Einstein: CBS Eyes Gender-Flipped Take on Germany's Genius/Cop Drama

Matt Webb Mitovich
·1 min read
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CBS is looking to explore not Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity but one of his relatives, with an adaptation of the three-season German procedural Einstein.

The latest Stateside attempt to adapt the German series, however, would flip the gender of its title character as well as take on issues relative to modern-day policing.

The German series starred Tom Beck as Felix, the youngest professor to have ever taught theoretical physics at his university — and also the great-grandson of the Albert Einstein. Diagnosed with Huntington’s disease and facing prison when accused of stealing illegal drugs to manage his condition, Felix is saved from jail when the police recognize that his brilliant mind could help them solve some of their most complex cases, as a consultant paired with quick-witted detective Elena (Annika Ernst).

CBS’ potential adaptation from Insatiable creator Lauren Gussis, meanwhile, would revolve around an out-of-the-box thinking physics professor who happens to be Albert Einstein’s secret, illegitimate great-granddaughter, our sister site Deadline reports. And in addition to teaming with a Boston police detective to solve murders, her keen insight would be used to “address the problems ever-present inside the institution of policing itself.”

NBC previously tried a direct take on Germany’s Einstein, two years ago and via writer Michael Reisz (Shadowhunters).

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