Scandal Marathon To Air On BET In August

ABC’s Scandal earned buzz during its first season run and that buzz only increased as the show headed into its second season this past year. Much of the buzz centers on Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope, a tough and dedicated fixer navigating the world of politics. Those who haven’t been able to see the badass character in action will get a chance to catch up on the series very soon. BET will air all of Season 1 and Season 2 in an extensive marathon next month.

BET acquired the rights to Scandal just this week, and already has plans set to air two 14-hour marathons on subsequent weeks in August. THR is reporting the news, noting that the first marathon will begin on August 10 and will run from 8 a.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET. After that, viewers will get a bit of a break before the second marathon hits the schedule on August 17, also running from 8 a.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET.

If you were doing the math, you may have realized that two lengthy marathons isn’t enough time to cover all Season 1 and Season 2 episodes. To make sure fans can re-watch all of the episodes that have aired on ABC so far, BET will offer a third night of viewing on August 21. That evening, the cable network will air the final two episodes, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. If you miss out on the marathons, BET also has plans to regularly air the syndicated series on Wednesday evenings, so there are various ways to catch up.

Syndicating the show so early should prove to be good for BET to add popular content to the network's lineup, but also for ABC. Fans who never watched the series before will now have time to catch up and maybe even incorporate the renewed program into their TV-viewing schedules this fall. One hundred episode is generally considered to be syndication gold, but that idea has been changing in recent years, with programs like Glee also getting early syndication purchases. In that show’s case, Oxygen stepped up to nab the series.

Stop readingif you haven’t watched ABC’s series, yet. Spoilers abound! Scandal left audience on a bit of a cliffhanger—alright a big cliffhanger—at the end of Season 2, with Pope outed as President Grant’s mistress causing the media to be frenzied. We finally get to meet her father, as well. If you need a little reminder, you can check out the clip, below.

That’s a lot to take in during just a few moments of film, and it’s a good thing ABC signed on for a third season in order to clear up some of these convoluted plotlines. Scandal is set to return to ABC’s schedule on Thursday, October 3 at 10 p.m. ET.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.