Shonda Rhimes’s Shondaland is at a crossroads.
This week they announced that “Scandal” was coming to an end– something I told you in February.
Then ABC cancelled “The Catch,” a show no one watched or knew was on the air. Or why. Or what it was about.
That leaves Shondaland very unpopulated. They have “Grey’s Anatomy” in its 14th season which seems amazing considering no one watches it and most of the original cast is long gone.
“How to Get Away with Murder” continues with Oscar winner Viola Davis. But Davis probably is done with the show as she has movies to make and Broadway and doesn’t have time to figure out what the hell the plot is. (I cannot figure that show out. Can you?) Anyway, they’ve gotten away with murder, that’s for sure.
And then they announced their own “Chicago Fire”– which I’m calling “Seattle Fire.” Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Shondaland is taking a page from the Dick Wolf playbook. What’s next, “Seattle PD”? “Seattle Law”? In fact, probably. Because to stay alive, Shondaland will have to build “Grey’s Anatomy” out into some of kind of franchise business a la Wolf. (He’s a genius at this.)
Well, they’ve got “For the People,” about young prosecutors in Manhattan. My only hope for this re-tread is that Anna Deveare Smith and Vondie Curtis-Hall are in it. They’re gold.
Here’s the trailer:
