BrainDead is an American comic-thriller television series created by Robert and Michelle King and set in the world of Washington, D.C. politics that follows a young, fresh-faced Capitol Hill staffer who discovers two things: the government has stopped working, and mysterious bugs are eating the brains of Congress members and Hill staffers.
When Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) returns home to Washington, D.C. to work for her brother, Senator Luke Healy (Danny Pino), on Capitol Hill, she is caught in the midst of two huge problems: the government has stopped working due to budgetary disagreements, and mysterious bugs are eating the brains of a growing number of Congress members and Hill staffers.
The daughter of a Democratic political dynasty who left Washington, D.C. to become a documentary filmmaker, Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is pulled back into the family business when her brother, Luke (Danny Pino), the Democratic whip Senator from Maryland, needs her help running his Senate office.
On the Hill, Laurel becomes unlikely friends with Gareth (Aaron Tveit), the smart, hardworking Legislative Director to a top Republican, Senator Red Wheatus (Tony Shalhoub).
Her other allies include Gustav (Johnny Ray Gill), an eccentric genius who is the first in D.C. to recognise that something sinister is attacking the Capitol; and Rochelle (Nikki M. James), a medical student who teams up with Laurel and Gustav to protect and defend the citizens of D.C. from an untimely fate.
As the tiny bugs continue to multiply, Laurel and her allies must work quickly to identify the creatures, stop their infiltration and ultimately save the world.
Aaron Tveit also stars as Gareth, the Legislative Director to a top Republican senator, who is smart, hard-working, and ultimately responsible for helping to save the world.
Danny Pino plays Luke, Laurel's older brother, the Democratic Whip Senator from Maryland; and Tony Award-winning actress Nikki M. James plays Rochelle, a medical resident whose father dies as the result of a mysterious infection. She and Laurel team up to learn what happened to her father, and protect others from the same fate.
Tony Shalhoub plays Red Wheatus, a hard-drinking, fun-loving Republican senator who has spent decades in Washington making deals, until a radical transformation turns him into a health-conscious extremist who would rather destroy the government than compromise.
Robert and Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Brooke Kennedy and Liz Glotzer serve as executive producers for CBS Television Studios, Scott Free Productions and King Size Productions. Judy Smith serves as co-executive producer.