The anatomy of ShondaLand, a Thursday staple

TV producer Shonda Rhimes, left, now has all three Thursday prime-time shows on ABC. "Grey's Anatomy," beginning its 11th season at 8 p.m., is followed by "Scandal," starring Kerry Washington, far right, and the premiere of "How to Get Away With Murder," center, starring Viola Davis.

Let's just go ahead and make it official. "Thursday" should be renamed "Shonday."

At least it should on ABC, which has handed its entire Thursday prime-time schedule to drama doyenne Shonda Rhimes.

Starting this week at 8 p.m., it's "Grey's Anatomy," with Rhimes the show runner for this medical melodrama's 11th season. At 9 p.m., "Scandal" begins its fourth year with Rhimes also serving as show runner.

Then, closing out Shonday at 10 p.m., "How to Get Away With Murder" premieres with Viola Davis as a rife-with-mystery criminal lawyer who apparently will do anything to spring her clients and who, as a law professor, trains her students to do the same.

Unlike the other two series, created by Rhimes, "Murder" was masterminded by Pete Nowalk, whose producing credits include "Grey's" and "Scandal." On this wicked new addition to the ShondaLand portfolio, Rhimes will serve "only" as executive producer: "I'm like the grandmother," she joked. "I hold the baby, then I give it back."

This baby has a clear family resemblance: "Murder" crackles with rat-a-tat dialogue, larger-than-life characters, outrageously tangled narratives and a rainbow coalition of a cast led, as with "Scandal," by an African-American actress.

"It's a show I never would have thought of in a million years," Rhimes said. "But I feel like it fits exactly in the ShondaLand brand."

Fittingly, the "Murder" heroine is driven, charismatic and diabolical, even more so, arguably, than "Scandal" cleanup queen Olivia Pope (played by Kerry Washington).

"I really wanted to create a character who's always 10 steps ahead of us," said Nowalk in a separate interview. "If I know what a character's going to do before they do it, what's so interesting about that? And if they're always likable and good in what they do, I don't find that relatable."

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The anatomy of ShondaLand, a Thursday staple