ABC’s “TGIT” lineup, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder” returns Sept. 24. The “thank God it’s Thursday” powerhouse stars — Kerry Washington, Ellen Pompeo and Viola Davis — and producers Pete Nowalk (“HTGAWM”), Shonda Rhimes (“Greys,” “Scandal”) and Betsy Beers (executive producer of all three) appeared on a panel Tuesday, tiptoeing around questions political and otherwise.
“I don’t worry about things I have no control over,” Rhimes said, dismissing a question about whether it was a worrisome season given all the discussion of the Shondaland brand. She similarly shied away from acknowledging any notion of having left a legacy with her breakout roles for women of color. And while her company, Shondaland, controls all of the series, Rhimes took care to note she has only two shows on the air, Pete Nowalk has one.
Now that , for lead actress in a drama series as Annalise Keating on “HTGAWM,” which would represent an historic breaking of the color barrier, she declined to make predictions. “If you’re in this business for awards, you’re in the wrong business,” Davis said.
“Meredith Grey’s never been defined by her relationship with a man,” Rhimes shot back when asked how the death of McDreamy on “Grey’s” would alter the character of Meredith.
The decision to have Patrick Dempsey’s character exit the way he did was “not a difficult one. Either he was going to walk out on Meredith and leave her high and dry…for me that was untenable… So as painful as it was for me as a storyteller,” Rhimes said, “Derek was going to have to die in order for that love to remain honest.” Death was the only way to have their love “remain true and forever frozen in time.”
As difficult as it was emotionally for the workplace family, Pompeo said, for an actor it was also “really juicy.”
Washington may have had the most obvious observation: She always feels people are “terribly misguided When they tell me Olivia Pope is their role model.” The “Scandal” character is a woman dating a married man, who is a murderer, for whom she stole an election… She’s not a role model. “Scandal” picks up where it left off, Rhimes said, with things not going well for people. On “HTGAWM,” the question is what has Analise wrought? And more backstories will be revealed, Norwalk said.
Part of the beauty of the character is her flaws, Washington suggested: “Nothing is perfect in Shondaland. People are real.”
