'Braindead' Is The Best New Show Of The Summer...Even If You're Not Watching

It's the middle of August, which means that the entertainment clicketariet of the Internet are consumed by the need to knight one tune as the "song of the summer." Aside from the inherent pointlessness of the idea (a pop fan's song is going to be different than someone who loves country), it is also a reminder that some songs, TV shows or movies are created at just the right point in history.

That's certainly the case with the CBS series "Braindead," which in a better world would be the TV talking point of the summer. In a season stuffed with an increasingly erratic and strange Presidential campaign, this political satire is sharply written and incredibly wry and funny. Like "M*A*S*H," the show begins with a serious political problem--in this case, increased political anger and gridlock--and turns it into the chance to make everyone involved seem just a bit petty and irrational. It's a hilariously wicked dramedy that gets better each week.

And damnit, you guys just aren't watching it.

The show centers around Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a woman who comes from a very connected political family. Her brother Luke (Danny Pino) is a Senator and her father seems to be connected to everyone in Washington. Laurel has spent the past few years making obsure nature documentaries, but agrees to work for her brother after she runs out of funds in the middle of filming her latest film. She begins working for him as his constituent coordinator and it isn't long until she notices that the people around her are changing. Her best friend turns into a slogan-spouting right-wing partisan overnight, and she begins noticing the same rabid behavior in some of washington's biggest power brokers. Overnight they become angry, near-irrational partisans and she slowly begins to discover that the changes are due to bugs that enter their victims brains at night. They consume part of the brain, turning them into angry talking point robots who drink bright green veggie drinks and spend a lot of time listening to The Cars tune "You Might Think."

I suspect that when the network saw the "brain-eating bugs" angle, they thought the best approach was to focus on the lineage of the people behind the show and smooth over the non-procedural sci-fi angle. Which means that you've seen a lot of commercials touting "Braindead" as the show "from the people behind 'The Good Wife.'" Which is true, but in this case it's about as helpful as promoting a new RomCom as being from "the producer of 'Game of Thrones.'" If you loved "The Good Wife," you likely tuned into "Braindead" and quickly muttered "what the hell is THIS?"

Which is too bad, because "Braindead" is exactly the show we need in this screwed-up election year. The brain-eating-bugs-from-space idea is a bit goofy, but it's really just an easy way to introduce a political process that becomes more angry and irrational. As the bug brain folks begin to take over Washington, every political decision turns into the kind of convoluted partisan anger that is all too familiar this year.

One of the best things about "Braindead" is that it doesn't pick a political side or give either party a pass. Sure, Tony Shaloub plays Republican Senator Red Wheatus, who changes from a drunken lout of a benchwarmer to a firebrand Conservative willing to burn any bridge to make a cheap political point. But the show also features plenty of liberal brain dead folks, including one memorable guy who waves a knife at Laurel, yelling that she shouldn't be afraid of him because he got the knife as a gift for donating to the public radio show "A Splendid Table."

Each week brings another round of infestations, as Laurel, medical student Rochelle (Nikki M. James) and the eccentric scientist/semi-homeless guy Gustav (Johnny Ray Gil) evolve into some Scooby Squad of aliens bugs as they try and solve the mystery. The problems become increasingly sinister and unpredictable as people's heads begin to explode. Yes, I said explode. Trust me, this is actually the inspiration for many a laughline in the show.

"Braindead" is a political thriller wrapped inside a science fiction series wrapped inside a modern-day satire of Washington, D.C. It's a delightfully original program and the fact that audiences have so far been lukewarm to it breaks my TV critic heart.

I know the Olympics have been on and there are plenty of shows to watch on a Sunday. But watch "Braindead." Now, not next year when it limps onto Netflix or Amazon Prime after being ignored during its one and only season.

Go watch "Braindead." Don't let those alien bugs win.

"Braindead" airs on CBS at 10:00 P.M. ET, Sunday nights.