When Does It Start: Sunday July 15th at 10pm EST on USA

In A Nutshell: Sigourney Weaver gets political as a former First Lady turned Secretary Of State…

What’s It About: It’s Brothers and Sisters meets The West Wing!

Elaine Barrish is a former First Lady, divorced from her husband – and former president – Bud. Now back in the political game, Elaine is toiling hard as Secretary of State for the current president, Paul Garcetti (Adrian Pasdar), the man who beat her in the primaries.

And Elaine has plenty on her plate – besides a hectic workload she’s fighting off political enemies, battling with a nosy reporter bent on bringing her down, and dealing with family crises including an overbearing mother (Ellen Barkin) and a troubled younger son with addiction issues. Get ready for some Emmy worthy acting in the weeks ahead!

Plus Points: Um, Sigourney Weaver!

I’m a big fan of Weaver, one of the few celebrities I’ve met who actually left me a little star struck when I interviewed her years ago! Aside from being a great actress, Sigourney has smart taste in material which augurs well for Political Animals. Like many ‘mature’ actresses Weaver’s big screen options have dwindled in recent years. When you’re reduced to doing Taylor Lautner movies you know it’s time to move on! Thankfully cinema’s loss is TV’s gain. Let’s just hope Animals lives up to Sigourney’s talents in the way that her last TV outing – the melodramatic Lifetime movie Prayers For Bobby – didn’t.

Political Animals is created by Greg Berlanti, best known as the Executive Producer behind Brothers and Sisters. I was a huge Brothers fan for its first few seasons, before the show became repetitive and strained. Thankfully Animals is a cable show so won’t be required to deliver 22 episodes a season. Plus I suspect the world of politics has more story options than the Walker family and its endless dinner parties!

So far reviews have been solid and buzz is good for Political Animals. And let’s be honest – pretty much everything the network touches these days turns to ratings gold (Burn Notice, Necessary Roughness, Suits, etc.) Plus since the network is touting the first run as a ‘mini series’ Animals could clean up come Emmy time since it won’t be competing in the vastly more competitive ‘drama’ category… That’s if it’s good enough of course!

On The Downside: Politics is a tricky area for any TV show and in an election year there’s a chance viewers could already feel politically drained. While The West Wing may have been a smash hit a decade ago, Commander In Chief only managed one season and the jury is still out on Scandal. As for HBO’s recent hit Veep, I’d argue it’s more of a critical than commercial success at this point.

Most of the above shows also aired on broadcast TV – while Animals is for USA network – which is probably one of the most middle American networks out there. USA is the home of series like White Collar, Royal Pains and Covert Affairs – all of which play to a very broad audience. And whatever the makers of Political Animals say, Weaver’s character is bound to invite comparisons to Hillary Clinton. Would the show have been a better fit on a more left leaning network like HBO or Showtime I wonder?

Then there’s the Berlanti factor. I count myself a fan of the prolific producer, but he also has an appetite for cheese that could derail Political Animals loftier ambitions. Already a couple of the storylines feel Brother and Sisters like in tone. Execution will be key…

Prediction: I smell a hit for USA – and a long running summer saga for seasons to come. Welcome to the world of TV Sigourney!