Shonda Rhimes: Bridgerton is not romantic

It begins with an abandoned novel in a hotel room.

“I’m sick, in bed, and don’t even like romantic novels,” Shonda Rhimes said.

“But I read it and despite being ill, I dragged myself out of bed to the nearest bookstore and bought it all.”

This book is Julia Quinn’s Duke and Me. The first of eight novels about children of the Regent in England, which may not be the obvious choice for women of color – but became the foundation of Rhimes’ hit series Bridgerton, starring Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley.

The show host performed the contribution of the TV show when he received the first Edinburgh Scholarship at the TV Festival.

“I didn’t see it as romance,” she said. “It’s more of a workplace drama.

“Women have no power in other areas of their lives, the power lies in the way they get married, so it becomes a workplace. That’s where the drama lies.

“More importantly, I can see myself in them. If black women in the 21st century America could be regent in England, that’s a good story.”

She was on stage with Mishal Husain on stage to commemorate 50 years of stage, and she told her deputies to apply for a film school, not a law school because she read an article saying it was hard to get in – as the youngest of six children, she wanted to impress her parents.

After leaving the film school, she worked as an office administrator but wrote in her spare time. Her first idea was a romantic comedy about an older white woman, unexpectedly matching a young black man, but never sold.

The birth of her first child gave her time to watch a lot of TV.

She said: “I looked at all the vampire killer Buffy and started to realize, ah, that’s where the character development takes place.”

“You also realize the importance of these TV characters. You spend more time with Meredith Gray and you spend it with your family.”

Meredith Gray is the nominal feature of Gray’s anatomy, the series’ rhimes, who wrote a show about the female war journalist in 2005, was denied and was told that the Disney chief wanted a medical drama.

It became a huge blow.

“The ratings are going to go up every week, and I don’t know what that means because I’ve never worked on TV before,” she said. “Then the network started sending me gifts.”

Network-ABC-rely relies on the show to make a lucrative Thursday night and continue to make money with season 22 and the 450 currently in production.

Rhimes’s production company Shondaland is a Disneyland drama and is now one of the most influential television companies in the world.

It has offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, where Bridgerton is produced.

She admits that the show’s arrival at Christmas 2020, when the world is locked in, raises the viewing characters – “My story can help people escape, not stories in reality” – but even she is surprised by the extent of fanaticism.

“It’s not just a global show. It’s become a lifestyle brand. People get Bridgedton tea sets, there’s Bridgedton dance and weddings,” she said.

Each season focuses on different members of the Bridgerton family. She plans to produce all eight books in the series, with the focus of season four being Benedict Bridgerton currently in production.

As for her decision to reflect the decisions of all kinds of people on the screen, she insisted that she would never do “a show without me.”

She said she didn’t know the media criticism of the show was “awakened” and thought the title “crazy awakening culture” was “lovely.”

She said she was surprised to be the first champion of the Edinburgh Scholarship Award.

“Most of the time, I write alone, so moments like this make you realize the impact of what you do,” she said.