Kerry Washington

Scandal Premiere

Draws Mixed Reviews,

What Did You Think?

Monday Apr 9, 2012 – by Thembi Ford

 

Kerry Washington’s new show Scandal, created by Shonda Rhimes, just might be the first television show on a major network both created by and starring a black woman (if you can think of another one let us know!). That fact alone made many of us tune in to see if the show has hopes for becoming a solid part of ABC’s Thursday lineup. Critics seem split on the effectiveness of the show. Matt Zoller Seitz at NY Mag trashed the show and likened it to a bag of potato chips. Maureen Ryan at Huffington Post called it an “efficient” effort following the Shonda Rhimes formula but promised to give it more of a chance. Meanwhile, Tambay Obensen atthe black film site Shadow and Act wrote that the show was engaging and he’d like to see more. Do you see a bit of a pattern here?

The reality of it is, Kerry Washington is a black lead and that will always effect reviews and viewership. It’s great to read every and any opinion on the show that’s out there, but I’ve already noticed a difference between what black viewers are saying about Scandal and what the mainstream media is saying. I thought it was sharp and I look forward to watching more, and it seems that many others agree, but will it be enough to keep this show on the air?

If you didn’t catch Scandal, both last week’s episode and the one scheduled for this Thursday are on Hulu.com.
 

Did you watch Scandal? Do we love it?