Shonda Rhimes Continues Netflix Takeover With New Series The Residence

Prolific TV producer Shonda Rhimes is returning to the drama of Washington D.C. with her latest Netflix series, The Residence. Jumping off from Kate Andersen Brower’s best-selling book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, the eight episode drama is a murder mystery set in the White House, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Per the official logline: “132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion.”

Rhimes is executive producing through Shondaland alongside partner Betsy Beers and creator/showrunner Paul William Davies (For the People, Scandal). They are working on the project through Shondaland’s and Davies’ overall deals with Netflix.

Shonda’s current Netflix drama, Inventing Anna, has been another binge hit for the streamer, frequently hitting the top 10 in the ratings, and Bridgerton Season 2 is set to premiere on March 25. Not to mention, she still has Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy going strong on ABC. We’re not claiming everything she touches is gold, but Shonda more than other producers seems to know how to capture an audience’s attention.

For network and production reasons, the two shows can’t be connected, but what if The Residence could be a continuation of Scandal, where Olivia Pope has to come back to town to help solve a murder mystery at the White House? We did see Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn together at the SAG Awards recently…I’m just saying. If nothing else, maybe it can be in the same universe as Scandal, so the possibility of crossovers and easter eggs is there.

Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s talk seriously about casting. Which of the regular Shondaland players would you like to see return for the new show? I’m thinking Jesse Williams, Aja Naomi King, Alfred Enoch, Merrin Dungey and definitely Regé-Jean Page as a visiting British dignitary.

We may not know much about The Residence right now, but Shonda is one of those producers who I will always give at least two episodes, because she usually hooks me in one.