Fans of ABC’s Thursday night #TGIT lineup are still adjusting to the reality that Scandal, one of Shondaland’s most popular shows, has officially ended its run on television.
Not only is Scandal over, but news broke last year that creator Shonda Rhimes had signed a humongous deal with Netflix, making some fans nervous for the future of their favorite shows on ABC.
Don’t worry – her shows on ABC aren’t going anywhere. Shows like Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder will still air, and fans can always binge-watch Scandal to their heart’s content.
However, with the end of Scandal and Rhimes’ upcoming move to Netflix, fans have a lot of questions about what’s next over in Shondaland.
The Shondaland name has come to mean a lot more than just the Thursday night show lineup.
Rhimes’ production company is planning on branching out into more areas of content, and we can only imagine what that might mean as her empire continues to grow. She’s starting to draw comparisons to Oprah – and for good reason.
So what is next for Shondaland? There are several legitimate projects in the pipeline and even more unsubstantiated rumors. We’re going to separate the fact from fiction.
Read on to learn about the 6 Shondaland Projects In Development (And 9 That Are Rumored).
Rumored: Another Scandal/HTGAWM crossover
Before Scandal officially ended, Rhimes gifted #TGIT fans with one of the most exciting episodes ever – a crossover episode between Scandal and another one of her popular shows, How to Get Away With Murder.
Usually, crossover events like that only happen in fanfiction (or the Marvel universe). This made it even more thrilling to watch Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating interact on screen, especially given the talents of Kerry Washington and Viola Davis. Even Cicely Tyson made another appearance.
The event was so popular that fans started wondering if there might be another crossover in the future. Could that be a way to bring back some Scandal characters without rebooting the entire show?
There’s no evidence of any plans for this, though, so at the moment it’s just wishful thinking.
In Development: Station 19 Season 2
There might not be another crossover event in the works, but we will be seeing more of the latest Grey’s Anatomy spinoff.
Station 19, a drama focusing on the lives of the men and women at a Seattle fire station, premiered in March.
Although the show’s main focus is the lives of the new characters, fans can still enjoy occasional appearances from the folks over at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
The reviews for the spinoff have been mixed so far, but the viewership has been much stronger.
Nine of the ten episodes pulled in over five million viewers when they aired, with even more people watching via DVR later. ABC was happy enough with the ratings that they ordered a second season in May.
Rumored: Still Star-Crossed On Netflix
Station 19 fared much better than a different Shondaland production, Still Star-Crossed. Still Star-Crossed imagined what the events of Romeo and Juliet would have looked like after the passing of the two teenagers – but with people of color at the forefront, similar to Hamilton.
It earned a small but passionate following, but the ratings weren’t good enough. It was yanked from its Monday night spot after just a few episodes and sent to Saturday night hell before being canceled for good.
Now that Shonda Rhimes is taking her talents to Netflix, some fans are hopeful that she might bring back Still Star-Crossed for the streaming giant.
There hasn’t been an announcement about it, though, so for now fans will have to be content with season one.
Rumored: Another Grey’s Anatomy spinoff
Anything with Grey’s Anatomy attached to it seems to do relatively well. Station 19 had a strong first season, Private Practice, the original spin-off, got six seasons, and Grey’s Anatomy itself has been a mainstay on television for over a decade.
It’s no surprise, then, that fans think that there might be yet another spinoff in the works.
Some of this is likely because people are confused about Station 19 – they hear about a Grey’s spin-off and don’t realize that one has already started airing.
It’s not likely that there will be another new Grey’s property in addition to Station 19, however, despite what April Fools’ news reports might tell you.
As we’ll see, there are so many other projects going on that it wouldn’t make sense.
In Development: Grey’s Anatomy season 15
There might not be another spin-off, but rest assured that Grey’s Anatomy itself is still going strong.
Season 14 just wrapped up and season 15 officially got the green light back in April. This is going to be a record-breaking season for the show – this makes it the longest-running primetime drama in ABC’s history.
Fans can probably expect at least one more season after this one, since star Ellen Pompeo signed a two-year deal back in January.
Rhimes and Pompeo are in it together, with Rhimes saying that she’ll find a way to end the show as soon as Pompeo gets sick of it.
For now, though, it seems like the show that started the Shondaland empire is still going strong.
Rumored: The story of Anna Delvey
Don’t know who Anna Delvey is? Don’t worry – you probably will soon. In fact, a lot of socialites in New York City wish they didn’t know.
In late May, New York Magazineran a story about Anna Delvey, a Russian twenty-something who had successfully tricked a staggering number of people into that thinking she was a wealthy heiress.
She went on lavish trips, stayed in hotels for months, and swindled people out of thousands of dollars.
It looks like she might get some real money.
Netflix and Shondaland’s first joint purchase seems to be the rights to her story. It’s still way too early for even pre-production, and we don’t know if it will be a movie or TV series.
We do know, however, that Rhimes herself is set to write it.
In Development: For The People season 2
Shondaland has been busy this spring. In addition to Station 19, another new show premiered in March.
For The People is a legal drama, but don’t expect the characters to be covering up a murder or for Viola Davis to appear. It’s more like Law and Order with a Shonda Rhimes twist.
For the People didn’t pull in as many viewers as Station 19, but their numbers still aren’t anything to sneeze at. They averaged about 2.55 million live viewers each week, with more recording it to watch later.
On May 11, ABC renewed it for a second season. Expect to see more of the lawyers in the Mother Court in the coming months.
Rumored: When Willows Touch
It’s hard to imagine now that there was ever a time when anything touched by Shonda Rhimes wasn’t immediately given the okay for production.
However, right after Rhimes got her MFA in screenwriting, production companies weren’t exactly banging down her door – even when she had some very famous names attached to her work.
She’d written a feature called When Willow Touch. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were interested in producing it.
Sadly, the project’s funding was pulled three weeks before production was supposed to start. Rhimes still wanted to direct it someday, but the opportunity never came around.
With her options way more open now, people are starting to wonder if we could see this movie come back.
In Development: Shondaland lifestyle brand
Movies aren’t the only way we’ll see Shondaland branching out. If you haven’t started seeing links from Shondaland pop up on social media already, chances are you probably will in the months to come.
While Shondaland used to just be the name of Rhimes’ production company, now Shondaland.com will take you to a website that’s filled with content aimed at helping women think deeply about many different aspects of their lives.
From candid conversations about debt to inspiring interviews with celebrities, the website has (or will have) pretty much anything you can think of.
The easiest way to describe it is a lifestyle brand, but Rhimes insists it’s not a lifestyle site – because they’re not feeding you a lifestyle, they’re giving you life.
Rumored: An action series
Rhimes’ most popular shows are known for bringing the drama and plot twists. You never know when a long-lost family member or an old flame might show up, and long-time fans know that no one is safe from passing away. (RIP McDreamy.)
Don’t write off Rhimes as a one-trick pony, though. That style might have been what propelled her to stardom, but it’s not the only thing she can do.
Rhimes has said in interviews that she’s interested in branching out into different styles, specifically writing an action series.
She wants to see lots of girls in an action series with more depth than TV shows usually give them, plus the opportunity for them to kick butt on the regular.
Rumored: Unscripted television
We also might see Rhimes branching out into television that’s not scripted at all. That usually brings to mind something like reality TV, which can have nearly as much drama as one hour of Scandal.
Rhimes is still being coy about just what we can expect to see from her in the future, but she did confirm in an interview that she wants to work in areas outside of scripted television and movies.
Not only that, but she’s also already started having conversations with the people who know how to make that happen.
That might mean reality TV, or it could be something like improv comedy or documentaries. There’s no way to know until there’s a confirmed project.
In Development: Shondaland podcasts
As she expands her empire, expect even more ways for you to be able to interact with the Shondaland brand. If podcasts are your thing, you might want to check out the two podcasts that are available right now.
One, Katie’s Crib, is run by Scandal’s Katie Lowes. Each week, she and a guest talk about all the highs and lows of motherhood. Expect lots of honesty and hilarity each week, as well as some celebrity appearances and expert opinions.
The second is called Geri & Milli, featuring the “geriatric” (in her words) Betsy Beers. Beers, an executive producer at Shondaland, will have various millennials on her show to discuss the generational gap between Millennials and Baby Boomers.
Rumored: Feature-length movies
Rhimes might be the queen of evening television, but she’s not about to settle for just one storytelling format. Although her focus is still on the possibilities of television, she’s curious about making feature films, too.
When Willows Touch might be on the table, but there could also be new, original ideas that get the Shonda Rhimes stamp in addition to the Will and Jada collaboration.
Rhimes has confirmed that there are movies she wants to make, but that for the moment, she’s looking at television… until she changes her mind.
It seems like if the right idea comes along at the right time, television might take a backseat in order for her to make a great movie.
In Development: HTGAWM season 5
Don’t worry – Scandal might be over, but How To Get Away With Murder is very much here to stay.
The finale of season four aired in March, and for awhile, there was no word on whether or not it would be picked up again for a fifth season by ABC.
While fans would usually assume that it would be renewed, the knowledge that Rhimes was also making moves at Netflix made some people a little nervous.
Luckily, HTGAWM was renewed for a fifth season in mid-May, so you can expect the gang to be back on your screens this fall, along with the new character introduced in the finale.
With any luck, this season will help Viola Davis bag another Emmy.
Rumored: A Scandal spinoff
Fans of Scandal just aren’t ready to see all of the characters go. Knowing that Grey’s Anatomy got not just one, but two spin-off shows has made fans wonder if the same could happen for Scandal.
An April Fools’ article joked that there was going to be a web-only Scandal spinoff similar to the one produced before the premiere of the show’s sixth season.
This second spinoff was supposed to take a closer look at the events after the show’s finale. The joke was a bit too convincing, though, and the fans who either forgot what day it was or didn’t scroll to the end of the article thought it was true.
Scandal spinoff rumors are still flying around the internet, but take it from Rhimes herself – Scandal is done. It seems like the Gladiators are only going to appear in reruns.
Which Shondaland projects are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!
