These Female Showrunners Changed the TV Landscape. Now Their Shows Are Ending

In 2012, fixer Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, made her power-suit-clad debut, covering up D.C.'s bad behavior by day and sleeping with the President by night. Initially, many critics dismissed Scandal, Shonda Rhimes' follow-up to Grey's Anatomy, as a "guilty pleasure"--a loaded term that conjures images of women eating cartons of low-fat ice cream in front of the TV.

In 2012, fixer Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, made her power-suit-clad debut, covering up D.C.'s bad behavior by day and sleeping with the President by night. Initially, many critics dismissed Scandal, Shonda Rhimes' follow-up to Grey's Anatomy, as a "guilty pleasure"--a loaded term that conjures images of women eating cartons of low-fat ice cream in front of the TV.