One wouldn’t suspect National Geographic a source of hard-hitting scripted drama, but hey, remember TLC? Or History? Yes, Nat Geo has joined the ranks of #PeakTV, recruiting Ron Howard to direct their first official scripted series, specifically focused on Albert Einstein.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Nat Geo has issued a series order to Genius, in which each season would dramatize stories behind the world’s top innovators. The first season will focus on Albert Einstein, based on author Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe, as adapted by writer Noah Pink.

Says the report:

It will reveal how Einstein – both an imaginative, rebellious patent clerk and a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate – unlocked the mysteries of the atom and the universe.

Production will commence over the summer in Prague, with Howard set to direct at least the first episode, while Nat Geo expects a spring 2017 premiere. Who next should follow Einstein with their own Genius season?

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