NBC Moves up New Show’s Finale: Update on ‘Brilliant Minds’

NBC is moving up the season finale of freshman drama Brilliant Minds. According to Deadline, the Zachary Quinto-led series will be airing back-to-back episodes on Monday, Jan. 6 to close out the first season, which will be when the show returns from hiatus. The finale was initially set to premiere on Jan. 13. NBC will now be airing the final two episodes at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, respectively, on Jan. 6.

The reason for the back-to-back episodes is unknown, but the series has been doing pretty well and was NBC’s most-watched new show of the season with 28.6 million total viewers across linear and digital platforms. Created by Michael Grassi, Brilliant Minds premiered on Sept. 23 and is inspired by the Oliver Sacks books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. The series follows on an attending neurologist and a team of interns as they explore the human mind while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.

Brilliant Minds was initially announced in October 2023, then as Dr. Wolf. The series was one of few new shows on NBC, alongside Reba McEntire’s Happy’s Place and workplace mockumentary comedy St. Denis Medical. As of now, the series has not been renewed for a second season, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that happens in the near future.

Along with Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alex MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, Teddy Sears, and Donna Murphy also star on Brilliant Minds. Grassi serves as writer and executive producer, while Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, Lee Toland Krieger, DeMane Davis, Melissa Aouate, Henrik Bastin, Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, and Shefali Melhoutra also executive produce Brilliant Minds. The series is produced by Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment, The Imaginarium, Grassi Productions, and Tavala in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television.

Fans of Brilliant Minds will want to make sure they have the correct season finale date down because it has changed. The two-hour Season 1 finale of the freshman series will now air on Monday, Jan. 6 beginning at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. There will be a lot to look forward to and potentially even a set up to a possible second season. It’s unknown when the network will make a decision about Season 2, but one can only hope that the wait isn’t too long.