TGIT’s triumphant return has been delayed.
The winter premieres of Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder, as well as the season 6 premiere of Scandal have been pushed a week from Thursday, Jan. 19 until Thursday, Jan. 26 due to a pre-inauguration 20/20 special airing on ABC News.
The one-hour special, America’s First Family: The Trumps Go to Washington, will air at 10 p.m. ET, preceded by repeats of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal at 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, respectively.
Publicly, ABC said the move was made to ensure TGIT would return with three original episodes. But it was clearly a late-breaking decision to add the news special since ABC had already been promoting the Jan. 19 return of TGIT with sexy teasers. Ratings on ABC’s Thursday lineup faltered this fall without Shondaland’s full lineup of hell-raisers so the return of Scandal — which will reveal whether Mellie or Frankie won the election — could provide a much-needed boost.
TGIT will officially return Thursday, Jan. 26, with Grey’s Anatomy at 8 p.m. ET, Scandal at 9 p.m. ET and How to Get Away with Murder at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.