It would certainly explain a lot, least of all the horrifying reality show that is the current presidential election. The new political comedy BrainDead chronicles an invasion on Washington staged by alien parasite insects that have eaten major operatives’ brains. And in all honesty, that seems like a more plausible explanation than the reality we have accepted, which is that reason and basic human decency have taken a holiday with no return date in sight. When you think about it, is life itself not the half-hour sci-fi program premiering on CBS June 13, and could BrainDead be our new status quo? Or is that just a little too #real?
Either way, the new program from Good Wife co-creators and spouses Robert and Michelle King will return the duo to Washington, D.C., for more political intrigue, but with a ’70s-paranoia, Invasion of the Body Snatchers twist. For their star, they’ve landed current it-girl Mary Elizabeth Winstead, coming in hot off a strong performance in this spring’s 10 Cloverfield Lane as well as last year’s outstanding, underseen Faults, and a longtime fan favorite for her role in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. A well-rounded supporting cast will join her, including Monk‘s Tony Shalhoub, Les Miserables and Grease! Live crooner Aaron Tveit, and stage stalwart Nikki M. James.
The Good Wife saw King and King working in soapy procedural mode, hooking viewers with a neverending supply of plot twists and characters allowed to develop and evolve over time. BrainDead puts them in the uncharted territory of comedy, expanding the brief flights of humor in The Good Wife to episode length. There’s plenty of comedy inherent in the concept, and Winstead has a deadly effective deadpan, but it’s a big shift for the King braintrust. The election will only get loonier as the parties nominate candidates and the real dirt starts getting thrown, so BrainDead will have no shortage of real-world resonance.
