James Bell is a Silicon Valley billionaire who dreams of building a hospital with ultimate cutting-edge technology to treat rare and incurable diseases. He partners with a maverick surgeon, Dr. Walter Wallace, who leads the effort in clearing out the bureaucracy of medicine, and focus on forward thinking, advancing technology, and saving lives—at no cost to the patient.
Cast and characters
Augustus Prew as James Bell, a Silicon Valley tech billionaire who opens Bunker Hill.
On January 22, 2016, it was announced that CBS had given the pilot order known as Bunker Hill. The episode was written and authored by Jason Katims who was expected to be an executive producer, alongside Sarah Watson, David Semel and Michelle Lee. Production companies involved with the pilot include True Jack Productions, CBS Television Studios and Universal Television. The show was ordered at the CBS upfronts 2016 to air in the network's 2016–17 TV schedule and was officially picked up on May 13, 2016. A few days later, it was announced that it would premiere by October 27, 2016 and air on Thursdays at 10:00 P.M. On August 10, 2016, it was announced that the series name was changed from Bunker Hill to Pure Genius. On November 21, 2016, CBS announced that it would not order more episodes than the 13 episodes commissioned. The production for the first season wrapped on December 15, 2016, and the remaining commissioned episodes were broadcast for the remainder of its run. On May 17, 2017, Pure Genius was cancelled after one season by CBS.
Casting
In February 2016, it was announced that Brenda Song, Dermot Mulroney, Reshma Shetty and Ward Horton had been cast in the pilot's leading roles. Although the pilot was ordered, in March 2016 it was reported that Aaron Jennings and Odette Annable had joined the cast.
Reception
Critical reception
Pure Genius has received generally negative reviews from television critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 24% "rotten" rating based on 21 professional reviews, while it holds a 78% user rating. The website's consensus reads, "Pure Genius is weighed down by stereotypical doctor drama trappings, suffocating its chances of bringing anything compelling and entertaining to the genre." Metacritic reported a score of 43 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On IMDB Pure Genius holds a 7.3/10 rating based on 2301 user reviews.
