Tuesday, March 19, 2024

ABC’s ‘Scandal’ Gets Live Aftershow Called ‘Gladiators Don’t Run’

Laura Coates
Laura Coates

*Fans of “Scandal” now have somewhere to go and decompress, discuss and dissect each episode immediately after it airs.

The ABC series from Shonda Rhimes will have its own live, superfan-fueled aftershow titled “Scandal Superfan Recap: Gladiators Don’t Run,” launching on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 11 p.m. ET via Time Inc.’s free streaming service People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN), reports Variety. The show will begin one hour after the conclusion of its season 6 premiere at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

The 16-episode series will be hosted by Laura Coates, CNN legal analyst and former Justice Department federal prosecutor — and self-described “Scandal” fanatic. She’ll be joined each week by a new panel of “Scandal” enthusiasts, including editorial staffers from People and Entertainment Weekly.

Time Inc. developed “Scandal Superfan Recap” as a way to tap into the devoted fanbase that follows the show, (especially EW readers) and their extensive knowledge, said JJ Miller, executive producer, Time Inc.’s Style and Entertainment Group.

“We wanted to do a show that lets them be a participant,” Miller told Variety, adding that the political tenor of “Scandal” now makes the show “very relevant… It’s in the zeitgeist.”

“Scandal Superfan Recap” viewers will be able contribute video reactions to each week’s “Scandal” episode at burst.com/scandal, a feature developed in partnership with mobile-video platform Burst. Coates and the show’s producers also will engage viewers via Twitter and Facebook, weaving user-generated video commentary into the show in near real-time.

While Miller said she would never turn down the opportunity to have Rhimes or “Scandal” stars appear on the show, she said that “we’re trying to stay in our lane” as fan-based programming: “We want to find superfans, people who from the beginning have been writing blogs about ‘Scandal.’”

The aftershow is pegged to run 30 minutes, but Miller said it could stretch up to an hour or more. “The great thing about digital is, if we don’t want to stop the conversation we can keep going,” she said.

During the live airings, Coates will be drinking wine and snacking on popcorn. Producers procured exactly the same Crate & Barrel wineglasses that Olivia Pope (played by Kerry Washington) uses in the series.

The “Scandal” aftershow will be prominently featured on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Xumo homescreens, according to Time Inc. The media company also plans to promote tune-in via its online, print and social properties.

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