Following its season finale last week, Scandal will be on hiatus for a long while.
In announcing its 2016-2017 schedule Tuesday, ABC revealed that the hit drama will not return until midseason, which could mean next year. “Production issues” was the official reason given though star Kerry Washington’s pregnancy is believed to be the real reason.
Scandal‘s Thursday-night time slot will be occupied this fall by a new drama, Notorious, described as a “provocative look at the unique, sexy and dangerous interplay of criminal law and the media.”
ABC will introduce five new shows in all in the fall. Aside from Notorious, there’s Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland as a low-level cabinet member who unexpectedly becomes president after an attack on Washington; Conviction, a drama with Marvel’s Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell as a former first daughter who works with a Conviction Integrity Unit; the comedy Speechless, in which Minnie Driver plays a mom whose son has cerebral palsy; and the comedy American Housewife, focusing on a housewife raising a flawed family in a wealthy Connecticut town.
In midseason, Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes will introduce her latest project, the Romeo and Juliet-themed drama Still Star-Crossed.
Specials for the 2016-2017 season include a Dirty Dancing remake, a tribute to Muhammad Ali, and a new David Blaine program.
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