THURSDAY
CRAIG: 8:00 Grey’s Anatomy; 9:00 Notorious; 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
SHILO: 8:00 Grey’s Anatomy; 9:00 Secrets & Lies; 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
CRAIG: Dreams of the usual Shonda Night were a little dashed with the announcement that Kerry Washington is expecting another child, so the new season will be shorter than usual. I’m assuming since Washington is expecting now that Scandal will be held for midseason. So, what do put in its place? Notorious, about a charismatic attorney and a powerhouse TV producer attempting together to control the media, seemed to be the most Shonda-iest choice among the pilots, even though Shonda’s own Still Star-Crossed is still a contender. In any event, it seems soapy and like it would fit in with ABC’s Thursday perfectly.
SHILO: Scandal cutting its episode order in the wake of Kerry Washington’s pregnancy just screams midseason to me. They could conceivably start production ahead of time and try to bank as many episodes as they can before she has her child, but I just can’t see this show having enough time to load up the episodes necessary for a full fall run. So with one of their strongest dramas on the bench, what does ABC do?
I went with Secrets & Lies, returning after almost two years away. The show fits in well with the TGIT brand in terms of content and marketability, while the season two episode order, if unchanged from season one, would perfectly fit a fall run that would allow Scandal to seamlessly return come 2017. Given that it’s an anthology, it doesn’t matter that the show is one season deep, meaning that the TGIT faithful could easily slip into the second season without having to watch the first season in advance. And during its first season, it showed some ratings power in a tough slot on Sundays, so with a favorable lead-in, solid marketing attention, and (likely) no serialized shows in the hour, it could be a nice addition to the Thursday lineup.
