ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said Shonda Rimes may have moved to Netflix, but their relationship is “as strong as it’s ever been.” And, of course, they’re still in business. “I’m really excited about the 3 shows we have on the air and the 2 we’re about the launch,” said Dungey of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and soon-to-debut For the People and a Grey’s spin-off.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is “the strongest that it’s ever been, and we’ve been really excited about what the producers are talking about for the second half of the season,” said Dungey. Do we smell a season 6? Dungey said that decision will be made when the producers share their plan. No decision has been made about Inhumans, either, but “I will say the numbers were less exciting for us than we hoped they would be,” acknowledged the exec.
Dungey said it could have been just a case of bad timing for The Mayor, pulled off the air with 4 episodes still to go. “I feel like the show arrived on the scene at a time when people were feeling a little bit fatigued about anything that had to do with politics,” said Dungey of the freshman comedy about a rapper who wins a mayoral election as part of a publicity stunt. Dungey didn’t fault the marketing. “The issue did not seem to be one of the audience not knowing that the show was there, which is sometimes the case,” said Dungey. “People knew, they just didn’t come.”
As for the pending Disney/Fox deal, Dungey was circumspect. “At the moment my focus is on everything that’s directly in front of me, which is launching our midseason shows and ordering pilots,” Dungey told journalists. “We are in the midst of regulatory approval, and the company has said everything that could be said on the topic.”
