SCANDAL is one of the most highly anticipated network shows in the new Primetime line-ups. As the competition for ratings heats up, ABC has decided to wager it’s success on a dramatic thriller, starring Kerri Washington and a cast comprised almost entirely of minorities. Scandal is set in Washington D.C. Kerri Washington leads the cast as, Olivia Pope, the President’s former communication’s director and the founder of a highly coveted crisis management firm. D.C.’s most vaunted power brokers turn to her to repair their reputations when the tumult of scandal undermines their elite status. Intricate drama ensues as each episode unfolds into an exciting thriller.

Scandal is a rare exercise in diversity with a storyline that centers around a full cast of minority principal actors. Columbus Short (of Stomp The Yard), plays a skilled litigator. Guillermo Diaz is the firms crackerjack hacking expert and Darby Stanchfield is the firms top investigator. Katie Lowes plays an inexperienced neophyte that quickly becomes acquainted with the real world of crisis care. Veteran actor Tony Goldwyn plays President Grant and Kerri Washington’s forbidden love interest. The husband, father and President presents a compelling and complex love story, wrought with scintillating but forbidden affection.   Jeff Perry, plays Cyrus Greene, the noble true believer and aid to President Grant. He is the President’s moral compass and uses political cunning to temper the intimate instincts of Pope and Grant. Rounding out the cast is the Peruvian born, Stephen Finch, as a brilliant defense attorney. Scandal is also produced by Shona Rhimes, the African American creative genius behind Grey’s Anatomy. For fans of the hospital drama, Scandal will not disappoint. It bares all of the markings of a Shonda Rhimes creation. Sexual tension and intricate plot lines conspire to create a compelling drama that is likely to enhance Rhimes’s reputation for television excellence. In a Primetime line-up that often fails to produce any meaningful roles for minorities, it is worth noting that ABC has bet the farm on a cast with 2 African Americans, two Hispanics and two (technically three) women! But Scandal isn’t depending on ethnic or gender solidarity for its audience. It is a genuinely compelling, slickly produced and well funded production. Time will tell if viewers consider Scandal, Worthy of their time!