Empire, the series on Fox- Page 6

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 12:06pm

I did, too. I don't think the criticisms are unwarranted, but this is a show I can turn my mind off with and just go with the flow.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 12:37pm

If only the show did! You know? Moods, reactions and motivations reverse themselves from one scene to another.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 1:25pm

While I don't think this would have made a huge difference, the pacing might have suited me better if they had actually made a two hour episode instead of airing two back to back. Even at its best, I' don't think Empire is a show I'd watch back to back episodes of...

"What happened to the hot videographer? "

Jamal so symbolically had his way with him in Luscious' office at the end of the first episode so they had no reason for him to be in the last episode? :P I was a bit surprised at how tame the sex scenes (especially with Cookie,) were... Considering what ABC gets away with on How to Succeed With Murder.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 1:28pm

16.5 million viewers and 2.5 million tweets brought in during the finale. WOW!

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 1:34pm

The hot videographer had a scene getting naked with Jamal during the concert-and-montage toward the end of the episode.

And why did we suddenly see Anika (aka Boo Boo Kitty) plotting the "hostile takeover" with Hakeem, and then see THEM together, making out in the montage? There had been no flirtation between the two of them previously, or during the "hostile takeover" discussion, wherein Hakeem is merely...um...doing weights with his shirt off with the estranged ex-fiancee of his father. Um--isn't he only 18? Anika goes from being engaged to a music mogul, gets dumped because she's working with his competition, then goes (inexplicably due to aforementioned jumpy editing) "I'll go see if his teenage son wants to be with me" all of a sudden, even though it was established early on that the sons didn't like her, nor for Lucious to be with her? Lucious had just made up with all his sons because he's not dying anymore. And Hakeem didn't have a beef with him at that point after all the gift-giving and brother-reconciling after Jamal was given the scepter (oh-my-gawd, a scepter??). With a "hostile takeover," it wouldn't even make sense for Hakeem to do that, to make his father jealous or angry by being seen with Anika in that scene. They had all been advised to play it cool by that "Tricky" corporate guy.

I actually hadn't minded Hakeem with Naomi Campbell's character; she really did seem to want to help him with the business. And, she threw away the extortion check Lucious gave her to go away, after all. But alas--she was just a plot device for Lucious to fly off the handle and give Hakeem reason to get pissed off at first. But this new twist with him being with Anika is just gross--and unrealistic even within the escapist tone of this show!

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 8:25pm

What I find most disheartening is that this is the #1 show on TV at the moment. I'm all for escapist entertainment - I was a big fan of Dallas and Dynasty in the 80's - but this show is just so bad on so many levels. It's not even good bad. Just bad. But plenty of people think its great TV. It scares me that, with its success, we're going to get a lot more of the same real soon. Lee Daniels can pretty much write his own ticket at this point. But if this show is any indication of what he has to offer...EGADS! He makes Ryan Murphy look like Kubrick.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 8:43pm

I love it and think it's great and fun TV. But like yours, it's just my opinion.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 10:45pm

"What I find most disheartening is that this is the #1 show on TV at the moment."

Well, American Horror Story and Empire or two of the most talked about scripted shows on TV. But neither of them is careful in the plotting or story telling and apparently that's not a value for the viewers.

And this is the so-called latest Golden Age of TeeVee, right?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 10:51pm

Oh, I find the comparison of EMPIRE to AHS to be extremely off base. I don't think the plot holes or script issues are anywhere near comparable in the two.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 11:13pm

"Lee Daniels can pretty much write his own ticket at this point. But if this show is any indication of what he has to offer...EGADS! He makes Ryan Murphy look like Kubrick."

I still think it's MUCH better than what you give it credit for. The main take away networks seem to be getting from the success of this (and Murder,) is that--SURPRISE--people will watch shows centered around non-white characters. Otherwise, I don't imagine seeing too many similar shows.

Also Lee Daniels is not in Ryan Murphy (or Brad Falchuk his partner in crime who never gets any blame) position. He says he'll remain involved--but he was co-creator, and I believe only co-wrote two episodes? he's still focusing on his movies--Ilene from The L Word is the showrunner (and maybe it could be argued she is part of the problem,) and co-creator Danny Strong is much more involved. Unlike Ryan Murphy, Lee seems fine with dropping in every so often and not taking over 5 projects at once.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 11:16pm

"Oh, I find the comparison of EMPIRE to AHS to be extremely off base. I don't think the plot holes or script issues are anywhere near comparable in the two."

Agreed--at least to me, the characterization makes sense still, even when they do crazy things and plots are dropped (though they do tie them up--just ridiculously fast.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 2:09am

How many times in one half hour can Lucious switch his favorite son?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 2:16am

Depends on how many lion scepters and insta hint songs can he perform with them? I think the winner will always be, though, the guy who was thrown in the trash can and can use that for beat inspiration (no pun implied.)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 8:42am

The winner (at least for the next 10 seasons) will always be Lucious now that we know he was misdiagnosed and just has the flu.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 10:36am

If there's another season, I won't be tuning in.

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 11:54am

"If there's another season, I won't be tuning in."

Oh...they'll be another season, Jane. It was renewed right after the second episode aired. Fingers crossed that they can secure Debbie Allen for another directing gig!

Updated On: 3/20/15 at 11:54 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 3:53pm

All the twists and turns that happened on screen between Lucious, Cookie, and the rest of the Lyon family weren’t the only insane things about last night’s Empire finale, as the craziness of what happened in the show was mirrored by the absolutely ridiculous audience that the episode drew. The FOX series, which has consistently grown in total audience with every new episode it has aired this season, was watched by 16.7 million viewers during its Season 1 finale, garnering a 6.5 rating among adults 18-49. That’s not only the largest audience that has watched Empire all season long, but it also makes last night’s two-hour episode the highest-rated season finale for any first year show since Grey’s Anatomy in 2005.

But the records don’t end there. Empire‘s finale gave FOX its highest-rated Wednesday night in more than three years,and per EW.com, it also makes the freshman series broadcast’s top-rated TV series among original episodes (drama or comedy), beating out CBS’ monster hit The Big Bang Theory in the adult demo. And since Empire somehow managed to grow in viewership for ten weeks (ten weeks, guys!) straight, there’s no telling how many more people will tune in to watch when the show returns for Season 2 (which, if FOX wants to really capitalize on Empire‘s success, will be sometime this fall and not in early 2016).

Additionally, Empire‘s incredible ratings have inspired Hulu to snag exclusive streaming rights to the series. While episodes of Empire have already been on Hulu during Season 1, this ensures that Hulu will has exclusive streaming rights to the show for not just this season but any additional ones as well, so don’t expect Empire to show up on Netflix or Amazon any time in the near future.

“Empire is truly a television phenomenon,” said Craig Erwich, Head of Content at Hulu. “Empire’s story lines and music continue to dominate the popular culture conversation each week. Since its premiere, the series has remained one of the top shows on Hulu and we are ecstatic to be the exclusive streaming home to the biggest show of the year.”







Updated On: 3/20/15 at 03:53 PM

[javero]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 4:40pm

I'm caught up now. That finale was awful.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 5:19pm

I think it's great that it's doing so well. I just hope that the viewers of the finale didn't lose interest and will stick around for four+ months to watch it next year.

[javero]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 7:49pm

ok...what was so significant about the revelation of Lucius' real name as Dwight Walker?

Perhaps it would make sense if it's revealed in season 2 that Lucius is biracial and was abandoned by at least one parent. The series intrigued me early on but man did it misfire at the tail end of the season. I just can't with the whole Andre-Rhonda-Pregnancy-Murder business. The murder of Vernon was LAZY.

And that gospel performance by JHud's character did not make my highlight reel. I've seen her deliver a rousing and uplifting rendition of a gospel classic before, but that screech-and-growl number she performed did not stir my soul one bit.

I was hoping for much more. Maybe I'll stick around for the series' return or maybe not.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 7:53pm

It's camp-a-licious and audaciousness is on par with Mark Robson's 1967 film adaptation of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.... GIVE.ME.MORE.

[Huss417]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 8:48am

I avoided this thread till I watched the whole series. Taraji P Henson I feel is going to win many awards for Cookie. I'm not sure what was going on in the finale as I thought it was all over the place that I was expecting someone to wake up from a dream.

Love Porscha.

Look forward to seeing where it goes next season.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/9/15 at 10:49am

Is this show inspired by The Lion in Winter?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/9/15 at 3:39pm

Yes--Johnny Strong has said as much.  (The setup is also slightly based on King Lear and I think the episode names are Shakespeare quotes...)

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/9/15 at 5:03pm

Eric, you're at Snyder? Bless you, lol!