THURSDAY
CRAIG: 8:00 Grey’s Anatomy; 9:00 Scandal; 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
SHILO: 8:00 Grey’s Anatomy; 9:00 Scandal; 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
CRAIG: While I know Kerry Washington’s pregnancy was not something that could be avoided, TGIT without Scandal in the Fall was weird and largely rejected by the audience who had no interest in Notorious. So, at the very least, I would recommend the familiar TGIT Thursday lineup of Grey’s, Scandal, and HTGAWM; worry about the rest in January.
SHILO: There are two ways I think TGIT could go for ABC. If Scandal has a full season (and, presumably, they’re launching 4-ish dramas earlier in the week), the lineup will be intact for the fall, with the Untitled ShondaLand Legal Project getting a premiere in spring and possibly pushing Scandal to 10:00. However, if Scandal has another 16-18 episode season, the door would be open for the next Shonda drama (which sounds like “Grey’s with lawyers”) to get the 9:00 slot in the fall and the bigger Grey’s lead-in. Where I think ABC will use new dramas on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday this fall, I don’t think they’re going to want to add Thursday into the mix, not when they have a promotional vehicle in American Idol to use for spring launches. There’ll be so much change elsewhere on the schedule that I think ABC will keep its strongest lineup together for the fall and hope that a healthy Thursday and American Idol can help Shonda’s next drama avoid becoming another The Catch/Still Star-Crossed.
