ESPN2's HIS & HERS Takes on 'Empire' This Halloween

By: Caryn Robbins Oct. 28, 2015

ESPN2's sports discussion program His & Hers will take on the theme of the popular television drama EMPIRE for a Halloween special on Friday, Oct. 30, at noon.

His & Hers hosts Michael Smith and Jemele Hill, who are big fans of the FOX drama, will appear as Lucious and Cookie Lyon, two characters from the program, during Friday's His & Hers. In addition, the program will open with Smith and Hill as the characters in a re-creation of a scene from Lucious' corporate boardroom.

"Empire is one of our favorite shows," said Smith. "We've been begging for a cameo on Empire, so we decided to bring EMPIRE to His & Hers. And to tell you the truth, fighting for control of our EMPIRE isn't that out of character for us. Kidding."

The boardroom scene was shot on a set built from a conference room on the ESPN campus. This won't be the first time that His & Hers has paid tribute to a film or TV show: prior to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight earlier this year, Smith and Hill dressed as characters and did a spoof of the barbershop scene from the movie "Coming to America" while discussing boxing.

"Had you told me my journalism career would have involved me dressing as a character played by Taraji Henson, I probably wouldn't have believed it," said Hill. "But we wanted to pay homage to our favorite show, but do it the His & Hers way."

His & Hers airs Monday-Friday at noon on ESPN2. Both former newspaper sportswriters, Smith and Hill are very good friends who don't always agree about subjects in sports or in the news, leading to lively discussions on the program as they run through the day's news items. While their treatment of topics can sometimes be humorous, the hosts are also very willing and able to tackle controversial topics both related to sports and not.

Photo courtesy of ESPN