‘Scandal’ Season 7 Official Premiere Date Announced By ABC

It is official. “Scandal” Season 7 will premiere on ABC on Oct. 5.

The Kerry Washington-starrer will air one week later than Shonda Rhimes’ two other TV shows, “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 14 and “How to Get Away With Murder” Season 4. The two series will premiere on Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT, respectively.

“Scandal” Season 7, airing in its usual 9 p.m. EDT time slot, will also be the last for Washington and her co-stars. The cancellation announcement came from executive producer Rhimes in May.

Read: “Scandal” Season 7 cast members share set photos

As early as 2013, Rhimes told NPR that she knew when exactly “Scandal” should end. The award-winning exec added that “Scandal” isn’t like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away With Murder” that could go on and on for years.

“It is very political. The political landscape on the outside, in the real world, will change – possibly before ‘Scandal’ is over. But I feel like there is a finite amount of ‘Scandal’ to be told. So I know what the end of ‘Scandal’ will be, and I feel really good about that. And I can see where the end point is. And I don’t think I’m going to change that… I know how long I think it will be. But we’ll see,” she said.

Last month, TV Line confirmed that “Scandal” Season 7 will have a total of 18 episodes. This figure is two installments more compared to Season 6. Originally, the previous season was supposed to have 22 episodes, but Washington’s pregnancy narrowed it down to just 16.

After the cancellation announcement two months ago, Rhimes shared some of her plans for Season 7. “So, we are going all out. Leaving nothing on the table. Creating this world in celebration. We are going to handle the end the way we like to handle the important things in our ‘Scandal’ family: all together, white hats on, gladiators running full speed over a cliff,” she said.

Meanwhile, “Scandal” Season 7 will primarily focus on Mellie Grant as the new president of the United States. According to the actress, Mellie and her ex-husband, Fitz (Tony Goldwyn), will reunite professionally in the upcoming episodes. “Nothing pleases me more than knowledge, the certainty, that of all people in the world, the one person she can turn to and who knows her the best, and understands fully the situation that she is in, is Fitz,” she told Entertainment Weekly.