ABC reduces Scandal Season 3 order from 22 to 18 episodes

ABC has decided to reduce the number of episodes in Season 3 of Scandal from 22 to 18, which means fans will get a little less of Olivia Pope and Associates on the airwaves this year.

Deadline reports that the network did not give an official reason for the reduction, but it almost assuredly has nothing to do with the performance of the show, as Scandal continues to dominate the ratings on Thursday nights. The likely reason is that star Kerry Washington is pregnant and the writers will soon run out of ways to deal with that.

Olivia Pope is the main character and there is no Scandal without her, so writing her off the show or reducing her on-screen presence, even for a few episodes, is not an option. Her style and fashion sense are also key components of the show, so the wardrobe department can only make her clothes so baggy and loose before it starts to be a problem. Series creator Shonda Rhimes and the writers also apparently do not want to make Olivia pregnant, so writing the pregnancy into the show seems to be out, too.

As Deadline reports, Scandal is a ratings juggernaut this season. The show is up 57 percent in the adults 18-49 demographic with a 4.4 rating and up 50 percent in total viewers at 12.6 million when compared to last year. The show is the fastest-growing returning series this year and just edged out NBC's freshman hit The Blacklist in the C3 ratings, which are used to determine advertising revenues (Scandal is ahead 3.58 to 3.55). The show is also taking advantage of the lead-in from another Rhimes show, Grey's Anatomy, and built on it by 29 percent this week, the highest in Scandal history.

For the record, Scandal aired seven episodes in its first season and 22 episodes in its second season.