# Brilliant Minds

Brilliant Minds is an American medical drama television series created and written by Michael Grassi for NBC that is inspired by the Oliver Sacks books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. It premiered on September 23, 2024.

## Cast
### Main

* Zachary Quinto as Oliver Wolf, an attending neurologist at Bronx General Hospital
* Tamberla Perry as Carol Pierce, the chair of psychiatry
* Ashleigh LaThrop as Ericka Kinney, a first-year resident
* Alex MacNicoll as Van Markus, a first-year resident
* Aury Krebs as Dana Dang, a first-year resident
* Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash, a first-year resident
* Teddy Sears as Josh Nichols, the chair of neurosurgery at Bronx General Hospital

### Recurring

* Donna Murphy as Muriel Landon, Wolf's mother, the chief medical officer
* Alex Ozerov-Meyer as John Doe
* Rainbow Sun Francks as Morris Allen
* Julia Chan as Alison Whitaker
* Mandy Patinkin as Noah Wolf, a family care doctor who develops a mentor relationship with his son Oliver.
* Ted Sutherland as Teen Oliver Wolf
* Jaden Waldman as young Oliver Wolf

### Guest

* André De Shields as Harold
* Steve Howey as Wyatt James
* Sammi Hanratty as Bridget
* Brendan Hines as Simon
* Susan Bay Nimoy as June Sullivan

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | Lee Toland Krieger | Michael Grassi & Alex Berger | September 23, 2024 (2024-09-23) | T15.10168 | 3.92 |
| 2 | "The Disembodied Woman" | Lee Toland Krieger | Michael Grassi | September 30, 2024 (2024-09-30) | T13.25102 | 3.46 |
| 3 | "The Lost Biker" | DeMane Davis | Sara Saedi & Ryan Knighton | October 7, 2024 (2024-10-07) | T13.25103 | 3.30 |
| 4 | "The Blackout Bride" | Deborah Kampmeier | Davia Carter & Daniela Lamas | October 14, 2024 (2024-10-14) | T13.25104 | 3.09 |
| 5 | "The Haunted Marine" | Charles Randolph-Wright | Aisha Bhoori & Will Ewing | October 21, 2024 (2024-10-21) | T13.25105 | 3.12 |
| 6 | "The Girl Who Cried Pregnant" | Jordan Canning | Stasia Demick & William Yu | October 28, 2024 (2024-10-28) | T13.25106 | 2.63 |
| 7 | "The Man From Grozny" | David Katzenberg | Michael Grassi & Shannon Looney | November 11, 2024 (2024-11-11) | T13.25107 | 2.63 |
| 8 | "The Lovesick Widow" | James DeWille | Sara Saedi | November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | T13.25108 | 2.98 |
| 9 | "The Colorblind Painter" | Dawn Wilkinson | Davia Carter & Ryan Knighton | November 25, 2024 (2024-11-25) | T13.25109 | 2.75 |
| 10 | "The First Responder" | Maggie Kiley | Stasia Demick & William Yu | December 2, 2024 (2024-12-02) | T13.25110 | 2.82 |
| 11 | "The Other Woman" | Sudz Sutherland | Daniela Lamas & Will Ewing | December 9, 2024 (2024-12-09) | T13.25111 | 2.52 |
| 12 | "The Doctor Whose World Collapsed" | Harry Jierjian | Sara Saedi & Davia Carter | January 6, 2025 (2025-01-06) | T13.25112 | 2.82 |
| 13 | "The Man Who Can't See Faces" | DeMane Davis | Michael Grassi | January 6, 2025 (2025-01-06) | T13.25113 | 2.54 |

## Production
### Development

In November 2019, it was announced that the series was in development at Fox, with the network landing the project with a script deal plus penalty. However, Fox did not go forward with the project. On January 24, 2023, the show's development was moved to NBC; it was given a series order on October 20, 2023. The series is created by Michael Grassi, and he is also expected to executive produce alongside Lee Toland Krieger, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, Henrik Bastin, Melissa Aouate, Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Will Tennant, and DeMane Davis. Production companies involved with the series are Grassi Productions, Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment, The Imaginarium, Universal Television, and Warner Bros. Television.
Brilliant Minds was moved to the 2024–25 season due to strike-related production delays. On May 1, 2024, the name change from Dr. Wolf to Brilliant Minds was announced. The show was given a 13 episode, season 1 order.

### Casting

On February 23, 2023, Zachary Quinto was cast to star. In April 2023, Teddy Sears, Tamberla Perry, Alex MacNicoll, Spence Moore II, Aury Krebs, and Ashleigh LaThrop joined the main cast. On November 28, 2023, Donna Murphy was cast in a recurring capacity.

### Filming

Principal photography for the series began on April 8, 2024, and concluded on August 23, 2024, in Toronto, Canada.

## Broadcast

Brilliant Minds premiered on September 23, 2024, on NBC. In Canada, the series airs on Citytv and is available to stream on Citytv+.

## Reception
### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 13 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Benefitting from a characteristically sharp performance by Zachary Quinto, Brilliant Minds is a medical procedural with brains but also a surprising amount of heart." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

### Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Brilliant Minds :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | September 23, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 3.92 | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | "The Disembodied Woman" | September 30, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 3.46 | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | "The Lost Biker" | October 7, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 3.30 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | "The Blackout Bride" | October 14, 2024 | 0.2/2 | 3.09 | 0.2 | 1.99 | 0.4 | 5.08 |
| 5 | "The Haunted Marine" | October 21, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 3.12 | 0.2 | 2.02 | 0.5 | 5.15 |
| 6 | "The Girl Who Cried Pregnant" | October 28, 2024 | 0.2/2 | 2.64 | 0.1 | 1.88 | 0.4 | 4.52 |
| 7 | "The Man From Grozny" | November 11, 2024 | 0.2/2 | 2.63 | 0.1 | 2.00 | 0.3 | 4.63 |
| 8 | "The Lovesick Widow" | November 18, 2024 | 0.2/2 | 2.98 | 0.2 | 1.68 | 0.3 | 4.66 |
| 9 | "The Colorblind Painter" | November 25, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 2.75 | 0.1 | 1.95 | 0.4 | 4.70 |
| 10 | "The First Responder" | December 2, 2024 | 0.3/3 | 2.82 | 0.1 | 1.81 | 0.4 | 4.63 |
| 11 | "The Other Woman" | December 9, 2024 | 0.2/2 | 2.52 | 0.1 | 1.77 | 0.3 | 4.29 |
| 12 | "The Doctor Whose World Collapsed" | January 6, 2025 | 0.2/3 | 2.82 | 0.1 | 1.06 | 0.3 | 3.89 |
| 13 | "The Man Who Can't See Faces" | January 6, 2025 | 0.2/3 | 2.54 | 0.1 | 1.16 | 0.3 | 3.70 |