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.
In May 2025, the series was renewed for a second season. This premiered on September 22, 2025 with a mid-season break at the end of episode ten. NBC later announced that season 2 was scheduled to return with more episodes on January 5, 2026.
On February 4, 2026, NBC pulled the show from its schedule and stated that the remaining episodes would air on an undetermined date later in the season.
NBC announced on March 13, 2026 that the remaining 6 episodes of season 2 will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST, starting May 27, 2026.
Primarily set in New York City, Dr. Oliver Wolf reluctantly takes a job leading a team of interns to treat very complex neurological and psychological patients at Bronx General Hospital. Although Wolf may be a brilliant and caring physician, he suffers from prosopagnosia, and sometimes may apply unconventional and unpredictable methods in order to fully connect with the patients he encounters on a daily basis. Despite this critical setback, Wolf remains committed to ensuring his patients get the appropriate and effective care they need while finding meaning in their unique conditions they're suffering from.
Zachary Quinto directed an episode this season. DeMane Davis directed the finale.
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 2024âÂÂ25 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. On May 12, 2025, NBC renewed the series for a second season.
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. In July 2025, Brian Altemus, John Clarence Stewart, and Al Calderon joined the cast as new series regulars for season 2, while Bellamy Young was cast in a recurring capacity. On December 1, 2025, Sarah Steele joined the cast in a recurring roles for the second season.
Principal photography for the series began on April 8, 2024, and concluded on August 23, 2024, in Toronto, Canada. Filming for the second season began on July 2, 2025 and concluded on early March 2026.
Brilliant Minds premiered on September 23, 2024, on NBC. The second season premiered on September 22, 2025. In February 2026, the second half of season 2 was pulled from NBC's midseason schedule, with The Voice airing two-hour episodes in its place.
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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
In November 2025, guest star Eric Dane received praise for his performance as a firefighter battling ALS in the second season episode "The Fire Fighter", his first role since announcing his own ALS diagnosis in April 2025.