By MEGAN MYERS

Everyone loves a dramatic show to keep them on the edge of their seats. Diving into a Shonda Rhimes inspired series is sure to add some intensity to our viewing lives. Rhimes has won numerous awards for her work ranging from Glamour Women of the Year in 2007, to most recently the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Lifetime Achievement Award in Television in 2016. Netflix may be filled with plenty of options when it comes to picking a new series, but if you are on the lookout for a good drama series, Rhimes’ creations are a must.

Grey’s Anatomy

If you watch the show Grey’s Anatomy, you will most likely question “is there actually this much drama in hospitals?” The show revolves around a group of doctors working at a hospital in Seattle, WA. Relationships escalate from coworkers to friends, from friends to more than friends, and, for some, from more than friends to engagements and marriage. Not only does the show focus on medical procedures and different situations happening with patients, but the plot of each episode also concentrates on the personal lives of the doctors.

When I watch Greys, I find myself smiling, laughing, and crying (a lot) along with the characters in the show. Every time a main character died, it’s not an exaggeration when I say I went through a box of tissues. The medical emergencies vary each episode, but the focus on relationships between the doctors remains throughout the series. At the end of each season, Rhimes, never fails to leave viewers counting down the days until the next season premiere. There are 12 seasons of the series available on Netflix, so you’re sure to have a long, emotional binge.

How to Get Away With Murder

Rhimes maintained her skill for creating a perfectly dramatic series with How to Get Away with Murder. Hopefully no one actually takes notes as they watch the show. The drama series is about a professor at Middleton Law School named Annalise Keating.

Keating recruits a few of her students who she believes are the right fit to accompany her at her firm. The students get wrapped up in the sticky situations that they are trying to get people out of when working alongside Keating and her cases. The show follows a relationship between one of Keating’s employees and one of her students, a mystery behind the death of main character Wes’s mother, relationship ups and downs between Keating and detective Nate Lahey and more drama in between. 

The series balances a perfect mix of darkness, suspense, romance and mystery. You can catch up on the first two seasons on Netflix, then indulge in season three currently airing on ABC Thursday nights at 10 pm.

Scandal

What’s more scandalous than having an affair with the U.S. president? Rhimes succeeds yet again by creating another fan favorite, ABC drama series, Scandal.

Main character Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) has a twisted love affair with the president after working at the White House as a media consultant. Pope decided to walk away from her job at the White House and open a crisis management firm.

Along with leaving her job, Pope left a lot of baggage at the White House. Between the crises she and her team tackle at the firm, Pope’s personal drama, and issues at the White House, there’s never a boring episode of Scandal. All five seasons of the series are available on Netflix.

Private Practice

After the fan frenzy over Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes created its spinoff, Private Practice. The series is focused on the life of Addison Montgomery, originally a neonatal surgeon on Grey’s Anatomy and the ex-wife of the notorious “McDreamy,” Dr. Shepherd. Montgomery transitions from working in Seattle with her ex-husband and his new girlfriend to working at a private clinic in Los Angeles with fellow divorced doctors from her past.

Not only do both of Rhimes’ medical dramas have similar plots, they also include some of the same characters. Amelia Shepherd originally starred on Private Practice and is now one of the main characters on Grey’s Anatomy’s most recent season. Although Private Practice’s last episode was aired on ABC in January of 2013, you can find all six seasons of the spinoff on Netflix. to travel between locations during the event.

Megan Myers can be reached at megan.myers@spartans.ut.edu