Over the years there have been several attempts to bring the late neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks’ life to the small screen. But NBC may have just beaten everyone to the punch with a series order for the medical drama “Dr. Wolf.” This was the last 2023 pilot awaiting word from the network on its fate.
The series follows the revolutionary, neurologist Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind. All while they also grapple with their own relationships and mental health.
“Dr. Wolf” will star Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, and Teddy Sears.
The show is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars,” written by Sacks. He was deemed the “poet laureate of contemporary medicine,” by The New York Times. Sacks dedicated his life to studying the strangest brain disorders in the world to try to peer deeper into human consciousness. Believing that we should remake our approach to mental illness and the neuro-atypical.
Sacks’ book “Awakenings” was adapted into a film in 1990 film starring Robert De Niro and the late Robin Williams. This series, however, has not had such an easy time finding its foothold. In 2013, his life was the subject of a TV drama that got a script commitment with NBC, then fizzled.
In 2018 Fabrik Entertainment teamed with The Imaginarium to make a drama based on the neurologist. Then, in 2019, Fox ordered a pilot inspired by Sacks’ work from Lee Toland Krieger, executive producer Alex Berger (“Blindspot”), and Fabrik. And now the project has come full circle landing back at NBC as “Dr. Wolf.”
“Dr. Wolf,” will be directed by Krieger and written by Michael Grassi, who will also both executive produce. Along with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, Henrik Bastin, Melissa Aouate, Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Will Tennant, and DeMane Davis. It will be produced by Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment, and The Imaginarium in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about “Dr. Wolf,” as they become available.
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