Brilliant Minds

In a September 2024 Entertainment Weekly article, Maureen Lee Lenker reported that this series and its main character are inspired by the life and work of Dr. Oliver Sacks, a renowned British neurologist and writer. Born in 1933 to a London Jewish family, both of his parents were doctors (his mother was one of the first female surgeons in England). In addition to his long career serving on the faculties of several New York-area medical schools and hospitals Sacks was a best-selling author of popular medical histories and case studies, including the collections The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars and the book Awakenings (an account of his attempts to treat encephalitis patients, this book was adapted into the eponymous 1990 movie in which Robin Williams portrayed Sacks). Like Quinto and the character he plays in this series, Sacks was gay, though he did not come out publicly until late in his life. Sacks's middle name was "Wolf," which is the last name of Quinto's character and which was the original working title for the show.