ABC Shelves #TGIT for Fall
Carissa Pavlica
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Just what makes #TGIT, anyway?
You probably thought it was a simple play on TGIF, right?
Thank God It's Friday...Thank God It's Thursday! You get it.
Wrong!
Today at the Television Critics Association press tour, president of ABC Entertainment, Channing Dungey, confirmed it will not be used this fall.
Dungey said they felt it was better not to use a strategy that is associated, in particular, with Scandal.
Scandal will be on hiatus until 2017, due to a production delay for star Kerry Washington to welcome a child into this world.
Still, the #TGIT tagline was used across Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder and The Catch, as well.
So what gives?
This all started at the end of last season, actually.
When Grey's and The Catch went off the air, Shonda Rhimes sent out two tweets.
One came after the Grey's Anatomy finale: “This is the final night for #TGIT until 2017! See you for #GreysAnatomy and #HTGAWM in the fall!”
Another came after The Catch finale: “#TGIT returns with #GreysAnatomy #Scandal and #TheCatch next year! #Shondaland.”
This, in effect, was telling her audience #TGIT was associated with her shows only, and since the new, non-Shondaland series Notorious, starring Piper Perabo and Daniel Sunjata will be nestled in between two Shondaland productions, #TGIT was off.
Apparently, ABC agrees.
It's interesting, because that is a strong marketing strategy for the network that will be scrapped for only a period of months to accommodate one new show.
I'm assuming (yes, we all know what that does) it's a different marketing strategy completely to place Notorious in that time slot, but were there alternatives that could have kept #TGIT intact?
Shondaland has The Catch returning midseason as well as the premiere of Still Star-Crossed. Would moving one of them up and into Scandal's time period even temporarily have been a better option?
Time will tell! Will you miss #TGIT? Will you use the tagline even if it's not official? Do you even care? Let us know!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
