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Washington Post, Vogue

How You Can Tell You’re Watching a ShondaLand Drama

Mar 25, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A report on ABC’s newest drama series from Shonda Rhimes’ ShondaLand production company includes an entertaining “guide” to what makes a ShondaLand drama.

Writers Emily Yahr and Nicki DeMarco write in the report in The Washington Post that certain elements tend to be readily identifiable. For starters, they note: “Tough female lead, dysfunctional underlings, absurd plot twists: Make no mistake, ‘The Catch’ is a ShondaLand show.” The show, which stars Mireille Enos and Peter Krause, premiered Thursday night.

Rhimes and her company have already had a huge impact on the ABC prime-time lineup, producing hit shows including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder.”

“Anyone who has caught even a few minutes of any on that list knows that Rhimes dramas have a certain style,” the report notes, underscoring that point by quoting Julia Felsenthal, who described the ShondaLand formula in Vogue: “A stiletto and statement coat-rocking alpha woman passionately helms a team of talented minions in an ultra-specialized enterprise that places her squarely in the path of an inappropriate (and, therefore, deeply desirable) man.”

The writers also quote a writer closer to home, Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever, who detailed the ShondaLand style this way: “Crammed with current pop songs, sexy rolls in high-thread-count sheets, a frantic pace that’s stitched together by glitzy transitional segues of the Los Angeles skyline, and the simplest, soapiest premise imaginable.”

To read more of Yahr and DeMarco’s take on ShondaLand and “The Catch,” please click on the link near the top of this story.

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