ABC held its own version of Game of Thrones‘ Red Wedding when network execs went on a cancellation spree, giving the ax to fan and critical faves like Trophy Wife, The Neighbors, and Suburgatory, as well as Mixology, Super Fun Night, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Mind Games, Killer Women and Betrayal. In the end, one queen reigned supreme as ABC turns over an entire night to hit-maker Shonda Rhimes.

ABC has a lot to prove in the fall as it currently stands as the fourth place network. A night of programming from Rhimes makes sense as ABC can use the night as a launching pad to move any of those around to plug in a hole if needed and launch a new Rhimes-produced show in the vacant slot. And, let’s face it, how much longer can Grey’s Anatomy run? ABC will have to plan for that eventuality and giving Rhimes a night of her own and a long-term contract is probably the best move the network has made.

It will be interesting to see if the wisdom of cancelling three popular, but low-rated, sitcoms pays off. The Twitter-verse pretty much went nuts when ABC canned The Neighbors, a witty, smart, well-cast comedy that probably failed to grab audiences because they wrote it off as a one-joke gimmick (it was certainly more than that). ABC gave the show a terrible time slot in its second season (Friday at 8:30 PM) and never promoted the show. That it had viewers at all is a miracle and should have been rewarded with a third season, better time slot and lead-in. (Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing was far from compatible. ABC should have scheduled The Neighbors with The Goldbergs and moved Trophy Wife after Modern Family.) It now looks like Last Man Standing will have a more compatible partner on Friday night with the new comedy Cristela, about a law school student trying to modernize her family’s old world culture.

Even with the cancellations, ABC’s schedule still looks surprisingly familiar with Sunday and Monday remaining virtually the same. The rest of the week has a few surprising changes, mainly the move of Grey’s Anatomy to the 8:00 PM time slot on Thursday (which hasn’t been successful since Ugly Betty), Scandal an hour earlier at 9:00 PM on Thursdays and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. moving to the 9:00 PM slot on Tuesday sandwiched between two new comedies and one new drama. ABC hopes S.H.I.E.L.D. will give a boost to the new 10:00 PM drama Forever, starring Ioan Gruffud as a doctor who studies the dead to find an answer to his own immortality.

ABC also has a few shows waiting in the wings including alien drama The Whispers, starring Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Galavant (from The Neighbors creator Dan Fogelman) and Marvel’s Agent Carter starring Hayley Atwell, bringing her Captain America character to the small screen. ABC plans to use limited run series Galavant and Agent Carter as “bridge shows” to fill in the space during the winter breaks of Once Upon a Time and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. respectively. Agent Carter already comes with a built-in fan base, so its success is almost a sure thing. Galavant‘s musical comedy fairy tale may be a harder sell. Rhimes’ new show How To Get Away With Murder, starring Viola Davis, should have no problem luring audiences in with its legal thriller premise.

Here’s hoping ABC can climb out of the ratings basement with it’s fall schedule. To see more photos and video clips of the new shows, be sure to visit and “Like” our Facebook and Google+ pages. Here’s a look at ABC’s fall 2014 lineup:

Monday
8 p.m. — Dancing With the Stars
10 p.m. — Castle

Tuesday
8 p.m. — Selfie
8:30 p.m. — Manhattan Love Story
9 p.m. — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
10 p.m. — Forever

Wednesday
8 p.m. — The Middle
8:30 p.m. — The Goldbergs
9 p.m. — Modern Family
9:30 p.m. — Black-Ish
10 p.m. — Nashville

Thursday
8-9 p.m. — Grey’s Anatomy
9-10 p.m. — Scandal
10-11 p.m. — How to Get Away With Murder

Friday
8 p.m. — Last Man Standing
8:30 p.m. — Cristela
9 p.m. — Shark Tank
10 p.m. — 20/20

Saturday
8 p.m. — Saturday Night Football

Sunday
7 p.m. — America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. — Once Upon a Time
9 p.m. — Resurrection
10 p.m. — Revenge

Whew, the past two weeks have been rather busy for me, but rest assured, I’m back with a new installment of Clacking in Color in addition to some good news! During those two eventful weeks, I discovered a new television show, one to fill the void left by Desperate Housewives — ABC’s hit primetime drama Scandal! Now, I bet I know what you’re thinking: Really, Jaylen? That show is now in its second season! Well, pipe down. I know that. However, I had a little preconceived hostility before hopping on board.

You see, the reason why I never was so gung-ho about giving Scandal a try was because I kind of saw it as the reason why one of my favorite TV shows was canceled. It’s no secret that Shonda Rhimes is a powerhouse screenwriter and producer. As an African-American writer, I respect her drive. She’s a strong sistah’. However, it can be pretty tough work balancing three different TV shows — Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal … at least that’s my opinion. Now, I may be wrong, but the way I saw it was that Scandal had a little something to do with Private Practice ending.

Alright, Scandal lovers, put your weapons down and go with me on this. I always felt as though Private Practice was the bald-headed stepchild of the three programs that Rhimes created, and I believe that the more that she invested into Scandal, the less attention she gave to Private Practice. If anyone remembers correctly, Private Practice, a sunny spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy, used to air right after Grey’s went off. Once Scandal arrived on the scene, the show was booted to Tuesdays to make way for the new program. That ain’t right, folks. It ain’t right at all.

While I’m happy to know that Scandal is gaining a loyal fan following — something that makes me smile knowing that Kerry Washington, a beautiful and talented African-American woman is the lead — it still doesn’t erase the fact that it could have been the reason why one of my favorite shows is no longer with us. Ladies and gentlemen, I loved Private Practice. As a matter of fact, the very first Clacking in Color was about Audra McDonald, one of the show’s actresses. Scandal is the culprit here … and that, my friends, is the reason why I refused to give it a try. However, now I’ve seen the light … and I’m starting to go a little blind.

I’m not going to sit here and say that Scandal is the best thing on television right now, but I am enjoying it … even if the characters talk too damn fast. My question is why in the world it took so long to get on the air. I recently wrote about how the current TV season boasts a few more racially diverse faces, but I do believe that Scandal is the only primetime drama to feature a Black woman as the lead. What gives?

If Facebook and Twitter is any indication, viewers can’t seem to get enough of the program. I can’t tell you how many times I see statuses and updates about the show which means that a lot of people are watching. Perhaps it also means that we’ll soon see more minorities featured as the leads in their own respective shows. One can only hope.

When the series finale of Private Practice aired last month, I was pretty upset. However, all good things come to an end, right? I’ll admit that I was kind of worried about finding a new TV show to follow, but it helps to know that Scandal is on the air. I’ll admit that it hasn’t hooked me like Desperate Housewives did, but I am willing to give it a try. Surprisingly, in an ironic twist of fate, it is kind of filling the void left by Private Practice. Hmph.

Hmph. Now ain’t that scandalous!

Do you enjoy reading Clacking in Color? Jaylen sure as hell hopes so. Keep up with his opinions and ponderings by following him on Twitter @thesuperflynerd!

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