Scandal holds the distinction of being the first primetime drama to headline an African-American female since Teresa Graves starred as the title character in the undercover police detective series Get Christie Love! (1974). Created by Shonda Rhimes, Scandal drew inspiration from real-life Washington crisis manager, Judy Smith, a former member of the George H.W. Bush White House. Kerry Washington plays Oliva Pope on the show, and through her character, the audience gets to examine the machinations behind the political power shifts in the United States government.
Although the series was slow to gain popularity due to its truncated first season (only seven episodes!), the cast and series creator committed to live tweeting their responses to the episodes as they aired. While this phenomenon is commonplace today, the introduction of the practice in 2012 revolutionized how audiences experience and consume entertainment.
Watch Scandal on Netflix.