The female flight from features to TV continues with Viola Davis booking the leading role on the third ABC show from Shonda Rhimes to appear on ABC’s fall schedule. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Viola will play a “brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor who becomes entangled in a murder plot.”

This will be a really great fall for African American women on TV as Davis joins her The Help co-star Octavia Spencer who was announced as the lead in Fox’s The Red Band Society earlier this week on TV as well as Taraji P. Henson in Empire and Alfre Woodard as the President in State of Affairs.

Other shows with female leads, showrunners and creators getting a pick up include:

Selfie created by Emily Kapnek — a social media world take on My Fair Lady (ABC)

Whispers created by Soo Hugh — about an alien invasion (ABC)

Agent Carter — created by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas — a spin off of the film Captain America set in 1946 (ABC)

Mysteries of Laura — stars Debra Messing as a “quirky” homicide detective juggling an ex-husband and twin sons. Created by Greg Berlanti. (NBC)

How I Met Your Dad — stars Greta Gerwig (who will also take a writer role) in a spin off of the successful series How I Met Your Dad. Meg Ryan will be the voice of the narrator. (CBS)

Earlier: TV: Series Pick-Ups for Katherine Heigl, Alfre Woodard, Octavia Spencer, Gabourey Sidibe