‘Scandal’ & ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ crossover in the works at ABC

EXCLUSIVE: Big news for TGIT fans — I hear that a crossover is being plotted for ABC’s Shondaland drama series Scandal and How To Get Away with Murderto air later this season.

Reps for ABC and the series’ producers ABC Studios and Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland would not comment but Scandal star Kerry Washington just posted a photo of herself as her character Olivia Pope on the set of HTGAWM.

While the stars of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and HTGAWM frequently have appeared together at TGIT publicity events and in promos for ABC’s Thursday Shondaland lineup, they have not guest starred on each other’s shows. (An April Fool’s online story in 2016 about a three-way TGIT crossover between Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and HTGAWM got fans pretty excited, indicating strong built-in interest in a possible stunt).

Crossovers between similar series on the same network, often from the same producers, have been around for more than two decades, since NBC and Dick Wolf introduced it with Law & Order and Homicide. Crossovers have emerged as key TV events that boost participating series’ viewership and energize their fans. The other two current uber broadcast drama series producers alongside Rhimes, Wolf and Greg Berlanti, who all supply four or more series to the same network, regularly plot crossover events between their shows — the Chicago franchise/Law & Order: SVU on NBC (Wolf) and the DC universe on the CW (Berlanti).

I will update with confirmation and details on the Scandal-HTGAWM crossover as they become available. Scandal is now in its seventh and final season, HTGAWM is in its fourth season. TGIT returns with new episodes on Jan. 18. Stay tuned.