NBC’s Brilliant Minds Is Secretly Beating The Competition On Rotten Tomatoes

In a surprising reality, one underrated NBC show has quietly generated a higher audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than almost every other single-protagonist drama on network TV: Brilliant Minds. The Zachary Quinto-led drama is based on the life and memoirs of the transformative neurologist and writer Dr. Oliver Sacks, a pioneer in the fields of neurology and psychology. Brilliant Minds was one of network TV’s most refreshing surprises of last season, and the Brilliant Minds season 2 premiere hit the ground running.

A thoughtful medical drama that felt like more of an ensemble series, Brilliant Minds did the best job of fleshing out its supporting cast of any season 1 show. Brilliant Minds also offered an older queer love story, an underrepresented demographic on TV, and it presented incredibly interesting real-world conditions. Even so, Brilliant Minds is still flying under the radar, meaning Brilliant Minds season 2 has to capitalize on one surprising way it’s leading the pack.

Brilliant Minds Has A Higher Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Than All Competitors Except One

Courtesy NBCUniversal

If one looks at all network procedural dramas, then Brilliant Minds falls somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of its Rotten Tomatoes audience score. It’s solidly fresh, but still can’t compete with bigger franchise juggernauts like the Law & Order universe, NCIS, and a couple of the One Chicago shows.

However, if you remove the franchise shows and instead pit Brilliant Minds against its more accurate competition – that is, non-franchise, single-protagonist procedurals, then something shocking is revealed: Brilliant Minds‘ 82% audience score is higher than every single one save for Will Trent – and at 83%, Will Trent isn’t much further ahead.

Brilliant Minds handily beating the competition is somewhat shocking when considering that it was a show on the bubble of being renewed last season. It had solid season 1 ratings, but in the ultra-competitive NBC lineup dominated by Dick Wolf franchises and half-hour mockumentary sitcoms, Brilliant Minds was something of the odd man out. NBC gave it a season 2 renewal and an expanded episode count, but its status was uncertain for a while.

Perhaps even more impressive is how Brilliant Minds’ audience score is higher than other shows that were bona fide hits from the start, most notably ABC’s High Potential and CBS’s Tracker. The Nielsen ratings for both of those shows, which also had 13-episode freshman seasons like Brilliant Minds, were unquestionably huge, making it even more surprising that it edged out High Potential and trounced Tracker in audience satisfaction on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brilliant Minds Is Also Beating Out All Network Medical Shows

Even more telling is the fact that Brilliant Minds also has a higher audience score in one other comparable demographic: network medical shows. Brilliant Minds has the best Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any network TV show that follows the ins and outs of a hospital and its medical professionals – yes, any. That still holds true even if you include the mockumentary genre and St. Denis Medical.

In the end, this may be the more meaningful comparison. The medical genre has never experienced a real slump, but even so, it’s currently in a renaissance. Of the seven network medical dramas on the above list, five were brand-new shows last season: Brilliant Minds, Doc, St. Denis Medical, Doctor Odyssey, and Watson, and only one, Doctor Odyssey, was canceled.

Yet, even they weren’t the biggest new medical dramas of the year. The Pitt grew during its first season to become a juggernaut hit for HBO. The cast and crew walked away with five wins at this year’s Emmys, including for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Noah Wyle, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Katherine LaNasa.

Meanwhile, more doctor-focused shows are on their way. That includes NBC’s highly anticipated Scrubs reboot-revival, which is bringing back the OG cast, and Best Medicine, Fox’s adaptation of the UK series Doc Martin. Competition in the genre will be incredibly tight, but Brilliant Minds has already proven it’s connecting more strongly with audiences.

What This Reveals About Brilliant Minds – And Its Future

The strong audience score, juxtaposed with the solid but not spectacular ratings, suggests that Brilliant Minds is on an old-school audience trajectory. In years past, networks would often give new TV shows a season or two to find their audience, understanding that it often takes time for a new show to build a loyal following and grow.

Network TV history is rife with shows that had abysmally low ratings in their first seasons, only to become enormous, culturally influential hits. That famously includes fellow medical series, M*A*S*H, which is today considered one of the greatest shows of all time, successful by any metric. Sometimes, shows just need some time to find their legs and their audience, and that appears to be the case with Brilliant Minds.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that the days of network execs putting their faith in struggling shows are over. With networks cutting budgets more sharply than ever, even respectable ratings aren’t necessarily enough to save a show that is anything but a solid hit right out of the gate.

The stark truth is that Brilliant Minds season 2 is a make-or-break season for the show. It’s proven that it’s resonating with the audience that watches it. If Brilliant Minds wants to make it to season 3, however, it must grow its audience, and that requires far more people finding it and tuning in. NBC’s decision to give it another chance has to pay off – otherwise, the criminally underrated medical drama may not be long for the airwaves.

Release Date

September 23, 2024

Directors

Lee Toland Krieger, David Katzenberg, Dawn Wilkinson, Harry Jierjian, Jordan Canning, Maggie Kiley, Sudz Sutherland, Charles Randolph-Wright, Deborah Kampmeier

Writers

Sara Saedi, Ryan Knighton, Will Ewing, Daniela Lamas, Davia Carter, Stasia Demick, William Yu, David Carter, Alex Berger, Shannon Looney