For ABC, a night with Shonda Rhimes
The super-producer is behind every show in its Thursday lineup
September 25, 2014
Welcome to the night Shonda Rhimes built.
ABC’s Thursday lineup consists entirely of shows from the super-producer, an extremely rare event.
The key part of the three-hour block is the fourth-year drama “Scandal,” which bows at 9 p.m. tonight, moving into the featured spot on the schedule after three seasons at 10 p.m.
In years past, it didn’t make much sense to rely on one producer to populate a whole night. There was enough audience and enough variety in the shows pitched to the networks that lots of producers got their chances.
But with broadcast audiences shrinking, hot producers have become an important commodity. ABC loves Rhimes because she knows what young women, the network’s target demographic, want to watch.
She’s succeeded with “Scandal,” “Private Practice” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” which moves to 8 p.m. to make room for “Scandal” at 9.
And media buyers and planners think “How to Get Away with Murder,” the new Rhimes-produced drama at 10 p.m., will do well, too. If you’re watching “Grey’s” and “Scandal,” chances are you will stick around for “Murder” goes the network’s logic.
“Scandal” was ABC’s No. 1 drama last season with a 3.0 adults 18-49 Nielsen rating. This season it faces the added challenge of airing against CBS’s new “Thursday Night Football” package for the first five weeks of the season.
But Rhimes’ dramas skew very female, and football skews very male. ABC should hold up pretty well against the NFL.
A look at this week’s top TV draws | |||
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 | |||
Time | Network | Program | Description |
8 p.m. | ABC | “Grey’s Anatomy” (D) | Season premiere. Meredith deals with drama in both her work and home lives. |
8 p.m. | Fox | “Bones” (D) | Season premiere. The season begins with Booth in jail awaiting trial. |
8:25 p.m. | CBS | “Thursday Night Football” (S) | An NFC East matchup between the Giants and Redskins. |
10 p.m. | ABC | “How to Get Away with Murder” (D) | Series premiere. A defense attorney and law professor picks a group of sponsors to work at her law firm. |
10 p.m. | NBC | “Parenthood” (D) | Season premiere. It’s Zeek’s birthday, so he and Sarah head to Vegas. |
10 p.m. | truTV | “Joker’s Wild” (C) | Series premiere. New studio/sketch series featuring the guys from “Impractical Jokers.” |
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | |||
Time | Network | Program | Description |
12 a.m. | Amazon Prime | “Transparent” (D) | Series premiere. First season of a well-reviewed dramedy starring Jeffrey Tambor. |
8 p.m. | CBS | “The Amazing Race” (R) | Season premiere. The reality competition’s 25th season starts in Times Square. |
8 p.m. | ABC | “Shark Tank” (R) | Season premiere. Pitches include a nail salon for men and a charging station for cell phones. |
9 p.m. | we TV | “David Tutera’s CELEBrations” (R) | Season premiere. David attempts to pull off an ambush wedding. |
10 p.m. | ABC | “20/20” (N) | The long-running newsmagazine kicks off its 37th season. |
10 p.m. | CMT | “CMT Crossroads” (N) | John Legend teams up with Lee Ann Womack. |
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 | |||
Time | Network | Program | Description |
1 p.m. | NBC | “Golf” (S) | Day two of the Ryder Cup from Perthshire, Sctoland. |
7 p.m. | ESPN | “College Football” (S) | An SEC matchup between Missouri and South Carolina. |
8 p.m. | ABC | “College Football” (S) | Notre Dame takes on Syracuse in East Rutherford, New Jersey. |
9 p.m. | Starz | “Outlander” (D) | Season finale. Claire tries to get used to her new marriage. |
10 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 | “College Football” (S) | A good Pac-12 game between UCLA and Arizona State. |
11:30 p.m. | NBC | “Saturday Night Live” (C) | Season premiere. The 40th season premiere hosted by Chris Pratt, with musical guest Ariana Grande. |
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 | |||
Time | Network | Program | Description |
8 p.m. | Fox | “The Simpsons” (C) | Season premiere. A resident of Springfield dies. |
8 p.m. | ABC | “Once Upon a Time” (D) | Season premiere. Elsa tries to protect herself with a snow monster. |
8:20 p.m. | NBC | “Sunday Night Football” (S) | An NFC battle between the Cowboys and Saints in Dallas (well, Arlington). |
9 p.m. | Showtime | “Ray Donovan” (D) | Season finale. Mickey comes up with a new plan. |
9 p.m. | Fox | “Family Guy” (C) | Season premiere. The long-awaited cross-over episode with “The Simpsons.” |
10 p.m. | CBS | “CSI” (D) | Season premiere. Finlay has a bomb planted in her car. |
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show. |
Tags: tv this week, abc, thursday tv this week, scandal, Shonda Rhimes, Grey's Anatomy, how to get away with murder
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