ABC Breaking Up Its TGIT Schedule That Includes ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘HTGAWM’

ABC officially announced its fall schedule on Tuesday, May 14, with plenty of fan-favorite shows returning for next season’s lineup.

Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder will both return on Thursdays, with the Shonda Rhimes-led block now broken up by last season’s breakout A Million Little Things. Grey’s will air at 8 p.m. ET, A Million Little Things will air at 9 p.m. and HTGAWM will close out the block at 10 p.m. ET.

The move breaks up a Shonda Rhimes viewing block, with both Grey’s and HTGAWM having been created by the producer. Thursdays on ABC also previously included Rhimes’ Scandal, which aired its series finale in April 2018. The trio of shows were known as the network’s “TGIT” block of programming.

Grey’s Anatomy was recently renewed for Seasons 16 and 17 in a history-making move, as the extension will make the show the longest-running medical drama on television. ER previously held the record with 15 seasons and 331 episodes, though Grey’s aired its 332nd episode in February to take the episodic title. Grey’s is also ABC’s longest-running primetime scripted series.

HTGAWM was also renewed for its sixth season, and Shondaland series Station 19, a Grey’s spinoff, was renewed for a third season. Grey’s and Station 19 will be helmed by Grey’s executive producer/showrunner Krista Vernoff.

“Everyone at Shondaland is thrilled that our fans’ commitment to TGIT continues,” Rhimes and producing partner Betsy Beers said in a joint statement at the time, via Deadline. “We are so proud of Krista and (HTGAWM’s) Pete (Nowalk) and the work they do. Making the choice to have Krista oversee Station 19 was easy — the creativity she brings to the Grey’s Anatomy universe continues a tradition of storytelling we hold dear.”

In 2017, Rhimes inked a multi-year production deal with Netflix, and revealed that she is working on eight new series for the streaming giant. One of those projects is based on a New York Magazine article about Anna Sorokin, who scammed New York City into believing she was a German heiress named Anna Delvey. Sorokin allegedly swindled wealthy Big Apple residents out of $200,000 and was sentenced last week to four to 12 years in prison, the New York Times reports. She was also fined $24,000 and ordered to pay restitution of about $199,000 and is facing deportation upon her release from prison, as she is a Russian national.

According to Variety, both Margot Robbie and Jennifer Lawrence expressed interest in the lead role in the Shondaland project.

Photo Credit: ABC