why he doesn’t recognize people, and see his empathy within. A subtler touch would’ve improved the show.

Murders in big and small towns

All these kindly crime- and medical-mystery-solvers are a refreshing swing of the pendulum – which makes “The Penguin” a throwback as it chronicles a “Batman” villain. But the diverse-minds theme continues. I get a sense, especially with Colin Farrell’s turn that shines through the prosthetics of this so-ugly-he’s-cute mobster, that the Penguin could’ve been morally upstanding except he happened to be born with a club foot in the nasty city of Gotham.

The show spins off from Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” but it will appeal to fans of slow-burn mob dramas more than superhero actioners. We root for Oz Cobb/The Penguin by default, as with Tony Soprano. His young charge, street kid Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), is our entry point into Oz’s climb up the crime ladder in a rather grounded version of the city compared to last decade’s “Gotham.”

Comparisons will be hard to avoid; for example I like “Gotham’s” underused Sofia Falcone (Crystal Reed) more than “The Penguin’s” Sofia (Cristin Milioti). Decades down the road, these Bat-verses will blend together and best versions of the characters will unfortunately be scattered all over. And when I hear the mention of Gotham’s “kingpins,” I can’t help but think of how great “Daredevil” was; “The Penguin” does not approach that level of intrigue, pathos or fun.

OK, back to plain ole comfort TV. “Murder in a Small Town” is the coziest new show of the fall, a slightly less-silly “Murder, She Wrote.” New police chief Karl (calm-spoken Rossif Sutherland) solves a murder per week in a British Columbia coastal town and somewhat shyly romances cute librarian Cassandra (Kristin Kreuk). No super-powered brain here; he’s just excellent at his job as – like “High Potential” — “Murder” imagines a competent and corruption-free police department. (The GPD doesn’t seem to exist in “The Penguin’s” first installment.)

In this day and age, you’d assume there’s also a wider mystery to solve, but nope, just an unconnected murder per week. We’re not supposed to think about what that says about the town, the Cabot Cove of the Pacific. The Sunshine Coast looks great, though, proving that the Vancouver area has not worn out its welcome as a gorgeous shooting location.

On to the high seas

“Rescue: HI-Surf” also looks spectacular, shot on the North Shore of Oahu. The series has such a sense of place that I could embrace a bigger storyline, maybe something involving horror or sci-fi or a natural disaster. Instead, it’s just lifeguards rescuing people – like kids who plumb dangerous, rock-bottomed waters for items lost by surfers – and dealing with local politics and office romances.

Everyone is pretty likeable, led by Arielle Kebbel as the veteran lifeguard. I don’t usually watch these old-fashioned series about people in their workplaces, overcoming challenges to get the job done, but “Rescue: HI-Surf” reminds me of why so many people love this formula.

Perhaps the most surprising series to be populated with nice people is “Doctor Odyssey.” Ryan Murphy (“Glee”) is among the producers, and his shows often feature snarky, manipulative villains and perhaps a nice protagonist who gets made fun of. And usually they get unwatchably weird as hell very fast. Plus, this one is set on a pricey cruise ship, so you figure it’ll be filled with a**h***s.

Not the case: This medical drama is led by Joshua Jackson as the skilled and naturally charming Dr. Max Bankman. His boss (Don Johnson) and his assistants (Phillipa Soo and Sean Teale) are professional and amiable. The most extreme melodrama comes from Jackson’s and Soo’s characters thinking about sleeping together, then deciding it would be wrong. While we do get a plot about a fractured penis, “Doctor Odyssey” generally sands off the Murphian edge. Unfortunately, inoffensiveness isn’t enough of a reason to watch a second hour.

What survives the first-episode cut for me? “Murder in a Small Town” for its fireside coziness, and “High Potential” for its potential to have an “I, Zombie” type of appeal. Residual superhero-saga curiosity might find me going back to “The Penguin”; I’m just not into grim mob dramas at the moment. For shallow-yet-amiable TV, I’d pick “Rescue: HI-Surf”; it’s a day at the beach without the drive to get there.

“High Potential”: 4 stars

“Murder in a Small Town”: 4 stars

“Rescue: HI-Surf”: 3.5 stars

“Brilliant Minds”: 3 stars

“Doctor Odyssey”: 3 stars

“The Penguin”: 3 stars