'Scandal' season 6 is by no means a reflection of the curent U.S. political climate, Shonda Rhimes reiterates

A few shows this year have mined a bit from the political climate that the United States has had in the last year or so. But arguably, no show does it quite like "Scandal" as the Shonda Rhimes series also trod a highly controversial campaign period tipped to end in the season 6 premiere revealing who the new TV POTUS will be.

Despite having somewhat the same timeline with the holding of the national elections, Rhimes expresses that by no means are they trying to take on the real-world election and just giving it a TV show twist.

"I don't really equate the two. That's not the goal, obviously. If that were the goal, we'd wait until after the election to write about an election. The goal was to tell the story about an election and the journey," the TV exec explained during "Scandal's" panel at the recently held Television Critics Association press day this week.

Apparently, the show even had to make some adjustments in the overall arc that they were originally going through upon realizing that maybe, their narrative is just a bit too close to home. Unintentionally, "Scandal" was supposed to tackle the possibility of the Russian government trying to sabotage their fictional elections, which Americans know as a big topic in the real world nowadays.

"I keep it pretty separate because our world is a complete fiction. When we came together in July and read those first five scripts [of this season], they were so beautiful ... You find out the results of the election immediately, but you go back in time and focus on different characters and how they got to that moment," Bellamy Young, who plays former-First Lady-turned-Presidential-aspirant Mellie, added echoing the sentiments of Rhimes.

What is interesting is that despite the show offering a different take on the election, it cannot seem to escape the real-world similarity regarding the aftermath of last year's Presidential Race. The debut of "Scandal" season 6 alongside the return of its T.G.I.T. siblings "Grey's Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder" got bumped up to a week's delay to make way for an ABC special for President-elect Donald Trump. The pre-inauguration "20/20" presentation will feature the life of the New York-businessman-turned-politician and his family before they formally occupy the White House the following day.

That being said, "Scandal" is now scheduled to debut its latest season Jan. 26, 9 p.m. ET on ABC. "Grey's Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder" will air on the same day at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, respectively.