Shonda Rhimes and Shondaland Celebrate 20 Years of TV Drama, Iconic Characters

Move over Disneyland; there’s a much more fun, less family friendly themed park for adults to explore.

Venerable producer Shonda Rhimes is celebrating a milestone decade of creating hit TV shows for cable and streaming.

Ticket to Ride

Shondaland – a portmanteau of the producer’s first name and the word “land” as in a theme park – isn’t just a name. It’s also a production company. Founded in 2005, Rhimes founded the company to produce her first show, “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Rhimes and her producing partner Betsy Beers sat down with “Good Morning America” to discuss their work that includes “Scandal,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “Bridgerton.”

“I feel like we made a lot of mistakes,” Rhimes told “Good Morning America” about “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Not in a bad — like, I don’t feel any of the mistakes — were a problem. Whatever came from those mistakes turned out to be fantastic.”

Beers added that since they were picked up mid-season, no one was paying attention so they felt they could do anything.

Since its inception, Rhimes and Beers have produced 14 different projects under the Shondaland banner. 

Energizer (It Keeps Going)

Like Ryan Murphy or any other prolific producer, Rhimes reuses a lot of the same actors across projects. MacKenzie Astin has appeared in “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” and “Scandal” as three different characters. So have Shannon Cochran and Judith Hoag. Mimi Kennedy is in four different projects. There are countless names that have appeared all across Rhimes’s shows.

Rhimes is also taking on philanthropic acts under the Shondaland name. The company has partnered with Seriesfest in order to create a Women’s Directing Mentorship. 

Each Shondaland series has had varying degrees of success. “Grey’s Anatomy” is the longest running medical drama and counting. “Scandal” was one of the most popular shows on social media when it debuted. Every season of “Bridgerton” ranks in the most watched section of Netflix – with season one ranking as the fifth most watched show on the service of all time.

Current projects for Shondaland include “Bridgerton” and “The Residence” on Netflix.