CBS has announced its latest straight-to-series summer order: BrainDead, a comedic thriller about a young Capitol Hill staffer beginning her new life in Washington who learns that the federal government has shut down because aliens have eaten the brains of all Congresspersons and their staffs. We previously reported on the project—helmed by The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King—when it first surfaced at the end of last year. In its early stages, the project was described as a mixture of The West Wing and The Strain, but also a comedy, which kind of makes it sound like aliens may have eaten the Kings’ brains. The pilot had an early pickup, but CBS has now ordered a 13-episode first season for next summer.
BrainDead is the first project created by the Kings as part of the three-year production deal they signed with CBS Television Studios in September. As part of the deal, the Kings have to continue as executive producers and showrunners of The Good Wife while still developing new projects through King Size Prods. In other words, the Kings are trapped at CBS and they can’t get out for at least three years. (Maybe CBS did have their brains eaten.)
“Robert and Michelle have developed an intriguingly original concept with layers of humor, suspense and the supernatural,” CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler said in today’s announcement, adding, “We look forward to launching it to U.S. viewers and a worldwide audience next summer.” “Humor, suspense, and the supernatural?” Sounds like what CBS was going for with Zoo. Let’s hope BrainDead is infinitely better than that shit storm.