5 Reasons Why ‘BrainDead’ Will Be a Fun Summer Show to Watch

Politics can be scary. That’s the premise for BrainDead, the new CBS comic-thriller from Robert and Michelle King, the masterminds that brought you The Good Wife. Laurel (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) takes a job in Washington, D.C., where she discovers things aren’t quite right on Capitol Hill—as in, alien spawn are eating the brains of congressmen. If that crazy take on politics isn’t enough to draw you in, here are five more reasons why we’re excited for BrainDead:

RELATED: CBS Orders Political Thriller BrainDead From The Good Wife Creators

It will fill the void that The West Wing left.
Though House of Cards puts up a fair fight for the new must-see political show, we’re looking forward to a weekly TV show to get our government fix. While it might not have the crackling Aaron Sorkin dialogue, or  Martin Sheen, Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford, it will have Winstead, Tony Shalhoub as a slimy senator and Danny Pino as a more forthright lawmaker, and that’s a pretty good start.

Who isn’t happy to see Tony Shalhoub back?

It will also fill The Good Wife void.
The wounds over The Good Wife might be fresher than those from The West Wing, but that doesn’t mean we don’t already miss it the way that Alicia misses Will Gardner—especially after that ending (seriously, though. Let’s discuss that ending). We hope that the Kings will tackle issues of morality, and complicated female relationships like the Alicia/Diane one, with the same finesse here.

RELATED: Roush Review: The Good Wife Finale: Will They Or Won’t They?

Aaron Tveit is fun to watch.
He made a name for himself in Broadway, then started his cross-over into television with a recurring stint on Gossip Girl, where you’ll recognize him as Nate’s cousin, Tripp, a politician with intentions so dishonorable that he makes Chuck Bass look saintly. But it wasn’t until his role in the 2013 film adaptation of Les Miserables and 2016’s Grease Live! that people really started to take note of Tveit. We’re sure he’ll be great in BrainDead, too—even if his political morality turns out to be as shaky as Tripp’s.

Aaron Tveit’s fun to watch, even when he’s not singing.

It doesn’t just fall into one genre.
The creators of the show described it as “The Strain crossed with The West Wing,” two very different genres. Who hasn’t sat there watching The Strain and, as characters are feeding on blood, thought to themselves, “you know what this needs? A little bit more filibustering!” But seriously, this is the combination we never knew we needed.

It couldn’t be coming at a better time.
With the state of the current political climate, it almost seems like we’re watching a TV show already. We hope that a show set in Washington, D.C. will comment on—and make light of—a seriously crazy election year.

BrainDead, Series Premiere, Monday, June 13, 10/9c, CBS.