In 2014, the ABC network programmed its entire Thursday primetime lineup with television series produced by Shondaland, then branded the Shondaland-filled programming block as "Thank God It's Thursday," also referred to in its shortened form, TGIT.[2] This echoes ABC's former TGIF branding of its Friday night family sitcoms[3] and NBC's Must See TV promotion of formidable Thursday night television hits in the 1990s. Thursday is an especially important night for American television networks because it is the last chance for advertisers of weekend purchases, like movies and cars, to reach a large TV audience, and networks schedule highly rated programming for the night to attract those advertising dollars.[4] The Associated Press called Rhimes' reign of an entire night of network television "unmatched in TV history."[5]
Productions
The first series produced by Shondaland is Grey's Anatomy, which premiered on March 27, 2005, and currently is broadcasting its nineteenth season.[6] In 2007, Private Practice premiered, and lasted for six seasons, until its final broadcast, on January 22, 2013.[7] The third installment, Off the Map, was created by Jenna Bans and lasted for only one season, in 2011.[8]Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, premiered in 2012 and 2014, respectively, with Scandal airing its final episode on April 19, 2018, and How to Get Away with Murder airing its final episode on May 14, 2020. The comedy-driven crime dramaThe Catch aired for two seasons and received generally positive reviews from critics.[9] The period dramaStill Star-Crossed premiered on May 29, 2017, and was cancelled after one season.[10] The legal drama For the People, created by Paul William Davies and set to premiere in the 2017–18 television season,[11] is the eighth television series produced by Shondaland. In May 2019, it was cancelled after two seasons.[12]
It was announced on January 3, 2018, that Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder would crossover with one another in Shondaland's first crossover event (excluding spin-offs).[13]
Website
In 2017, Shondaland launched the lifestyle website Shondaland.com in partnership with Hearst.[14]
Initiatives
Shonda Rhimes shares her knowledge with aspiring screenwriters and producers through ShondaLand and initiatives for her MasterClass.com program.[15]
Shondaland partnered with Seriesfest[16] in 2019 to launch the Women's Directing Mentorship,[17] a competition designed to discover aspiring female directors.[18][19] The Seriesfest panel included Shondaland's Head of Fiction Alison Eakle, Akua Murphy, Katie Lowes and Anna Deavere Smith.[20] The first Shondaland Women's Directing Mentorship was awarded to Rachel Myers.[21]
In January 2020, it was announced that Shonda Rhimes had partnered with iHeartMedia to launch Shondaland Audio.[22]
Some actors appear in more than one television show produced by Shondaland. Currently, Liza Weil, Mimi Kennedy, John Getz, José Zúñiga, Cynthia Stevenson, Faran Tahir and Anthony Hill are the only actors to make appearances in four shows.
^Poggi, Jeanine (May 16, 2016). "TV Upfront: Any Given Thursday: ABC May Not Have the NFL As It Heads to the Upfront, But It's Got Shonda Rhimes". Advertising Age. Vol. 87, no. 10. pp. 14–17.
