TGIT: “Thank God It’s Thursday” is a phrase usually associated with Friday. However, Shonda Rhimes has changed the game, making Thursday nights the most exciting night on television. For those of you who do not take part in this excitement, ABC premieres Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder starting at 8 p.m. All social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are bombarded with posts about TGIT, especially before the shows air. This not only allows for consumer interaction, but also free publicity for the shows every week.
A quick tip… stay off social media on Thursdays if you watch these shows the next day.
Fans are not the only ones who tweet during Thursday’s shows. Live tweeting happens from cast members, and even the women behind #TGIT, Shonda Rhimes.
If you are new to the phenomenon of Scandal, Olivia Pope is the main character, who is known for eating popcorn and drinking red wine. One Scandal fan, Jennifer Chao tweeted, “Hey guys, I really need some popcorn to go with my wine. #scandal.” Shonda Rhimes uses social media and hashtags to create an active audience during her shows
Shonda Rhimes and ABC have redefined what Thursdays mean. These two miracle workers have made Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder a whole event and something to look forward to throughout the week. If you watch one of these shows, you are bound to watch the others. This idea of a nightly event allows more viewers and interaction between fans, cast members, and Shonda Rhimes.
Now that How to Get Away with Murder is sadly over for the season, Shonda Rhimes and ABC made sure to add a new show, The Catch to the best night on television, TGIT.
Do you watch #TGIT? Are you a fan of live tweeting during tv shows? Let us know your thoughts below!
-Caitlin R, Megan S, Erin F, & Sarah G
IMC Hawks Blog 
I think that this article has hit the nail on the head. Popular TV networks are churning out some of the same content, crime dramas, family dramas, comedies and the scripts and incidents may change here or there, but their marketing teams have been hard at work trying to increase live viewership as so many of our nations consumers are cutting the cable cords, getting netflix subscriptions, and really drifting away from consuming their media on a mandated schedule by the networks. This concept of live tweeting is a great idea that gives the true fans reasons to be by their tv sets each thursday night, or whatever night their favorite program comes on. This reward or incentive to watch is almost neccessary as TV networks have seen such large drops in viewership since the introduction of streaming media, mobile devices, and the collapse of the traditional ‘family tv room’. I think to stay competitive with services such as netflix and amazon prime who now actually are creating their own original content, traditional networks will need to continue to incentivize the tv watching experience if they want people to religiously tune in at one time each week.
I really enjoy this post, as I am a huge fan of all these shows. Additionally with Thursday being a night that a lot of other college students go out and party, these shows are a great excuse to stay in and rest up for those who have 8ams on Friday. I enjoy that Shonda and ABC can make an event out of staying in. For a homebody like me, Thursdays are a dream come true!
I think that the way Shonda watches and tweets the show along with the viewers is a rather cool and smart way to keep regular viewers and gain new ones. I don’t personally watch these shows because I’m not caught up and I would hate to ruin it, but they are extremely popular with my roommates because they will actually say, “Sorry I can’t do anything Thursday night because Grey’s is at 8.” I think that this is a good example of the loyalty of the viewers and the success that Shonda has had with creating a show and encouraging people to watch it.
TGIT has made a new name for itself. I see more “TGIT” than “TGIF” it seems lately. I am a huge Shonda Rhimes fan as I think that all of her shows are so good. I love Scandal and have always been obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy. She does a great job of advertising her shows using this logo and making the shows trend every week.
This reminds me of the “hump day” campaign. Any time you can get people to begin to associate a day of the week with your brand, you’ve done your job successfully. I also enjoy How to Get Away with Murder, and can’t wait to Netflix it when it becomes available. Such an unrealistic show, but so entertaining!
As you stated, Thursday really is the best day for television. I fell off of the Grey’s Anatomy train, however, when the writers killed Lexie and Mark; I couldn’t deal.
It is astounding to me just how great of an impact social media has had on the world of television. With live-tweeting from celebrities and uncalled for spoiler alerts by people who actually watch the shows at their scheduled times, social media has truly revolutionized the way we experience television.