Olivia Pope might be hanging up her white hat in the near future. Variety has reported that the seventh season of Scandal, which will probably premiere in the fall, will likely be the last season of the show.
The news hasn’t officially been confirmed by ABC or Shonda Rhimes, the show’s creator. A more formal announcement could come next Tuesday, when ABC has their upfronts presentation to advertisers on Madison Avenue. Rhimes has gone on record before, saying that Scandal will likely be eight seasons or less.
Back in January, ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey also commented on Scandal‘s end date and acknowledged that Rhimes would be the one calling the shots. “I would say yes, in Shonda’s head,” Dungey said. “I know already that she has some great ideas for next season, which will be season seven. We have not really talked about what happens after that. But I love the show and I would happily keep the show on as long as she feels that she has creative runway to write the show.”
Throughout Scandal‘s time on the air, it’s delivered many surprising storylines, most recently the death of fairly big character just a few weeks ago. When Scandal first hit the airwaves, it was just as Twitter and livetweeting TV shows were starting taking to take off, making it one of the first buzzworthy shows to do so.
The show focuses on Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a Washington D.C. lawyer who’s main job is to “fix” whatever mess her clients get into with her co-workers, who have been dubbed Gladiators. Originally, she helped fix an election that put Fitzgerald Grant III (Tony Goldwyn) in power and the two began an affair. Over time, Fitz and his wife, Mellie (Bellamy Young), got divorced and Mellie ran for president. Though she lost the popular vote, Olivia’s father, Rowan (Joe Morton), killed Francisco Vargas, the original winner, and members of the Electoral College chose Mellie to be the new president after interference from Samantha and Peus.
Scandal airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on ABC. The two-hour season six finale is set to air on May 18.