Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of Maximum Fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

It's Bolzai. I'm Jesse Thorne. How many TV episodes has Shonda Rhymes written?

Got to be like hundreds, right? Maybe a thousand? She's created seven shows, including scandal,

private practice, and Grey's Anatomy. Gray's Anatomy, of course, is one of the longest running primetime TV shows of all time. Pretty much everything she's made has been watched and adored by millions. She has a pile of

awards. She's gotten so much praise. I mean, Emmys, the NAACP, the Writers Guild, Glad. Even Michelle

Obama is a fan of hers. Let's just stipulate. She is

beloved and accomplished. So imagine all the work that took, the days and nights staring at a blank

screen, then an outline, then a draft, rewrites, shoots, writers' rooms over and over and over

again hundreds of times. What have I told you that despite all those

accomplishments and all those accolades, Shanta Rhymes is only just now starting to feel like a

success. That, along with a bunch of other stuff, is what she told our correspondent, Jared Hill,

in this interview that we're about to play for you. It's from 2023. And it is kind of astonishing to think that there is basically no level of success

where you're immune from insecurity. In 2023, her newest project was Queen Charlotte,

a spinoff from Bridgeton. The long-awaited fourth season of Bridgeton just premiered last

month. Without any further ado, let's get into it.

Shonda Rhymes and our contributor, Jarrett Hill.

Shonda Rimes, welcome to Bullseye. How are you? Good. Excited to be here. Thank you for being here.

I got to check out the first couple of episodes of Queen Charlotte. And the first thing I kind of wanted to ask you about Queen Charlotte, before we really talk about you in your career in writing, I'm curious about how the vision for Queen Charlotte began for you. I know that Bridgeton, obviously, is the origin story of Queen Charlotte,

but Queen Charlotte has really kind of developed into her own kind of her own series and her own

story. So how did that really get started for you? How did you start seeing it? You know,

Queen Charlotte, as played by Golda in Bridgeton, the actress in Bridgeton, was so dynamic and so

interesting to me. And I felt like I was always drawn to watching her and I wanted to see more,

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