Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver is set to make her series TV debut with USA Network’s Political Animals, a six-hour original series from producers Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters) and Laurence Mark (Julie & Julia). Berlanti also wrote and will direct the pilot episode.
The Plot:
Pulling back the curtain on persuasive public speeches and stirring campaign ads, the fictional look at a former first family exposes a dynasty weakened by political ambition, lust and greed.
Weaver stars as Elaine Barrish, the divorced former First Lady and newly appointed Secretary of State who throws herself into the job after recovering from the dissolution of her marriage and losing the presidential nomination. Barrish relies heavily on her son Doug (James Wolk, Happy Endings), an ambitious politico who serves as her chief of staff, but is tormented by his twin brother’s struggles with addiction.
With a philandering ex-husband who is still as much in love with her as the office he once held, she attempts to keep her family together, while simultaneously dealing with crises of the State Department and a hungry DC journalist bent on destroying her career. Through it all she knows that the only way to survive is to do things her own way, even if that means bending the rules. Brittany Ishibashi (Parenthood) also stars as Doug’s fiancée.
