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.^[1] It premiered on September 23, 2024. In May 2025, the series was renewed for a second season which is set to premiere on September 22, 2025.^[2][3]

Brilliant Minds
Genre	Medical drama
Created by	Michael Grassi
Starring	Zachary Quinto Tamberla Perry Ashleigh LaThrop Alex MacNicoll Aury Krebs Spence Moore II Teddy Sears Donna Murphy Brian Altemus John Clarence Stewart
Composer	Joseph Trapanese
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producers	Michael Grassi Andy Serkis DeMane Davis Greg Berlanti Henrik Bastin Jonathan Cavendish Lee Toland Krieger Leigh London Redman Melissa Aouate Sarah Schechter Will Tennant
Producers	Zachary Quinto Carl Ogawa Mohan Mandali Michael Wray
Cinematography	Pierre Gill
Editors	Nicholas Wong Gaston Jaren Lopez Finnian Murray
Running time	43 minutes
Production companies	Berlanti Productions 1107 Productions 72nd Street Fabel Entertainment The Imaginarium Universal Television Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 23, 2024 (2024-09-23) – present

Cast and characters

Main

• Zachary Quinto as Oliver Wolf (named after Oliver Wolf Sacks) 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
• Brian Altemus as Charlier Porter (season 2)^[4]
• John Clarence Stewart as Anthony Thorne (season 2)^[4]

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
• Dorrett White as Nurse Carter
• Mandy Patinkin as Noah Wolf, a family care doctor who develops a mentor relationship with his son Oliver.^[5]
• Ted Sutherland as Teen Oliver Wolf^[6]
• Jaden Waldman as young Oliver Wolf^[6]
• Bellamy Young as Amelia Frederick (season 2)^[7]
• Al Calderon as Nurse Scotty Silva (season 2)^[8]

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. overall	No. in season	Title [9]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [9]	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Lee Toland Krieger	Michael Grassi & Alex Berger	September 23, 2024 (2024-09-23)	T15.10168	3.92[10]
2	2	"The Disembodied Woman"	Lee Toland Krieger	Michael Grassi	September 30, 2024 (2024-09-30)	T13.25102	3.46[11]
3	3	"The Lost Biker"	DeMane Davis	Sara Saedi & Ryan Knighton	October 7, 2024 (2024-10-07)	T13.25103	3.30[12]
4	4	"The Blackout Bride"	Deborah Kampmeier	Davia Carter & Daniela Lamas	October 14, 2024 (2024-10-14)	T13.25104	3.09[13]
5	5	"The Haunted Marine"	Charles Randolph-Wright	Aisha Bhoori & Will Ewing	October 21, 2024 (2024-10-21)	T13.25105	3.12[14]
6	6	"The Girl Who Cried Pregnant"	Jordan Canning	Stasia Demick & William Yu	October 28, 2024 (2024-10-28)	T13.25106	2.63[15]
7	7	"The Man From Grozny"	David Katzenberg	Michael Grassi & Shannon Looney	November 11, 2024 (2024-11-11)	T13.25107	2.63[16]
8	8	"The Lovesick Widow"	James DeWille	Sara Saedi	November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18)	T13.25108	2.98[17]
9	9	"The Colorblind Painter"	Dawn Wilkinson	Davia Carter & Ryan Knighton	November 25, 2024 (2024-11-25)	T13.25109	2.75[18]
10	10	"The First Responder"	Maggie Kiley	Stasia Demick & William Yu	December 2, 2024 (2024-12-02)	T13.25110	2.82[19]
11	11	"The Other Woman"	Sudz Sutherland	Daniela Lamas & Will Ewing	December 9, 2024 (2024-12-09)	T13.25111	2.52[20]
12	12	"The Doctor Whose World Collapsed"	Harry Jierjian	Sara Saedi & Davia Carter	January 6, 2025 (2025-01-06)	T13.25112	2.82[21]
13	13	"The Man Who Can't See Faces"	DeMane Davis	Michael Grassi	January 6, 2025 (2025-01-06)	T13.25113	2.54[21]

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.^[22] However, Fox did not go forward with the project. On January 24, 2023, the show's development was moved to NBC;^[23] 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.^[24] Production companies involved with the series are Grassi Productions, Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment, The Imaginarium, Universal Television, and Warner Bros. Television.^[25]

Brilliant Minds was moved to the 2024–25 season due to strike-related production delays.^[26] On May 1, 2024, the name change from Dr. Wolf to Brilliant Minds was announced.^[27] The show was given a 13 episode, season 1 order.^[28] On May 12, 2025, NBC renewed the series for a second season.^[2]

Casting

On February 23, 2023, Zachary Quinto was cast to star.^[29] In April 2023, Teddy Sears, Tamberla Perry, Alex MacNicoll, Spence Moore II, Aury Krebs, and Ashleigh LaThrop joined the main cast.^[30][31] On November 28, 2023, Donna Murphy was cast in a recurring capacity.^[32] In July 2025, Brian Altemus and John Clarence Stewart joined cast as new series regulars while Bellamy Young and Al Calderon were cast in a recurring capacities for the second season.^[4][7][8]

Filming

Principal photography for the series began on April 8, 2024, and concluded on August 23, 2024, in Toronto, Canada.^[33]

Broadcast

Brilliant Minds premiered on September 23, 2024, on NBC.^[34] The second season is slated to premiere on September 22, 2025.^[3] In Canada, the series airs on Citytv and is available to stream on Citytv+.^[35]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 88% approval rating based on 17 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."^[36] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[37]

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)	Ref.
1	"Pilot"	September 23, 2024	0.3/3	3.92	—	—	—	—	[10]
2	"The Disembodied Woman"	September 30, 2024	0.3/3	3.46	—	—	—	—	[11]
3	"The Lost Biker"	October 7, 2024	0.3/3	3.30	—	—	—	—	[12]
4	"The Blackout Bride"	October 14, 2024	0.2/2	3.09	0.2	1.99	0.4	5.08	[13]
5	"The Haunted Marine"	October 21, 2024	0.3/3	3.12	0.2	2.02	0.5	5.15	[14]
6	"The Girl Who Cried Pregnant"	October 28, 2024	0.2/2	2.64	0.1	1.88	0.4	4.52	[15]
7	"The Man From Grozny"	November 11, 2024	0.2/2	2.63	0.1	2.00	0.3	4.63	[16]
8	"The Lovesick Widow"	November 18, 2024	0.2/2	2.98	0.2	1.68	0.3	4.66	[17]
9	"The Colorblind Painter"	November 25, 2024	0.3/3	2.75	0.1	1.95	0.4	4.70	[18]
10	"The First Responder"	December 2, 2024	0.3/3	2.82	0.1	1.81	0.4	4.63	[19]
11	"The Other Woman"	December 9, 2024	0.2/2	2.52	0.1	1.77	0.3	4.29	[20]
12	"The Doctor Whose World Collapsed"	January 6, 2025	0.2/3	2.82	0.1	1.06	0.3	3.89	[21]
13	"The Man Who Can't See Faces"	January 6, 2025	0.2/3	2.54	0.1	1.16	0.3	3.70	[21]