Plot Synopsis

Executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, GENIUS is a one-hour scripted anthology series that centers on the most creative minds in the history of arts and sciences, with each 10-episode season focusing on a different person.

The first season, based on Walter Isaacson's book "Einstein: His Life and Universe," takes Einstein's story beyond the laboratory to explore his struggles to be a good husband and father, and a man of principle during a period of global unrest. His daringly creative mind often landed him in trouble with his loved ones and peers, but also helped him to usher in groundbreaking discoveries that reshaped modern science. The series begins in Einstein's teenage years, when he opposes his father and drops out of school in Germany to go to university in Switzerland. His love of women and passion for theoretical physics blossom after he breaks the heart of his first love, Marie Winteler, to pursue his mysterious and elusive fellow physics student Mileva Maric. Their whirlwind romance puts them at odds with teachers and leads to an unexpected pregnancy, forcing both to set aside grand dreams and Einstein to take a mundane job as a patent clerk at the urging of his close friend Michele Besso. Striving in earnest to break into the scientific establishment, Einstein publishes five original papers in one year, catching the eye of many, including the scientist who will go on to become his fiercest adversary, Dr. Philipp Lenard. As World War I looms and his marriage begins to crumble, Einstein throws himself into an affair with his first cousin Elsa. Shifting global politics draw him into increasingly politicized scientific circles, causing friction with friends and fellow scientists like Fritz Haber and Max Planck. Taking a moral stand, Einstein refuses to support Germany's war effort. When war descends and borders are shut down, he is prevented from going to his sons in Switzerland when they need him most. Einstein's fortunes rise after the war when relativity is proved right. On the verge of becoming an overnight celebrity, Elsa demands he marry her to avoid the scandal such scrutiny will bring. Fighting with Mileva for a divorce, Einstein also has to contend with the roller coaster of fame. After a tense interview with consulate official Raymond Geist, he eventually escapes a rising tide of anti-Semitism and seeks sanctuary in the United States as an immigrant. Living and teaching in Princeton, New Jersey, Einstein continues to be besieged on all sides. His fractious relationship with his children and grandchildren weighs on him, he ends up in bed with Russian spy Margarita Konenkova and he must cope with J. Edgar Hoover's personal vendetta to bring him down. He also faces possibly his biggest challenge ever: the pressure to set aside his lifelong pacifism in the hopes of stopping Hitler's conquest of Europe. While his journey is far from easy, Einstein still manages to find hope and inspiration before his death, in the form of a young girl learning to understand the world. As Einstein famously said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." GENIUS debuted Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT on Nat Geo, with Howard directing the first episode.

Season 2 of GENIUS will premiere on Tuesday, April 24, 2017 from 9-11pm ET/PT on National Geographic Channel. The second season chronicles the life and work of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, one of the 20th century's most influential and celebrated artists. The artistic career of Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso spanned more than 80 of his 91 years, much of it in his second home of France. Much like the subject of the first season of GENIUS, Albert Einstein, Picasso imagined and interpreted the world in totally new and unorthodox ways, and constantly reinvented our perceptions of art and creativity. The prolific artist generated more than 50,000 works, among the most notable being The Old Guitarist from his Blue Period, now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago; Guernica, inspired by the Nazi bombing of a small Spanish town of the same name, currently on display at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain; and Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, inspired by lover and muse Fernande Olivier, now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His passionate nature and relentless creative drive were inextricably linked to his personal life, which included tumultuous marriages, numerous affairs and constantly shifting political and personal alliances. He lived most of his life in the vibrant Paris of the first half of the 20th Century and crossed paths with writers and artists including Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Gertrude Stein, Georges Braque, and Jean Cocteau. Picasso constantly reinvented himself, always striving to innovate and push the boundaries of artistic expression. Antonio Banderas portrays Pablo Picasso, with Alex Rich sharing the title role, playing a young Pablo. Several cast members from the first season of GENIUS will return to the franchise, including Samantha Colley as Dora Maar, a French photographer and painter who was also Picasso's lover and muse; T.R. Knight as Max Jacob, one of Picasso's first friends in Paris; Seth Gabel as Guillaume Apollinaire, one of the foremost poets of the 20th century and a frequent collaborator with Picasso; and Johnny Flynn as French actor Alain Cuny. New cast members include Clemence Poesy as Francoise Gilot, a French painter and best-selling author whose decadelong affair with Picasso yielded two children; Sebastian Roche as Emile Gilot, Francoise's tyrannical father; Robert Sheehan as Carlos Casagemas, a Spanish art student and poet who was one of Picasso's closest friends; Poppy Delevingne as Marie-Therese Walter, a lover and muse of Picasso, who mothered his first daughter; and Aisling Franciosi as Fernande Olivier, a French artist and model who Picasso painted more than 60 portraits of.

The third season of GENIUS, GENIUS: ARETHA FRANKLIN, will be the first-ever, definitive scripted miniseries on the life of the universally acclaimed Queen of Soul. Season 3 of this anthology series explores Franklin's musical genius, incomparable career, and the immeasurable impact and lasting influence she had around the world. Grammy Award winner Franklin was a gospel prodigy and outspoken civil rights champion and is widely considered to be the greatest singer of her generation, receiving countless honors throughout her career. Without knowing how to read music, Franklin taught herself to play the piano, began to record songs and sang on gospel tours with her father. She signed her first record deal at age 18 with Columbia Records before moving to Atlantic Records and then Arista, where she was united with founder Clive Davis and began a more than 40-year partnership with him. The legendary singer is one of the world's best-selling musical artists of all time, with more than 75 million records sold globally during her career. Her voice was identified as a "natural resource" by her home state of Michigan. The production features many of Franklin's biggest recordings and hit songs from the comprehensive Warner Music catalogue, including "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," "Chain of Fools," "Don't Play That Song," "Since You've Been Gone" and "Baby I Love You." In addition, the series will feature Franklin's performances of "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me," "Freeway of Love" and "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves."

GENIUS: MLK/X, the fourth installment of the GENIUS anthology, debuted on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT on National Geographic Channel, with a simulcast on ABC. GENIUS: MLK/X follows both King and X from their formative years, where they were molded by strong fathers and traumatic injustices, to their rich, parallel stories as they shaped their identities and became the change they wished to see in the world. Influenced as children by different upbringings and experiences: King by the Jim Crow-era South and life in the church before finding his voice at Morehouse and Boston University, and X growing up under the constant, deadly violence of the Klan and falling into a life of vice and incarceration where he was introduced to the Nation of Islam and found his voice. The two visionaries ultimately rose to pioneer a movement. The series offers a deeper look into untapped moments in their lives as husbands, fathers, brothers and sons, taking them off the iconic T-shirts to show their humanity. GENIUS: MLK/X brings their wives, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, who are often portrayed as peripheral figures, to the forefront and shows them as formidable equals of the Movement. Episodes will explore the moments between the monumental historical events we've come to know and shine a light on how each leader and those closest to them questioned their faith, resolve and decisions as they navigated the rigors of balancing a public persona with a private life. While King and X met only once and often challenged each other's views, neither would have been as successful without the other.
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On Thursday, February 22, 2024 from 9-11:10pm ET/PT, National Geographic Channel premiered two new episodes to close out GENIUS: MLK/X, the fourth season of GENIUS:

"The Sword and the Shield" (9pm): The two leaders meet briefly in D.C. while supporting the passage of the Civil Rights Act; Martin wins the Nobel Peace Prize; Malcolm forms two new organizations; both men are under scrutiny and surveillance.

"Can You Imagine" (10:10pm): Malcolm's fate is sealed after he criticizes the NOI; Martin's political views lead to his ultimate sacrifice for the movement; the two leaders are assassinated, but their legacies continue to inspire.