BWW Preview: Viola Davis, Shonda Rhimes Teach Us HOW TO GET AWAY W/ MURDER

The heat in the fictional halls of Philadelphia's Middleton University Law School looks to be turned up this season. The first-year law students will be tested inside and outside of the classroom in a new, sexy, legal thriller from a veteran producer.

Fans of SCANDAL and GRAY'S ANATOMY may be in for a reward this fall. So are viewers who enjoy legal machinations and seeing college kids squirm.

Why, do you ask?

The clues dropped by ABC and the producers of the HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER lead us to conclude these are just some of the highlights of the new hour-long drama. Be warned! There may be spoilers ahead as we preview this new series.

How About that Title?

During the pilot episode, airing September 25, Professor Annalise Keating welcomes students to her Criminal Law 100 class, "Or as I prefer to call it, 'How to Get Away with Murder.'"

That mysterious introduction also serves as the title for the latest series by producer Shonda Rhimes, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, starring Academy Award-nominee Viola Davis stars as Prof. Keating.

About the Star

Davis picked up an Oscar nomination for her acclaimed role as housekeeper Abileen Clark in THE HELP. Her previous Academy Award nomination was for DOUBT, for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination. The actress has also been featured in a variety of television series, including CITY OF ANGELS (2000), a recurring role on LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, and in THE UNITED STATES OF TARA. Davis earned a Tony Award for her featured role in KING HEDLEY II.

Some attention has been paid to the fact that Davis' character is one of the first times that a woman of color has been cast in such a manner: a successful, sexy and driven attorney and law professor.

As reported by NPR, when Davis addressed journalists during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, she made her opinion known. "There is no way in the history of film or TV that you've seen a character like this played by a black woman who looks like me. This is progressive, this is a first."

Davis has credited executive producer Shonda Rhimes with trusting her to lead the series and for the bold casting. "Not even Kerry Washington [star of SCANDAL] or Halle Berry [looks like me]. I'm talking about a black woman who looks like me - a dark-skinned black woman with the nose, the age, in every way like me."

Adding HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER to her credits, Rhimes created GREY'S ANATOMY and SCANDAL, which serve as lead-ins to the new series on ABC's Thursday night programming. The legal thriller was created by Peter Nowalk, who has written for the other Rhimes' shows.

What to Expect from HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

What Rhimes and Nowalk did for hospitals and the Oval Office, they promise to do for law school and courtrooms in to HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, namely attractive young characters engaging in all sorts of behavior in order to get what they want. The would-be lawyers learn from Davis' Keating and each has to bring their "A" game to the counselor's table.

Early in the series, Keating lays it on the line for the hungry and eager legal eagles, "I will not be teaching you how to study the law, or theorize about it, but rather how to practice it in a courtroom like a real lawyer."

Her students get involved quickly when Keating chooses four of them to work for her law practice. They must prove themselves and show the charismatic attorney what they are capable of if they are going to make it in law school and in her firm.

The Law Students and Other Cast Members

The students jockeying for spots in Keating firm include boy-next-door Wes Gibbins, played by Alfred Enoch (HARRY POTTER film series); sharp, confident and competitive Connor Walsh, played by Jack Falahee (TV's TWISTED and the film SLIDER); Aja Naomi King (EMILY OWENS, M.D.) as the obsessive Keating wannabe Michaela Pratt; Ivy leaguer Asher Millstone, played by Matt McGory (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK); and Laurel Castillo, the idealistic and inventive student played by Karla Souza (INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED, ME LATE CHOCOLATE).

Davis is supported also by Billy Brown as a Philadelphia detective who crosses paths with Keating. Det. Nate Lahey shares a complicated relationship with the married attorney. Brown is known for playing another detective on the Showtime original series DEXTER. He also stars on the FX show SONS OF ANARCHY and recently on the CBS drama HOSTAGES.

Playing Keating's right hand man Frank Delfino, who has a taste for sleeping with the female students, is Charlie Weber; who first drew attention as Ben on the cult classic BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. As Annalise's dedicated, and seemingly sweet associate, Bonnie Winterbottom, Liza Weil (GILMORE GIRLS, SCANDAL) plays a woman with her own secrets. Rounding out the ensemble is Katie Findlay (THE CARRIE DIARIES) as a tough, young Philly bartender who gets involved in the students and the murder of a popular Middleton student.

What's All About Shonda?

Speaking to journalists, Rhimes spoke of an early storyline involving a murder on campus to serves as the show's impetus; "The band of very interesting students find themselves sitting on both sides of the law."

Sex, murder, scandal, intrigue - sounds like the courtrooms of Philadelphia and the hallowed halls of Middleton Law School will be the place to be this fall, when we all learn HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER from Viola Davis and her engaging costars.

Potential Spoiler Alert!

Since I will be watching and recapping the new show each week, I thought I would jump in and make some prognostications about the plot, the characters and other aspects of the series. Once the pilot airs and the episodes roll, we will see how close I came. (You are invited to add your predictions or comment about mine in the comment section below.) So, here we go:

Five Predictions about HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

1) Professor Keating sleeps with Det. Lahey. Call me Captain Obvious, but this has been hinted at pretty heavily in the preview videos and clips that are available.

2) Liza Weil's character has an affair with another woman. A glimpse of a scene in a restroom sure looks like Weil getting cozy with an undetermined female.

3) A major character will be implicated in a major crime or scandal. Since we already know the law students are working to cover up the campus-related murder, I foresee that either someone will pay for the crime or for the subsequent cover-up. And if it is not the murder that gets someone in hot water, someone will have to pay the piper for ethics or malpractice.

4) Sexual politics will figure heavily in the plotlines. Students sleeping with other students to get insider information; the variety of sexual orientations represented; and the general bed-hopping tendencies of characters in this show's predecessors - all lead to the idea that sex not only sells, it may help win court cases.

5) As I mentioned near the top of this piece, fans of SCANDAL and GRAY'S ANATOMY will have a lot to like or even love when they view HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. Since it is a fresh, legal thriller, I am ready to fully embrace the series and will enjoy going along for the ride. Here's hoping my anticipation is not doused.

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER is scheduled to premiere on September 25, 2014 on ABC.

Every week, join us at BWW-TV for recaps of each exciting episode; and be sure to chime in on what you think about the show and how and where you think the show's going. You can leave your remarks in the comments below, or you can follow me on Twitter at @jeffwalker66.

Photo Credit: ABC

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