Sixty seconds into the first episode of ABC's new drama "Scandal" (debuting tonight at 10), it's apparent -- even if you know nothing about the show going in -- that this is a Shonda Rhimes vehicle. (I'm positive that almost every male reader just clicked away from this page.)

The Shonda tell in the opening of "Scandal" is the pace of the dialogue. It's fast. Very, very fast. Like, "Gilmore Girls" on amphetamines fast. (Did I just lose the remaining male readers?)

But seriously, despite my allusion to "Grey's Anatomy" and the risky "Gilmore Girls" plug, I don't think men should shrink in fear from "Scandal." On the Estrogen-Testosterone Soapy Drama Meter (patent pending), it's pretty well balanced and safe for male consumption. 

I promise.

Shonda Rhimes doesn't like it when someone says her new show "Off the Map" is like "Grey's Anatomy" in the jungle.

Sorry, Shonda, but we call 'em like we see 'em.

Rhimes' latest doc drama is about a group of American residents who report to a clinic somewhere in South America to combine practicing medicine with doing good for the world/making a fresh start. The residents are overseen by two hot American doctors who run the clinic along with a native doctor (Valerie Cruz) who resents the American doctors being there -- even though it would appear from the staff we see, there'd be no clinic without the imperialist intruders. Seriously, there's an anti-American rant in every one of her scenes in the pilot. That won't get old.

And if you were thinking Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights") would be the reason to watch this, let me disabuse you of any of your Matt Saracen Returns fantasies. . . .

The high body count on last night's amazing (and amazingly violent) "Grey's Anatomy" finale accomplished a couple of things: 1/ It culled the unwieldy herd of doctors milling through the halls (and plot lines) of Seattle Grace, and 2/ it earned back for the show a little of the buzz it's been missing this season.

The chaos began when an angry gunman whose wife had died on a previous episode (she was brain dead and the hospital forced him to pull the plug) walks into the hospital and starts shooting people. The man is looking specifically for Dr. Webber (his wife's surgeon), Dr. Shepherd (gave the orders), and Lexie Grey (pulled the plug). In no time, the floors are littered with the crumpled bodies of doctors we know and love. And yes, one of them is McDreamy.

The high body count on last night's amazing (and amazingly violent) "Grey's Anatomy" finale accomplished a couple of things: 1/ It culled the unweildy herd of doctors milling through the halls (and plot lines) of Seattle Grace, and 2/ it earned back for the show a little of the buzz it's been missing this season.

The chaos began when an angry gunman whose wife had died on a previous episode (she was brain dead and the hospital forced him to pull the plug) walks into the hospital and starts shooting people. The man is looking specifically for Dr. Webber (his wife's surgeon), Dr. Shepherd (gave the orders), and Lexie Grey (pulled the plug). In no time, the floors are littered with the crumpled bodies of doctors we know and love. And yes, one of them is McDreamy.