Shonda Rhimes has done it again. She’s hard at work at yet another amazing-sounding and inclusive project. Shondaland and ABC Signature Studios obtained the rights to writer Luvvie Ajayi’s first book, “I’m Judging You: The Do Better Manual.” Rhimes and Betsy Beers’ company plans to adapt the book into a comedy series for cable TV, Shadow and Act reports.
According to its official description, “I’m Judging You” “is a series of humorous essays that dissects our cultural obsessions and calls out bad behavior in our increasingly digital, connected lives.” Ajayi’s writing provides “lessons and side-eyes on life, social media, culture, and fame, addressing those terrible friends we all have to serious discussions of race and media representation to what to do about your fool cousin sharing casket pictures from Grandma’s wake on Facebook.”
Ajayi’s bestseller was inspired by her pop culture blog, Awesomely Luvvie, which nets more than 500,000 readers each month. Also a speaker and activist, Ajayi co-created The Red Pump Project, a nonprofit that raises awareness about HIV/AIDS and how it affects women and girls, in 2009.
As Shadow and Act points out, the adaptation of “I’m Judging You” would raise the grand total of Shondaland shows on the air to six (maybe even seven). Currently, the company is behind “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and “The Catch.” “Still Star-Crossed,” which is a continuation of “Romeo and Juliet,” will premiere sometime this year. ABC also recently ordered Shondaland’s untitled legal drama to pilot.
