Scandal - Season 7 UPDATED
On Thursday, ABC and Shonda Rhimes closed up Olivia Pope and Associates for good as Scandal wrapped its seven-season run with a series finale that explored the ramifications of going public with the existence of black-ops group B613 and the ultimate corruption that comes with the thirst for power and the Oval Office.
Scandal - Season 7
Towards the beginning of the season hope for a satisfying ending to this series was beginning to dwindle. Last season had ended on a bit of a lukewarm note leaving a lot to be desired in what hoped to be an explosive finale. However, this season started off with a lack of purpose or urgency, slowly gaining traction then losing it on convoluted stories that felt out of the norm of the Scandal that audiences had come to love. With Olivia sprinting down a dark path, Cyrus and Jake constantly scheming and QPA running around like chickens with their heads cut off, things were looking bleak for this season.
This should not come as a huge surprise to big Shondaland fans, as Rhimes herself said that the show would have a shorter shelf life than her original hit, Grey's Anatomy, which is now in its 13th season. "I feel like there is a finite amount of Scandal to be told," she told NPR in 2013. "So I know what the end of Scandal will be, and I feel really good about that. And I can see where the end point is."
Thus the show's conclusion was the decision of Rhimes, not the network. Among the advertiser-coveted 18 to 49 demographic, the show was among the 20 highest-rated shows of 2016. The current season averages 5.699 million viewers and 1.46 viewers in the 18-49 demo. While this marks a drop from the fifth season's average of 7.18 million viewers, the current live number is impressive considering the steady decline of live-viewership. Scandal remains one of ABC's most popular series and a large reason why the network routinely beats the other broadcasters on Thursday nights.
The beginning of the end has finally begun for Scandal, which means the return of all of your favorite white and black hats of Washington, D.C., but the former president was noticeably absent from the Season 7 premiere. So, where is Fitz on Scandal? Season 7 won't be the same without the two-term TV president, though you have to expect that he'll be showing up at some point this season. True, Fitz is no longer the president and since he's also no longer married to Mellie, he really has no place in the White House, so when Fitz comes back to Scandal, it's going to have to be for a good reason.
The last we saw of Fitz, he was leaving the White House to work on his presidential foundation in Vermont, and as it was something he seemed passionate about, maybe Fitz's return to Scandal will have something to do with his new organization. For right now, though, for all we know he's still in Vermont learning how to fly fish and make jam, as he told Abby at the end of Season 6. But if Scandal is hard to imagine without Olivia, it's almost just as difficult to imagine Fitz never coming back. And even if that means he's not in as many episodes for the final season, all that really matters is that he comes back at all.
During the Season 7 premiere of Scandal, Goldwyn tweeted at numerous fans' worries about Fitz returning and although he didn't make an appearance yet, Goldwyn did reveal that he directed Episode 2, so Fitz's absence for some of the episodes this season might be explained with Goldwyn's behind the scenes work. But if you're still wondering how Fitz is going to fit in now that he's no longer a White House politician, you definitely aren't alone. Goldwyn had similar questions when he spoke to Deadline at the end of Season 6.
Whether Fitz returns to get Mellie behind his foundation or he's secretly working on taking down B613 now that Olivia has reinstated the government agency, his return will come eventually. And since this is the no holds barred final season of the show, maybe I can hope for Olivia to give up the White House for Vermont and jam and happiness. Hey, a girl can dream, right?
\"Shonda has decided the series needs to come to a close,\" said Channing Dungey, the president of ABC Entertainment. \"While this is definitely a bittersweet moment for all of us gladiators, I have no doubt what she has in store for the final season will be as powerful as what's come before, and we will be sure to honor that every step of the way.\"
Every year for the past several years, Netflix has always gotten most of the ABC lineup in June and that includes Scandal. Season 6 came to Netflix in June 2017 which means that season 7 will almost definitely arrive in June 2018.
Today ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey announced that season seven will be the final season for the hit Shondaland drama Scandal. Reports surfaced last week that Scandal Season 7 would be the show's last, but the network confirmed the news during its upfront presentation. Here's what Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment, had to say in a statement about Scandal coming to an end.
"Shonda has decided the series needs to come to a close, and while this is definitely a bittersweet moment for all of us gladiators, I have no doubt what she has in store for the final season will be as powerful as what's come before, and we will be sure to honor that every step of the way."
As a staple in the Shonda Rhimes programming block known as "TGIT," the Washington, D.C., drama about a political fixer named Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and her team of associates who sacrifice their time, and often their morals, to "handle" unimaginable crises affecting the nation's elite, is getting a proper send-off. Throughout the last six seasons, Scandal has used OMG storytelling to explore political culture, gender disparities, sexual politics and race in America. Here's what Patrick Moran, president, ABC Studios, had to say in his statement.
"ABC Studios is so proud of Scandal, and the Shondaland TGIT franchise, which have been so important to our studio's success. It's hard to imagine Thursday nights without Olivia Pope and company and the roller-coaster ride of the last six seasons."
One year after Scandal's debut, the ABC drama became the first-ever program to build on Grey's Anatomy. By its third season, "Scandal" became a social dynamo, generating a massive 7.0 million tweets in a single season and redefining what it meant to be a social-media powerhouse. Scandal ranks as ABC's #2 most social drama this season with 2.6 million total interactions across Facebook and Twitter. Helping to re-invigorate ABC's Thursday night, Scandal has won its 9 p.m. hour in all 14 weeks since its January return.
Over the course of the past six seasons, Scandal has been awarded an AFI Award, two NAACP Image Awards, a Peabody Award, a Gracie Award, a WIN Award and many other accolades. For three years in a row, Kerry Washington received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama. Washington also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Olivia Pope. In addition, Joe Morton and Dan Bucatinsky have both received Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
The end is near for Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and friends, as Scandal returned to air for its final season premiere on Thursday. As per usual when it comes to Scandal, the cast of characters face some serious, over-the-top Washington, D.C. drama.
TVLine.com reports that series creator Shonda Rhimes has decided to end Scandal after season 7. ABC is expected to make an announcement about the series finale early next week at the network upfronts.
Neither Shonda nor ABC have confirmed the report at this time, but ABC president Channing Dungey noted that no definite plans have been laid out for the show beyond season 7.
There are plenty of campy moments here in season 7. Along with the usual amount of political intrigue and subterfuge, there is a lot of drama. Along with a soupcon of social commentary. In other words highly watchable for a number of reasons.
According to multiple reports, Scandal(Opens in a new tab) will end(Opens in a new tab) after its upcoming seventh season. The show is currently in the midst of airing Season 6 and has three episodes remaining, with its two-hour finale set for May 18.
As the seasons have gone on, the show's plots have grown increasingly labyrinthine -- Season 6 saw the assassination of the President-elect on election night -- and until recently, many would've said the show lost touch with any semblance of reality. Grand conspiracies, government-sanctioned murders, secret election rigging -- crazy, right?
Scandal ous. Thursday's third-season premiere of ABC's Scandal (10.5 million viewers) marked a series high, rising 56% from last fall's opener (6.7 million). That night's comedy track record was mixed: The premiere of CBS' The Millers (13.1 million) was strong behind The Big Bang Theory (18.2 million), but NBC's Sean Saves The World (4.4 million) and Welcome to the Family (3 million) struggled.
Originals sin. CW's The Originals (2.2 million), a Vampire Diaries spinoff, held on to most of that show's season-premiere lead-in (2.6 million), though it moved to Tuesdays this week. Bravo's Top Chef returned Wednesday with 1.3 million, while AMC's Low Winter Sun -- without Breaking Bad's lead-in -- faded to a weak 628,000 for Sunday's finale. 041b061a72