The month of May brought bad news for two NBC shows. The NBC Cancel the medical drama Brilliant Minds and the comedy series Stumble on May 1, 2026. Zachary Quinto led the medical show for two seasons. The cheerleading comedy Stumble ended after just one season.
TV networks often clean up their schedules this time of year. They decide which shows stay and which go. NBC looked at the numbers and made the cuts. Both shows failed to bring in enough viewers to survive.
‘Brilliant Minds’ Could Not Keep Its Audience
Brilliant Minds told the story of Dr. Oliver Wolf, a smart but unusual brain doctor at Bronx General Hospital. The show took ideas from the books of famous brain expert Oliver Sacks. The first season ran from September 2024 to January 2025. Season two started in September 2025.
The problem came down to simple math. Not enough people watched. The show became the least-watched drama on NBC. The ratings fell sharply from season one. This happened even though the show kept the same Monday night time slot after The Voice.
NBC had already shown signs of giving up on the show. They pulled Brilliant Minds from the schedule in February 2026. The network wanted to show longer episodes of The Voice instead. That move rarely ends well for any TV show.
“Brilliant Minds is NBC’s lowest rated drama series on linear with the steepest double-digit year-to-year declines.” – Deadline
Zachary Quinto played the lead role. The cast also included Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alex MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, Teddy Sears, Donna Murphy, John Clarence Stewart, Brian Altemus, and Al Calderon.
NBC Cancel Stumble: Could Not Find Its Footing
The comedy Stumble tried a different approach. The show used a mockumentary style. It followed a cheerleading coach who lost her job at a top school. She ended up at a small junior college in Oklahoma. Her goal became building a winning team from scratch.
Jenn Lyon played the lead coach. Taran Killam played her husband, a football coach. Kristin Chenoweth appeared in a recurring role. The show had strong creative support behind it. The reviews were actually pretty good. Rotten Tomatoes showed an 82% critic score and a 96% audience score.
But good reviews did not save the show. The ratings stayed low from the start. NBC first put the show on Friday nights. That time slot is known as a difficult spot for new shows. The network tried moving it around to find more viewers. Nothing worked.
The comedy averaged only 2.24 million viewers. That number sat far below what NBC needed to keep the show alive.
‘Stumble’ Had Real Cheerleading Connections
The show had a unique link to real cheerleading. Monica Aldama, the famous coach from Navarro College, worked as an executive producer and consultant. She gained fame from the Netflix documentary series Cheer. Her involvement gave the show real credibility.
The connection did not help enough with ratings. Stumble aired its 13-episode first season from November 2025 to March 2026. The finale in March became the series finale without anyone knowing it at the time.
Remaining ‘Brilliant Minds’ Episodes Will Still Air
Fans of Brilliant Minds have some good news mixed with the bad. The show still has six episodes that never aired. NBC pulled the show in February with episodes still in the can.
Those episodes will start airing on May 27, 2026. New episodes will air every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Viewers can also watch them on Peacock the next day.
The remaining episodes will wrap up several storylines. Dr. Wolf has been trying to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance. The show also set up a flash-forward story where Wolf ended up trapped in a care facility. Fans will at least get some closure.
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Why Both Shows Failed
The reasons for both cancellations point to the same issue. Modern TV audiences have too many choices. Streaming services have changed how people watch shows. Broadcast networks struggle to keep viewers for weekly episodes.
Both Brilliant Minds and Stumble went up against tough competition. NBC has veteran shows like the OneChicago franchise and Law & Order shows. Those older shows have loyal fan bases that tune in every week. New shows have a hard time stealing those viewers.
The numbers tell the full story. Brilliant Minds averaged just over 3 million viewers for season two. That number looks very small next to other NBC shows. Stumble did even worse with its 2.24 million average.
NBC has not announced plans for the time slots yet. The network still has three shows waiting for decisions. Law & Order, The Hunting Party, and The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins remain on the bubble. Those shows will find out their fates soon.
The cast and crew of both canceled shows will now look for new projects. Zachary Quinto will likely return to film work. Jenn Lyon and the Stumble cast will search for their next roles. TV fans will remember both shows as efforts that tried something different but could not find enough viewers to survive.
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