The medical procedural is one of television’s most reliable formats, as networks frequently turn to the halls of a hospital as a source for soapy, heartstring-pulling drama.
Of course, the genre is only as exciting as the doctors at the center of the story, and over years we’ve seen shows successfully spice up the formula: There have been doctors with addictions (House), doctors with autism (The Good Doctor), doctors who are literal children (Doogie Howser, M.D.), and even doctors who are irrepressibly horny for each other (Grey’s Anatomy).
And now, with its newest medical drama, NBC asks: What if a doctor was gay? Oh, and also has face-blindness?
How about we take this to the next level?
Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Okay, we’re maybe being a little facetious… The Zachary Quinto-starring Brilliant Minds is certainly about much more than that. But its protagonist, Dr. Oliver Wolf, does happen to be openly gay and also suffers from a condition known as prosopagnosia, which impairs his ability to recognize familiar faces.
He’s also based on a very real person: The late, influential Dr. Oliver Sacks, whose work and research has had a huge impact on how the medical world understands and treats neurological disorders.
Though Sacks was renowned for his honest and open writing about his work, he remained pretty private for most of his life. In fact, he was celibate for about 35 years, and only came forward about his sexuality in his 2015 autobiography On The Move: A Life, published just a few months prior to his passing.
Brilliant Minds will pay tribute to the late doctor’s life and career, while updating his story for the modern day, which means Quinto’s Dr. Wolf is openly gay, even in his career at Bronx General Hospital.
Speaking with NBC Insider, Quinto opens up about what an honor it is to honor Sacks in this way:
“I’m deeply grateful for this experience to tell these stories and to use Oliver Sacks’ life as the origin point for those stories. Oliver Sacks was somebody who was deeply influenced by the time in which he came of age and the social restrictions on people being able to live fully who they were. So he didn’t come out until very much later in life. He ended up meeting a partner and having a really happy relationship until the end of his life. So, to play a character who is embracing that aspect of himself in the modern world, and in a way that is vital and contemporary and forward-looking, is really special.”
Related*
That time Zachary Quinto had a steamy gay sauna hookup on TV—before he was out
The sweaty make-out might be how we best remember Tori Spelling’s one-season comedy ‘So NoTORIous’
Not to mention, Quinto is an out actor playing an out character on a network television show. Despite the progress we’ve seen in including a diversity of LGBTQ+ voices on TV across the board, a series with a queer lead protagonist—especially on one of the primary networks—is still incredibly rare.
“To play an openly gay character on a primetime network show is an incredibly significant honor for me,” Quinto shares. “I’m incredibly grateful to NBC for telling these stories, and not only the stories from an LGBTQ+ perspective, but from a perspective of diversity in all the characters that we meet at Bronx General.”
In the series, part of Dr. Wolf’s duties at Bronx General will be to mentor interns in the Neurology department and work with them to diagnose and treat patients with a wide range of complications. It seems Brilliant Minds is intent on going deeper than just having a “gay lead,” and will incorporate stories from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum and from all walks of life.
Case in point, the series’ first trailer shows Dr. Wolf working with an elderly patient played by none other than André De Shields, the Black queer Broadway legend who is currently giving us life in the fabulous Cats: The Jellicle Ball.
And while said trailer for Brilliant Minds doesn’t otherwise make much effort to telegraph its queer appeal, we were at least pleased to see its many nods to the real Dr. Sacks’ many peculiar interests and hobbies: His love of leather jackets and motorcycles, his daily habit of swimming—in the Hudson River—and his knack for breaking all the rules in order to help his patients.
Brilliant Minds premieres September 23 on NBC; you can check out its first official trailer below:
Related*
Thirst-Responders: From firemen to P.I.s, here are 10 queer heroes to ‘ship from network TV dramas
‘9-1-1’s’ Buck is far from the first LGBTQ+ first-responder on a network procedural, and he won’t be the last either!
Jim
I hope this is good. Broadcast stations are short on good dramas. Well good sitcoms too