Kerry Washington on Scandal [ABC]
ABC has already ordered a seventh season of “Scandal.”
There will apparently not be an eighth.
According to TVLine, ABC is set to confirm that “Scandal” will end with the upcoming season. The announcement will likely be made in conjunction with the network’s May 16 upfront presentation.
A modest performer out of the gate, “Scandal” caught fire in the middle of its second season.
The buzz began to fall by the end of season four, and ratings took a particularly big hit in the back of season five.
The decline has continued into the ongoing sixth season. This spring’s episodes have all either set or flirted with series lows.
Even before the recent ratings decline, Shonda Rhimes had discussed the finite nature of the show’s narrative.
“But I feel like there is a finite amount of Scandal to be told,” said Rhimes in a fall 2013 interview with NPR “So I know what the end of Scandal will be, and I feel really good about that. And I can see where the end point is. And I don’t think I’m going to change that. … I know how long I think it will be. But we’ll see.”
She gave a similar comment to Entertainment Weekly at the show’s recent 100th episode celebration: “I know how long the show is going to run, and I know how it’s going to end, and I’m excited about it.”