Scandal: An 'over-caffeinated' nighttime soap?

Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes takes her trademark, and exhausting, style of fast-paced drama to the Beltway in a new show about crisis management

Kerry Washington in ABC's "Scandal"
(Image credit: Facebook/Scandal)

Unless you find alleged mediocrity shocking, there's nothing scandalous about ABC's new drama, Scandal, a series from Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes. Premiering April 5, Scandal follows a tough-talking D.C. damage control specialist played by Kerry Washington (Ray, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) who steps in when high-profile Beltway players are embroiled in — you guessed it — scandals. Critics gripe that, while the series is stuffed with Rhimes' signature over-sexed, over-talkative characters, it fails to achieve the balance of soap opera, thrilling drama, and wit that made Rhimes' previous efforts appealing. Is Scandal a dud?

It's outlandish in the worst way: Scandal embodies the most frustrating aspects of both Rhimes' other TV dramas and soap operas in general, says Brian Tallerico at Hollywood Chicago. The writing is "so rapid fire that it completely punctures any sense of realism" and each frenzied episode packs in four times the amount of dialogue you find in a typical series. It's as if Rhimes purposefully wants to overwhelm the viewer. "Everyone's over-caffeinated, hyper, and, too often, kind of annoying." Scandal needs to be "a little less National Enquirer" and a little more "New York Times."

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