11 Reasons To Get On Board With Shonda Night

The shows are filled with empowering speeches, mold-breaking women, and characters calling each other out for sexist behavior.

In "Scandal," viewers have had to observe what women risk when they come forward about abuse , why the media treats female politicians differently , and the problem with the word "bitch," And it's awesome.

Rhimes' shows are full of competitive, successful women who won't take sh*t from anyone. And it's incredible. May the legacy of Cristina Yang live on forever.

While Hollywood generally ignores dark-skinned women , Rhimes' shows definitely do not. Black characters are given the same complex storylines and powerful scenes as the rest of the cast -- no "token" characters welcome on Shonda Night.

Especially notable is the incredibly powerful scene in HTGAWM where Annalise removes her makeup and wig. Davis has spoken about how empowering she found that moment.

I wanted that scene to be somewhere in the narrative of Annalise, Davis told The Wrap . That who she is in her public life and who she was in her private life were absolutely, completely diametrically opposed to one another. Because thats who we are as people. We wear the mask that grins and lies.

In a Sept. 8 interview with Entertainment Weekly , Rhimes shared how writing a storyline for "Grey's Anatomy" character Cristina Yang helped her clarify her own views on marriage.

I was seriously dating somebody and I was like, 'I dont want to do this,'" She said. "I guess I had been secretly feeling that way and writing it for Cristina."

Writing for "Grey's Anatomy" helped Rhimes realize that she didn't want to get married -- and that there was nothing wrong with that.

"Were all so conditioned to want [marriage], I felt like there must be something wrong with me," she told Entertainment Weekly . "But the minute I said it out loud to my family, it was fantastic. Now if somebody says, Are you looking for that? I say, Nope, looking for a boyfriend, not a husband. And theres a freedom to that. Theres no pressure if youre not looking for it.

Remember that "Eiffel tower" scene in "Scandal?" Or Callie and Arizona in the shower on "Grey's Anatomy?" Or all the absurdly steamy sex scenes on HTGAWM? There is way more happening here than standard vanilla sex scenes, offering a more inclusive representation of what goes on in real life.

Rhimes gave a speech at a Feminist Majority Foundation event in May 2015, where she talked about embracing womanhood in a world that makes things easier for men . She said:

"My assistant wants to walk through the world just for a day without some guy hitting on her when she runs to Starbucks to get me coffee. She wants to not be called 'cute' by the security guard. She wants to not be told that she should be a model. She wants to not see the look of surprise on someones face when she tells them where she went to college. She wants her boobs to no longer be a topic of conversation. She wants to no longer make 70 cents on the dollar. She wants to not have old men legislate her vaginas rights. She wants to not know that a glass ceiling ever existed. She wants to not believe that having a baby would end her career. She wants everything in the world to be made for her, be about her and speak mostly to her. Because thats how it is for men."

"I think in telling LGBT stories, I'm telling everyone's story," Rhimes said while accepting a GLAAD Award in 2012. "Love is, in fact, universal, right? I want my daughters to grow up in a world in which there is more love than hate. I want them to know a world where everyone is free. So that's why I write the stories that I do, because everyone should be free."

Back in 2014, Rhimes shut down a Twitter user who complained about the "gay scenes" in her show, responding : "There are no GAY scenes. There are scenes with people in them."

During a June 2015 roundtable , Viola Davis spoke out about being cast as attorney and professor Annalise Keating.

"There was absolutely no precedent for [this role]," she said . "I had never seen a 49-year-old, dark-skinned woman who is not a size 2 be a sexualized role in TV or film. Im a sexual woman, but nothing in my career has ever identified me as a sexualized woman. I was the prototype of the 'mommified role.

Davis went on to discuss how she embraced the role, and hopes to represent the women she knows in real life.

The women in my life who are sexualized are anywhere from a size zero to a size 24. They dont walk like supermodels in heels. They take their wig and makeup off at night.So this role was my way of saying, 'Welcome to womanhood!'"

Childfree couples. Same-sex marriages. Trans-racial adoptions . Single moms. Surrogate parents. Step-parents. Three-parent families. Marriages of convenience . Nuclear families. They're all there.

"I really hate the word 'diversity,' it suggests something... other. As if it is something special, or rare," Rhimes said while accepting an Ally for Equality award at the 2015 Human Rights Campaign Gala. "As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV. I have a different word: NORMALIZING. Im normalizing TV."

Rhimes explained that her goal is "making TV look like the world looks," saying :

"Women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal WAY more than 50% of the population. Which means it aint out of the ordinary. I am making the world of television look NORMAL. The goal is that everyone should get to turn on the TV and see someone who looks like them and loves like them. And just as important, everyone should turn on the TV and see someone who doesnt look like them and love like them. Because, perhaps then, they will learn from them."

Betsy Beers, the Executive Producer of "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal" and "How To Get Away With Murder," talked about the importance of representing complex women while at a luncheon in 2014.

Beers explained that she and Rhimes work hard to make sure women like themselves are portrayed on screen -- sexual escapades and all.

We were two strong, competitive women with dark and twisty centers for whom work was a paramount importance, who had complicated love lives and messy relationships with a diverse group of friends who were as screwed up as we were," Beers said . "When we looked at the television landscape around us, we didnt see us in any network dramas or really, anywhere else.