What is The Irrational about?

Jesse L. Martin is Alec Mercer in The Irrational, coming to NBC in fall 2023. What is this series about? Here’s all you need to know.

Something Accused did was help us challenge our biases when it comes to stories and what we hear. The Irrational is going to help us challenge rationality as a whole. Based on the Dan Ariely novel Predictably Irrational, the series follows a man who is trained in behavioral science help figure out cases.

You have certainly seen elements of this in other TV shows. Criminal Minds and Prodigal Son are some that come to mind that use behavioral science. You may even consider Bull as an option. How does The Irrational differ from them?

What is The Irrational on NBC about?

The new series will follow Martin as Alec Mercer. He’s a man trained in behavioral science, and he uses it to help law enforcement, government agencies, and more. He works in some of the most high stakes situations as he challenges human behavior and what we think we know.

Human behavior is rational, right? It’s predictable, isn’t it? Well, what if it isn’t? That’s something Mercer takes us into as he figures out who the suspect is and who or what the next target is.

Just to note, while Deadline puts the character’s name as Alec Baker, NBC’s official site says Alec Mercer. It is possible that the name has changed with the development of the show.

How is this series ready for fall when no others have been? It helps that the pilot was ordered to series back in December 2022. That allowed for the rest of the scripts to be written quickly and filming to start up long before the strike action started. While we likely don’t have the full season, there is enough to get NBC started in fall 2023.

The Irrational will premiere on Monday, Sept. 25 at 10/9c on NBC.