CBS latest summer event series is BrainDead

CBS has ordered BrainDead, a new comic thriller from the creators of The Good Wife that will be the US network’s latest summer event series.

CBS has given the show a straight-to-tseries order and it will play in the net’s summer 2016 schedule. The broadcaster started ordering high-end dramas for its summer grid in 2013 with Under the Dome (right) and subsequently Extant and Zoo (below).

Traditionally, CBS and the other nets had relied on re-runs and entertainment shows in the summer months, but the summer event series has proved a successful experiment. The shows have also fared well internationally, with CBS Studios International on distribution duty.

The Good Wife’s Robert and Michelle King are creating the show, the first resulting from their overall deal with CBS Television Studios. Scott Free Productions and King Size Productions, both collaborators on The Good Wife, are also on board, and Ridley Scott and David Zucker are among the exec producers.

The series will follow a young government administrator who discovers alien spawn has come to Earth and eaten the brains of a growing number of Congressmen.

“We wanted to do a show that was a mix of genre-pulp and high-brow politics – The Strain crossed with The West Wing,” said Robert and Michelle King. “It seemed like the best way to address the news today – not straight, but as the opening act of a horror movie.”

“Robert and Michelle have developed an intriguingly original concept with layers of humor, suspense and the supernatural,” added Nina Tassler, chairman, CBS Entertainment.

The Kings will work on the new show and continue to be showrunners on The Good Wife (above), which is heading into its seventh season.