This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
What happens on "Scandal" is beyond batty. Which is the main reason it's so much fun to watch. But after watching Thursday's episode, it would appear the writers aren't even trying.They're certainly not trying to do anything even slightly realistic anymore. This show centered on the White House completely ignored the U.S. Constitution and history itself.OK, within the unreal reality of "Scandal," let's accept that Vice President Sally Langston (Kate Burton) has declared she's running against President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn) as a third-party candidate, and that she refuses to resign the vice presidency.It's certainly a lot less insane than when, a couple of episodes ago, Sally stabbed her gay husband to death and White House chief of Staff Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) covered it up.But in the unreal reality of "Scandal," the president and his staff can't get Sally out of the West Wing. Which means the writers haven't been paying the slightest bit of attention to history. The vice president isn't guaranteed space in the White House, and many vice presidents haven't had an office in the West Wing.OK ... that's a relatively minor point. But it's indicative of the lack of research.Far more ridiculous is that President Grant (the former governor of California) has chosen as his new running mate his former lieutenant governor and the current governor of California, Andrew Nichols (Jon Tenney).That is patently ridiculous. The U.S. Constitution mandates that electors can only vote for one candidate from their states. So assuming the Grant-Nichols ticket wins the election, California's 55 electoral votes - 20 percent of the total needed to win - could not be cast for both Grant and Nichols.It's far less nuts when we learn that Nichols had an affair with first lady Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young) and he's still carrying a torch for her.Yes, I know that "Scandal" is all about the crazy. That's why I'm a fan.But, geez, it would be nice if creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes and her team could do just a little bit of research.