Entertainment
Thursday Nights Are Shonda Rhimes’ Time
Shonda Rhimes is challenging herself on screen and off. She faced her fears and appeared on ‘The Mindy Project’ while overseeing three series on ABC. (Richard Shotwell, Invision/AP Photo)
(USA Today) – This has been a big year for Shonda Rhimes, on screen and off.
The TV mega-producer, creator of popular dramas Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, became the sole proprietor of ABC’s Thursday lineup, with the addition of How to Get Away with Murder, an instant hit created by veteran Shondaland writer Pete Nowalk.
And a woman famed for behind-the-scenes work has dipped her toe into the spotlight.
“This was the year of doing a thousand things I was afraid of, and to overcome my fear of speaking in public,” she says. “So, I gave a commencement speech at (alma mater) Dartmouth, I was on Jimmy Kimmel, and when Mindy (Kaling) said, ‘Will you come on The Mindy Project?,’ I took a really deep breath of terror and said yes.”
Rhimes, 45, is pleased that Thursday nights feel like “a destination,” and she enjoys the social-media buzz, including live-tweeting from the series’ stars, that has become a weekly event.
