ABC series premiere of "How To Get Away With Murder"

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Thursday night is a big night of television on ABC. "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" are back, and it also marks the series premiere of "How To Get Away With Murder."

It's been 40 years since one producer controlled a single night of ABC's prime time schedule, so it is a moment in time that comes but once a generation.

The new legal thriller was created by Peter Nowak, but comes from "Shonda-Land", owned by a woman who has changed the face of network TV.

The main character, Annalise Keating, is a brilliant law professor who knows how to play hardball in a classroom and a courtroom.

"She's messy. She's sexy. She's everything that I never get to play, which I've always wanted to play," said Viola Davis, who plays Keating.

Which is why Davis was willing to try series TV after earning two Oscar nominations, first for her breakthrough role as a mom in "Doubt", and then for playing a maid in "The Help."

"I go where the great narratives are. I'll do anything for a great narrative. I go where people want to write for me and where people love me, and I think that Shonda is a perfect fit," said Davis.

That would be Shonda Rimes, the creator of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal", which will lead in to "How To Get Away With Murder," starting Thursday night.

"And, coming after 'Scandal' can't be bad," we asked Davis. "Oh man, No!", she replied.

Her show was created by one of Shonda's writers, but there's no doubt about who's in charge.

"She's actually the President of Entertainment for Thursday night, I gave her my job," said ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee.

The network's top man has no qualms about that and nor does the lady in whom Paul Lee has placed so much faith.

"Are you feeling the heat?", we asked Shonda Rimes. "Oh, I don't feel any heat. I feel excited. I think it's great," she said.

The success of her shows has been credited with bringing greater diversity to prime time, but Rimes and her stars insist they are just trying to tell great stories.

"It's reflective of what America is today. Finally, it's art kind of reflecting life," said Davis.

We've clearly come a long way from the early 1980's when one producer had three shows on this network every Saturday night and folks in Hollywood liked to joke that ABC was short for "Aaron Spelling's network".

Different producer at the helm now. Different sorts of shows, all brought together under a single banner, "T.G.I.T.", for Thank God it's Thursday.