BRAIN DEAD is the attempted follow up to THE GOOD WIFE by show runners Robert and Michelle King and its wretched and unwatchable.
They have no calling card in the cast but they do have repellents.
Tony Shalhoub is a nothing little actor who was overused as background on the sitcom WINGS and went to USA where everyone pretended his lack of chemistry meant he was acting on MONK. He's not acting on BRAIN DEAD either but he is using a ridiculous speaking voice which he, no doubt, thinks makes him Meryl Streep.
It only makes him laughable.
The whole show is as laughable as the Kings image of being 'progressive.'
They're twisted f**ks (remember when they thought a good story was Kalinda being turned on by being physically battered and beaten on THE GOOD WIFE). Which goes a long, long way towards explaining why the episodes are directed by men and written by men (plus Michelle King) and why the show couldn't be any Whiter if it tried.
This is a show filled with uglies revolving around stupidity.
And it's CBS' 'big' summer show.
It's not a good summer, thus far, for scripted TV.
ABC's out with MISTRESSES.
When Alyssa Milano starred in the show (the first two seasons), approximately four and a half million viewers turned out for the season debuts.
Now?
It's fallen to 2.94 for the opener.
For the record, the two seasons Alyssa starred in MISTRESSES?
The ratings were never that low for any episode, let alone a season debut.
Another season without Alyssa.
Another season when Jes Macallan overacts and looks like s**t.
On the latter, it's not her fault -- the cost-cutting move to Canada has meant poorly lit scenes.
On the former, she's convinced she's cute and she's just not.
She's like Brick on THE MIDDLE, she's aged out of cute and no one has the guts to tell her.
No one has the guts to tell Jerry O'Connell to cut that hair or that he's also aged out of cute. And it wasn't very smart of the show runner to hire Jerry as a 'hottie' for season four.
ABC's other scripted show is UNCLE BUCK. It's performing much better in the ratings but the Mike Epps starrer has not set the critics on fire.
The show isn't bad and, if shot in front of a studio audience, it would be a solid sitcom.
Instead, it's another single-camera 'sitcom' with bad pacing and pauses that go on far too long.
Epps and Nia Long are not the problem.
If there is a season two -- the ratings argue for one -- they should switch to performing in front of a studio audience.
Over at THE CW, BEAUTY & THE BEAST should be going out with a bang.
Season four, this season, is the show's last.
And the Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan led show has built up a solid fan base.
But season four has been a disappointment with start-stop plotting and nonsense like an entire episode where Vincent makes like the lead character in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
It has not made for a wonderful wrap up.
Which brings us to FOX and their season one hit WAYWARD PINES.
Jason Patric is the wrong actor for this show and we went over that back in May.
As the ratings this season have repeatedly drooped, it's obvious America agrees.
Which brings us to NBC.
AQUARIUS is the only summer show thus far that's consistently worth watching.
Now if only NBC could figure out how to promote it and get a scripted show to pair it with.
Until then, the whole summer of scripted television is down the toilet.
