On Thursday, ABC announced its series pickups which include "Scandal" creator Shonda Rhimes' new show "How to Get Away with Murder."

"How to Get Away With Murder" stars a brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor played by Viola Davis who becomes entangled in a murder plot that will shake her university. The sexy, suspenseful thriller is also about the professor's group of ambitious law students. Liza Weil, Billy Brown, Katie Findlay, Matt McGorry, Aja Naomi King, Jack Falahee, Alfred Enoch, Charlie Weber and Karla Souza will also star in the project, according to TVGuide.com.  This comes as no surprise since Rhimes, who has great clout at ABC, is incredibly valuable to the network. 

The network also added a drama called "American Crime," which is executively produced and directed by "12 Years a Slave's" John Ridley. Anthony Anderson's comedy "Black-ish," which is loosely based on the life of showrunner Kenya Barris from "The Game," was also picked up. In the series, Anderson plays an upper-middle-class black man who struggles to raise his children with a sense of cultural identity in spite of constant contradictions from his family members, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

They're joined by alien drama "The Whispers" (previously known as "The Visitors") and Marvel's Captain America spinoff "Agent Carter," reports The Wire.

The network also added Jeff Lowell's musical fairy tale "Galavant" along with Emily Kapnek's new show "Selfie," which is about a woman who is famous on social media.

The series pickup gives the "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" producers three shows on the air for the second time following the end of Private Practice.

CBS decided to order the spinoff to "How I Met Your Mother" called "How I Met Your Dad." 

However, Trophy Wife was not picked up.