There were ads for a number of upcoming TV shows during the Super Bowl, including season two of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,’’ due on Halloween, and Hulu’s series adaptation of “The Handmaid’s Tale,’’ due April 26.

But I was particularly taken with the commercial for “Genius: Einstein,’’ which featured Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush as a barefooted Einstein playing a fierce version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance’’ on the violin. Einstein played violin as a way to brainstorm.

The ad validated the possibility that the 10-episode anthology series — which will focus on a different brilliant historical figure each season — will be something significantly more interesting than a dutiful documentary filled with shabby re-creations. It also implied that the show, the first scripted series on National Geographic, might have a sense of humor. At the end of the ad, Rush as Einstein looks at the camera, plucks his last note, and sticks out his tongue.

The show, which premieres on April 25, is executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, who directs the first episode. It was adapted from Walter Isaacson’s biography “Einstein: His Life and Universe,’’ and it will follow Einstein’s evolution from a rebellious patent clerk to a great scientific mind. Along the way, Einstein had a “tumultuous love life,’’ Howard recently told Vanity Fair. “Albert Einstein is a name and a figure everyone thinks they know, but when I began to dive into his story, I was fascinated by how much was new to me.’’

The prestige cast includes Emily Watson as Einstein’s second wife, Elsa, Johnny Flynn as the young Albert, and Vincent Kartheiser from “Mad Men’’ as a consulate officer in Berlin around the time Einstein emigrated to the United States.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.