Grab your popcorn and red wine, Gladiators, because it’s finally happening. Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Scandal will back on TV on Thursday, Jan. 19, which is one heck of a way to celebrate the new year, even if it’s a few days too late.
ABC also confirmed that Jan. 19 is the same day that fellow Shonda Rhimes shows Grey’s Anatomy and How To Get Away With Murder will also be returning to the air after their fall finales on Thursday, Nov. 17.
The first episode is set to be big, as Rhimes previously told Entertainment Weekly that the season premiere will pick up on election day. It’s interesting to point out that the season premiere of Scandal is the day before the presidential inauguration and fans of the show have even likened Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young) to the Hillary Clinton-type candidate on the show.
However, if Mellie does become the fictional new president, the trailer that was released on ABC’s Good Morning America shows that she’s not quite as excited to be president as she once was in a scene with Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington).
The trailer also features an intense showdown between Olivia and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) and a cabin in the woods exploding with Huck (Guillermo Diaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) right outside of it.
The return of Scandal could be a little earlier than people expected could be because the network recently cut down on the episode order of Notorious, the show that is airing in Scandal‘s normal timeslot, because of low rated episodes since the show’s premiere in September.
When the show left off on season five back in May, viewers were officially introduced to the presidential nominees for the upcoming election on the show, with Mellie and Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) running together on the Republican ticket and Francisco Vargas (Ricardo Chavira) and Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) running together on the Democratic ticket.
Scandal returns to television on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 9 p.m., which is the same night that Grey’s Anatomy (8 p.m.) and How To Get Away With Murder (10 p.m.) also return, marking the first time since May that the TGIT lineup is back on the air.