Empire (2015 TV series)

Last updated
Empire
Empire Intertitle.png
GenreMusic drama
Created by
Starring
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes102 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Production locations Chicago, Illinois
New York City
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cinematography
Editors
  • Joe Leonard
  • Zack Arnold
  • Raúl Dávalos
  • Natalie A. Boschan
  • Matt Barber
Running time42 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Fox
ReleaseJanuary 7, 2015 (2015-01-07) –
April 21, 2020 (2020-04-21)

Empire is an American music drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong for Fox that ran from January 7, 2015, to April 21, 2020. It is a joint production by Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. Although it is filmed in Chicago, [2] [3] the show is set in New York. The series centers on the fictional hip hop music and entertainment company Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control of it. It stars Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Jussie Smollett and Trai Byers as members of the Lyon Family, along with a supporting cast including Grace Byers, Kaitlin Doubleday, Gabourey Sidibe, Ta'Rhonda Jones, Serayah, Malik Yoba and Vivica A. Fox.

Contents

The series premiered on January 7, 2015, to nearly 10 million viewers while the first-season finale was watched by 17 million viewers. Its first season received positive reviews from critics, who praised its acting, particularly Henson's, its direction, soundtrack, writing, costumes, editing and the overall tone of the show, with many critics describing it as a "fresh take on a musical". Subsequent seasons also received positive reviews, with its second season being the most well received.

During its run, it was one of the most-watched television shows on Fox. On April 30, 2019, Fox renewed the show for the sixth and final season, and the first without Smollett, who was confirmed to not be returning after he was charged with filing a false police report in an incident in which he staged an assault and hate crime. The season premiered on September 24, 2019, [4] [5] [6] and the series concluded on April 21, 2020.

A spin-off of the series, centered around Taraji P. Henson's character, Cookie Lyon, was set to launch in 2020. [7] However, Fox passed on the pilot, and it was being shopped to other networks. [8] It has since been axed altogether.

Premise

Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is a hip hop mogul, former drug dealer, and CEO of Empire Entertainment. Informed of his own imminent early death from ALS, Lucious is forced to choose, from amongst his progeny, a successor who will control his dynasty after his demise. He begins working to groom one of his three sons to take over the family business – Empire CFO Andre (Trai Byers), R&B singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray). In the process, Lucious pits them against each other. [9] Lucious' ex-wife Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) is released from prison after serving a 17-year sentence, and also pulls for control of both the company and of her sons.

Cast and characters

A former drug dealer turned hip-hop mogul and the founder and long-time CEO of Empire Entertainment, [10] his life begins to cave in around him after his past sins come back to haunt him when he is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Besides Cookie, Lucious' other lovers were Anika (seasons 1 & 3) ,Giulana (season 4) & Yana (season 6).
Lucious' outspoken wife and mother of their three sons. She serves a 17-year prison sentence for drug dealing and sees herself as the sacrificial lamb for Empire Entertainment, which she built with Lucious, but then took the fall for him while running the very drugs that financed Lucious' early career. Upon her return from prison, she is determined to bring the Lyon family back together and reclaim her share of Empire Entertainment. [11] [12] In the second season, Cookie leaves the Empire group and starts her own record label, Lyon Dynasty. After allowing Empire Entertainment to acquire Lyon Dynasty, she returns to Empire as co-CEO and Head of A&R.
Lucious' fame-obsessed youngest son and his favorite child, who is a hip-hop star on the rise. [13] Initially combative towards his mother Cookie, Hakeem starts to become friendlier towards her, and has a great relationship with his older brother Jamal. He has had romantic relationships with Tiana, Camilla, Anika, Valentina, Laura and Maya (the former & latter who become his wives in the fourth & sixth season).
The middle son of the Lyon family, he is a talented gay singer-songwriter who despises the corporate aspect of the music industry. Jamal is estranged from his father, who considers him the black sheep of the family. [11] Jamal is Cookie's favorite and has a strong relationship with his brother Hakeem. Lucious appoints Jamal as his successor at the end of the first season, and later as interim CEO when Lucious is arrested. Jamal later relinquishes control of Empire back to Lucious. After being accidentally shot by Freda Gatz in Season 2, Jamal begins to present symptoms of PTSD and a reliance on painkillers. His addiction ultimately leads to a visit to rehab. Smollett's character was removed from the last two episodes of the fifth season after Smollett was indicted on charges of staging an assault against himself. [14] Smollett's character does not return for the sixth and final season, but he is mentioned with him and his new husband Kai moving to London and adopting a baby boy. Despite not appearing in the sixth season, nor being credited, the option in Smollett's contract for the sixth season was picked up. [15]
The eldest son of the Lyon family [16] and CFO of Empire Entertainment. He is Wharton educated, power hungry, and has bipolar disorder. He is married to his college sweetheart, Rhonda. He plans to run Empire, but is in a battle for the head chair with his younger brothers. In the second season, Andre initially helps Cookie and Hakeem set up Lyon Dynasty, but returns to Empire. Lucious later promotes Andre to President of Gutter Life Records, a sub-division of Empire Entertainment consisting of mainly urban rappers, such as Freda Gatz. In Season 3, 4 & 5, he loses his wife and becomes involved with Nessa, Charlotte, Pamela and Teri (the latter who becomes his new wife in the season 5 finale).
Initially the ambitious head of Empire Entertainment's A&R department, [16] she becomes engaged to Lucious though they will eventually separate. After leaving Empire, Anika has sex with Hakeem and becomes pregnant. Fearful of Rhonda's pregnancy, as Rhonda's unborn child has claim to being the heir of Empire, Anika pushes Rhonda down a set of stairs, leading to the death of Rhonda's unborn child. Cookie and Anika share an extreme dislike for one another, with Cookie referring to Anika by the derisive nickname "Boo Boo Kitty". [17] After taking over the Lyon's dynasty, Andre drugs Anika's drink and she starts to have hallucinations of Rhonda down the stairs to her death. She then also has flashbacks of Andres' process of drugging her and how he played all his cards like a Lyon does to get her to lose her mind to save his family dynasty. She then falls over the balcony, plummets, and lands on a glass champagne table and bleeds out into her death and the last face that she sees is the hallucinated face of Rhonda. She dies in the season 4 finale.
Lucious's longtime friend and business partner, and chairman of Empire Entertainment. In the season one finale, Vernon is struck and killed by Rhonda when he attacks Andre, and both end up hiding the body. [18]
Andre's wife is a "ride-or-die chick" who is extremely fierce and loyal, and sticks by Andre's side as he tries to gain control of Empire. In the first-season finale she finds out that she is pregnant, but Anika pushes her down the stairs in the second season fall finale, and the baby dies in the second-season spring premiere. After her recovery, Rhonda begins to work for Empire's fashion label, "Antony and Cleopatra", initially run by Camilla Marks-Whiteman. After Camilla's suicide, Rhonda is appointed Creative Director of Antony and Cleopatra. In the third-season premiere, she attacks Anika due to finding out Anika had pushed her down the stairs earlier in the season, causing her to lose her unborn son. As a result, she falls off the building she and Anika were fighting on, lands on a car, and dies. She makes numerous appearances to Andre as a ghost during his hallucinations in the third season.
Cookie's executive assistant.
Executive assistant to Lucious at Empire Entertainment. After Jamal's promotion to Vice Chairman, Jamal promotes Becky to A&R at Empire and its sub-label, Gutter Life Records. In season 4, she had taken Anika's position as Head of A&R requested by Cookie. [16] [21]
An artist at Empire Entertainment who becomes Hakeem's girlfriend for some time. [22] In season two, she leaves Empire for Lyon Dynasty. She also starts to get jealous of the relationship Hakeem has with Laura. In Season 3, she and Hakeem rekindle their relationship. At the beginning of Season 4 she remains happy being with Hakeem and looks after his daughter Bella whilst Anika is in jail. Halfway through the season she gets manipulated by Eddie Barker and turns down a proposal made by Hakeem. She continues to be manipulated by Eddie and becomes Empire's number one artist. After Hakeem tries to warn her about Eddie she breaks up with him again, but they quickly get back together and marry Tiana reveals to Hakeem that she's pregnant. In season 5, it's discovered that she was carrying twins and lost one as a result of not being taken seriously by the nurses whilst giving birth. By the end of the season, she ends up with Devon. In Season 6 she changes labels to Bossy Media and furthermore by the end of the season she remains single as of her and Devon separating due to her cheating on him with Hakeem. Tiana's lovers were Gram, Blake, Carlito, Devon and most significantly, Hakeem Lyon (her ex-husband).
A female rapper, who becomes a surrogate daughter to Lucious after the murder of her father, Frank Gathers. Lucious later sets up Freda to become Hakeem's rival.
An FBI Agent, who is also Lucious' half-brother. [23] [24]
A former rival of Lucious Lyon that soon becomes a close ally, described as "100 percent wolf and 100 percent gangsta".
Lucious' lawyer/confidant/right-hand man.
A singer who fell off as an addict than becomes close friends with Jamal to betray him by working with Lucious.
An attorney, Diana Dubois' nephew, Angelo's cousin and Jamal's ex.
Eddie Barker's trophy ex-wife.
A rapper and Hakeem's friend.
The daughter of Cookie's fellow inmate Poundcake and Hakeem Lyon's current wife. She and Tiana share an extreme dislike towards one another with the former being jealous of Tiana's success and the latter feeling bitter about Maya's relationship with Hakeem.
Hotshot, Silicon Valley genius turned interim leader of Empire Entertainment. He is Ivy League educated with an edge and a dark secret. Lucious' illegitimate son. In the season five finale, Jeff commits suicide in front of Lucious, and his heart is given to Andre for a heart transplant.
Cookie's well-behaved but snobby and judgmental older sister. She is a realtor.
Andre's new wife and Quincy's mother.
Formerly a prison social worker, but now an artist at Empire and Tiana's main rival.
Lucious' rival and Cookie's new love interest.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankViewers
(millions)
First airedLast aired
1 12January 7, 2015 (2015-01-07)March 18, 2015 (2015-03-18)517.33 [25]
2 18September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23)May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)515.94 [26]
3 18September 21, 2016 (2016-09-21)May 24, 2017 (2017-05-24)2310.37 [27]
4 18September 27, 2017 (2017-09-27)May 23, 2018 (2018-05-23)527.45 [28]
5 18September 26, 2018 (2018-09-26)May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08)686.38 [29]
6 18September 24, 2019 (2019-09-24)April 21, 2020 (2020-04-21)804.04 [30]

Production

Joshua Allen and Attica Locke, writers and producers of the show Empire, stand with their 2015 Voice Award. They are joined by Sonay Washington Hoffman from Writers Guild of America, West. "VOICE AWARDS-2015" (21409573660).jpg
Joshua Allen and Attica Locke, writers and producers of the show Empire, stand with their 2015 Voice Award. They are joined by Sonay Washington Hoffman from Writers Guild of America, West.

Howard, Henson and Sidibe filmed the pilot episode in Chicago (Cinespace Chicago Film Studios [31] ) in March 2014. [32] On May 6, 2014, Fox picked up Empire as a series order for its 2014–15 television schedule. [33] [34] On May 12, 2014, Fox announced that Empire would air as a midseason replacement, rather than as a part of the fall schedule. [35] [36] On November 19, 2014, it was confirmed that the pilot episode would premiere on January 7, 2015, following the season 14 premiere of American Idol . [37]

The executive producers are Brian Grazer, Danny Strong and Francie Calfo. The show is written by Strong while Lee Daniels, who has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, made his television directorial debut with the show. [16] [38] According to Strong, the show is based in part on William Shakespeare's King Lear , and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter ; Daniels also acknowledged a strong influence from the ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty . [38] [39] Ilene Chaiken later joined the series as showrunner. [40] On January 17, 2015, the series was renewed for an 18-episode second season, [41] which premiered on September 23, 2015. [42]

The fourth season, consisting of eighteen episodes premiered on September 27, 2017, and crossed over with another Fox series co-created by Daniels, Star . [43] [44]

On May 2, 2018, Fox renewed the series for a fifth season with Brett Mahoney taking over as showrunner from Ilene Chaiken. [45] The season premiered on September 26, 2018. [46]

On April 15, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a judge was allowing 300 jailed youth to sue Fox for using their prison facility to film Empire. [47]

In March 2020, production of the final season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [48] preventing the last episodes' filming. [49]

Casting

Howard was cast in the lead on February 19, 2014. [10] Henson was named as the female lead on February 26, and Jussie Smollett was announced in a starring role. [11] Howard and Henson previously starred together as love interests in the film Hustle & Flow , and starred in the 2005 film Four Brothers . [11] On March 10, 2014, Sidibe, who had previously worked with Daniels in Precious , was cast in a recurring role as Becky, Lucious' assistant. Trai Byers and Grace Gealey were announced in regular roles, while Bryshere Y. Gray and Malik Yoba were announced in starring roles. [16] Courtney Love was added to the cast on October 23, 2014. [50] Naomi Campbell was announced in a recurring role on September 29, 2014. [51]

On June 2, 2015, it was announced Adam Rodriguez would join the cast in a recurring role in the second season of Empire, portraying Laz Delgado, a potential love interest for Cookie. [52]

In 2016, Phylicia Rashad was cast as a recurring guest star in the role of Diana DuBois in the third season of Empire. [53]

In February 2017, Rumer Willis joined the third season of Empire in a recurring role. [54]

Jussie Smollett removal

Smollett in 2016 Jussie Smollett (26362136311).jpg
Smollett in 2016

On January 22, 2019, Jussie Smollett filed a police report about a threatening letter sent to Fox Studios, where Empire is filmed. According to Smollett, the letter contained "threatening language" and a powdery substance believed to be crushed-up Tylenol. [55] On January 29, 2019, Smollett reported that he was attacked by two men who shouted "homophobic and racial slurs" at him and then threw an "unknown chemical substance" on him. Smollett told police that they wrapped a rope around his neck and yelled "MAGA country", [56] which references President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) slogan. [57] Smollett was then hospitalized. [56]

On February 13, Chicago police arrested two "persons of interest". However, on February 14, 2019, it was revealed that police were investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack because Smollett believed he was being written off Empire. [58] Interrogations revealed that both men, the Osundairo brothers, were allegedly paid off by Smollett to stage the attack. [55] On February 20, 2019, Smollett was indicted for filing a false police report. [59] He faces a maximum of three years in prison. [59]

Subsequently, Smollett was removed from the last two episodes of the fifth season. In a written statement, the show's producers said that "While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays... We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of 'Jamal' from the final two episodes of the season." [60]

On March 26, it was announced that the charges against Smollett had been dropped, although he remains under federal investigation regarding a hate letter that is believed to have been written by Smollett himself. The fate of Smollett's character 'Jamal' currently remains unclear. [61] [62]

On April 30, 2019, it was announced that, although Fox Entertainment had extended Smollett's contract for season six of Empire, there were no plans for the character to appear during the season. [63] [64]

On June 4, 2019, series co-creator Lee Daniels officially announced that Smollett would not be returning for the sixth and final season. [65]

On December 9, 2021, Smollett was convicted on five of six counts brought against him by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb in the hoax case and is awaiting sentencing, where he faces up to three years in county jail for his fabricated police reports. [66]

Accusations of plagiarism

Clayton Prince, a Philadelphia native and actor who gained early notoriety for starring as Jericho "Gibs" Gibson in the CBS crime drama television series Dark Justice , sued Daniels over accusations of copyright infringement in 2016. Prince alleged that Daniels stole the idea for Empire after having pitched it to him at a Greater Philadelphia Film Office event in 2008. Cream, Prince's musical drama television show, revolved around an African-American record label executive who, after being diagnosed with a fatal disease, must hastily choose a successor to run his record label upon his death. US District Judge Joel Slomsky dismissed the case in April 2017, stating that the plots of both shows were dissimilar enough to rule out any possible copyright infringement. In his words, "...both Mozart and Metallica composed in E minor." [67] Prince went on to make Cream as a four part miniseries in 2017. [68]

Music

After finding his lead actors, Lee Daniels set out to find a producer to craft the music for the series. Because he felt his own musical tastes and desires would be a little too dated for the show, Daniels consulted with people he thought could give him a little more insight, his children. At the urging of his son and daughter, Daniels contacted super producer Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, known for scoring hits with some of pop and R&B's biggest artists including Missy Elliott, Madonna, Brandy, Destiny's Child, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado, Ginuwine, and Aaliyah. [69]

As executive music Producer, Timbaland, co-songwriter/producer Jim Beanz, and a team of other musical collaborators took their cues from the writing team, which gave them an idea of where the plot is headed, and craft songs to fit those themes. However, the musical aspect of the series is very reality-based, unlike Fox's last musical series, Glee , performances come with the organic development of the characters as artists, much like the performances featured in the ABC prime-time country musical drama Nashville . [39] [70]

Any licensed songs and composer Fil Eisler's score are added after the episodes are filmed. The pilot itself consists of 12 songs. [71] Columbia Records releases weekly soundtracks of Empire on the iTunes Store, the same strategy used with Glee. [72] In May 2015, Fox announced that Ne-Yo and J.R. Rotem would write music for the show's second season, joining Timbaland. [42] Timbaland left Empire after season 2, and were replaced for season 3 by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Esther Dean. [73]

On September 8, 2015, Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi from Pentatonix arranged a medley of songs from the first season of Empire and posted it on their shared YouTube comedy/music channel, Superfruit. The video was sponsored by the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Soundtracks

Columbia Records released the official soundtrack of Empire's first season on March 10, 2015. [74] The soundtrack consists of 11 songs and the deluxe version consists of 18 songs, all performed on the show. As of October 2015, the album has sold 439,000 total copies in the United States. [75] Additional releases have followed for subsequent seasons.

For season 6, four songs from the premiere episode were released in advance of the season, and two new songs will be released each week ahead of each new episode. [76]

SoundtrackRelease dateFormat(s)LabelEdition(s)Ref.
Season 1 March 10, 2015
 Columbia
  • Standard
  • Deluxe
 [74]
Season 1September 11, 2015Digital downloadThe Complete Season 1 [77]
Season 2 (Vol. 1) November 20, 2015
  • CD
  • Digital download
  • Standard
  • Deluxe
 [78]
Season 2 (Vol. 2) April 29, 2016 [79]
Season 2July 8, 2016Digital downloadThe Complete Season 2 [80]
Season 3 April 28, 2017
  • CD
  • Digital download
Standard [81]

Broadcast

Empire was set to premiere in Australia on February 19, 2015, on Network Ten; [82] however, a week out from this date it was dumped from the schedule and pushed back. It ultimately premiered on March 1, 2015, [83] to a disappointing 377,000 total viewers, although it fared better with viewers in younger demographics. [84] The second season was broadcast on Eleven from September 29, 2015. [85]

In Canada, the series was simulcast on Omni Television (Omni 2). [86] [87] The fourth episode and the season finale would also air on City, a sibling broadcast network. [88] [89] Sibling cable network FX Canada would also air a marathon of the show on March 14 and 15, 2015. [90] The show moved to City starting in the 2015–16 season, [91] but was dropped from their lineup after the first half of the second season due to low ratings; Fox affiliates are widely available on pay television as well as over-the-air in some areas. Shomi, a subscription streaming service co-owned by City's parent company Rogers Communications, began to add new episodes following their U.S. premiere on Fox. A representative of the service stated that Empire was among its ten most popular programs. [92]

Empire started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on E4 [93] with the first episode airing on April 28, 2015. [94] 5Star have since taken over the rights as of Season 4.

The series premiered in India on STAR World Premiere HD on April 24, 2015 (only in high-definition). Later, on July 14, 2015, Empire also premiered on FX India (both in standard and high definition) with the Season 1 finale airing on July 29, 2015. Empire premiered on June 24, 2015, in Germany on Pro Sieben, with the Pilot reaching 930,000 viewers. [95] In Finland, the show premiered on Sub on December 2, 2015. [96] In South Africa, the show premiered on e.tv on February 3, 2016. In Serbia, the series premiered on Fox, on January 23, 2016. In the United States, TV One has the exclusive cable rerun rights.

Reception

In 2016, a study by The New York Times of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that Empire "is most popular in the Black Belt and in parts of the country with a high percentage of Native Americans". [97]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of Empire
SeasonTimeslot (ET)EpisodesFirst airedLast airedTV seasonViewership
rank		Avg. viewers
(millions)		Avg. 18–49
rating
DateViewers
(millions)		DateViewers
(millions)
1 Wednesday 9:00 pm12January 7, 2015 (2015-01-07)9.90 [98] March 18, 2015 (2015-03-18)17.62 [99] 2014–15 517.337.1 [25]
2 18September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23)16.18 [100] May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)10.88 [101] 2015–16 515.736.4 [26]
3 18September 21, 2016 (2016-09-21)10.87 [102] May 24, 2017 (2017-05-24)6.94 [103] 2016–17 2310.373.9 [27]
4 Wednesday 8:00 pm18September 27, 2017 (2017-09-27)7.05 [104] May 23, 2018 (2018-05-23)5.30 [105] 2017–18 527.452.6 [28]
5 18September 26, 2018 (2018-09-26)6.09 [106] May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08)4.09 [107] 2018–19 686.382.0 [29]
6 Tuesday 9:00 pm18September 24, 2019 (2019-09-24)3.31 [108] April 21, 2020 (2020-04-21)2.94 [109] 2019–20 804.041.2 [30]

Critical response

Critical response of Empire
Season Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
1 84% (49 reviews)69 (39 reviews)
2 87% (35 reviews)77 (22 reviews)
3 87% (32 reviews)—
4 83% (6 reviews)—
5 83% (6 reviews)—

Empire has received positive reviews, with praise for the cast, particularly Howard and Henson. [110] On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a rating of 84%, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.24/10. [111] The site's critical consensus reads, "Though heavy on melodrama, Empire elevates the nighttime soap with its top-notch cast, musical entertainment, and engrossing plots." [112] On Metacritic the show has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [113] For the second season, the score rose a few points higher, further praising the performances of Henson and Howard, the character development, plot development, and the show's self-awareness for being a soap opera. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an 87% with an average rating of 7.54/10 from critics and a score of 77 from Metacritic.

David Wiegand wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle : "Almost nothing about Empire, created by Lee Daniels ( The Butler ), feels original, but after a few minutes, you will stop caring". [114] 50 Cent stated via Twitter that he feels that Empire is being marketed by FOX in a way that resembles the marketing for the 2014 Starz series that he produces called Power . [115] Michael Logan of TV Guide described Empire as a "sudsy retooling of King Lear with hip hop as the backdrop" and praised Henson for her portrayal of the character Cookie. [116]

The show's premiere ranked as Fox's highest-rated debut in three years. Empire was the first primetime broadcast series in at least 23 years to have its viewership increase week to week for its first five episodes. [117] The show continued to increase its viewership with further episodes. [118] Episodes of the show have also been heavily watched on Video on Demand and other streaming services. [119] Empire surpassed The Big Bang Theory as the highest rated scripted program in the 2014–2015 television season. The first-season finale was also the highest rated debut season finale since May 2005, when Grey's Anatomy ended its first season. Empire's season one finale grew 82 percent from its series premiere, making it the show that has grown the most over the course of its first season since Men in Trees during the 2006–2007 season. [120]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
2015 American Film Institute Top 10 TV Shows EmpireWon
BET Award Best Actor Terrence Howard Won [121]
Jussie Smollett Nominated
Best Actress Taraji P. Henson Won
Critics' Choice Television Award Best Drama Series EmpireNominated [122] [123]
Best Actress in a Drama Series Taraji P. HensonWon
Most Bingeworthy ShowEmpireNominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Network TV DramaEmpireNominated
Favorite Dramatic TV ActorTerrence HowardNominated
Favorite Dramatic TV ActressTaraji P. HensonNominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Taraji P. HensonNominated [124]
Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie Eileen McCahill and Paolo Nieddu
("Pilot")		Nominated
Rita McGhee and Sukari McGill
("The Lyon's Roar")		Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice TV Show: Drama EmpireWon [125]
Choice TV Actor: Drama Terrence HowardNominated
Jussie SmollettNominated
Choice TV Actress: Drama Taraji P. HensonNominated
Choice TV: Breakout ShowEmpireWon
Choice TV: Breakout Star Bryshere Y. Gray Nominated
Jussie SmollettNominated
Choice TV: Scene Stealer Trai Byers Nominated
Choice TV: VillainTerrence HowardNominated
Choice TV: ChemistryTrai Byers, Bryshere Y. Gray, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard & Jussie SmollettNominated
Choice Music: Song from a Movie or TV Show"You're So Beautiful" – Empire Cast feat. Jussie Smollett & Bryshere Y. GrayNominated
Television Critics Association Award Program of the Year EmpireWon [126] [127]
Outstanding Achievement in Drama EmpireNominated
Outstanding New Program EmpireNominated
Individual Achievement in Drama Taraji P. HensonNominated
Hollywood Music in Media AwardsOriginal Score – TV Show / Digital SeriesEmpireNominated
Song – TV Show/Digital Series"Good Enough"Nominated
Outstanding Music Supervision – Television"Empire"Won
Soundtrack Album"Empire Original Soundtrack From Season 1"Nominated
2016 Grammy Award Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Television Series – Drama EmpireNominated [128]
Best Actress – Television Series Drama Taraji P. HensonWon
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Drama Series EmpireWon [129]
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Terrence HowardWon
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Taraji P. HensonWon
Outstanding Album Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 Nominated
Outstanding Song – Contemporary "Conqueror" Empire CastNominated
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration Won
Critics Choice Television Award Best Drama Series EmpireNominated [130] [131]
Best Actress in a Drama Series Taraji P. HensonNominated
Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series Marisa Tomei Nominated
Most Bingeworthy ShowEmpireNominated
Costume Designers Guild Outstanding Contemporary Television Series Rita McGheeNominated [132]
Teen Choice Award Choice: TV ShowEmpireNominated
Choice: TV Drama ActorTerrence HowardNominated
Jussie SmolletNominated
Choice: TV Drama ActressTaraji P. HensonNominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series, or Movie ("Past Is Prologue")Nominated
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (Episode: "A Rose by Any Other Name") (Song: "Good People")Nominated
2017 Costume Designers Guild Outstanding Contemporary Television Series Paolo NiedduNominated [133]
Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild TV and New Media Series - Best Contemporary Make-UpBeverly Jo Pryor, Eric Pagdin, Ashunta SheriffNominated [134]
TV and New Media Series - Best Contemporary Hair StylingMelissa Forney, Teresa Fleming, Nolan KellyNominated
Black Reel Awards for Television Outstanding Actress, Drama Series Taraji P. Henson Nominated [135]
Outstanding Actor, Drama Series Terrence Howard Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series Trai Byers Nominated
Outstanding Directing, Drama Series Sanaa Hamri for "A Furnace For You"Nominated
Outstanding Writing, Drama SeriesDiane Ademu-John & Eric Haywood for "Toll & Trouble Pt. 1"Nominated
Outstanding Guest Performer, Drama Series Phylicia Rashad Nominated
Outstanding Music (Comedy, Drama, TV Movie or Limited Series)Fil Feisler (composer); Jennifer Ross (music supervisor)Nominated
2018 Teen Choice Awards Choice Drama TV ShowEmpireNominated [136]
Choice Drama TV ActorJussie SmollettNominated

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jussie Smollett</span> American actor (born 1982)

Jussie Smollett is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taraji P. Henson</span> American actress (born 1970)

Taraji Penda Henson is an American actress. She has received several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and six Emmy Awards. In 2016 and 2024, Time named Henson one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Lyon</span> Soap opera character

Andre Martin Lyon is a fictional character from the American musical drama Empire, on Fox. Portrayed by Trai Byers, Andre is the oldest son of hip-hop mogul Lucious and his wife Cookie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucious Lyon</span> Soap opera character

Lucious Lyon is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard. Lucious is the main protagonist and anti-hero of the series. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a world-famous and renowned record company that he runs with his family. Realizing he will need a successor after he is diagnosed with ALS, Lucious pits his three sons: the college-educated executive Andre Lyon, the talented and gay singer-songwriter Jamal, and youngest, rapper Hakeem, against one another. The story has parallels to William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, while the character of a rapper and music mogul is loosely based on several real-life figures, including rappers, record producers and politicians. Lyon is married to former wife, drug dealer, ex-con, and former partner of Empire Entertainment, Cookie Lyon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cookie Lyon</span> Fictional character

Loretha "Cookie" Lyon is a fictional character from the American musical drama Empire on Fox. Portrayed by Taraji P. Henson, Cookie is one of the main characters within the series, the queen bee and the wife of former drug dealer turned hip-hop mogul, Lucious Lyon who gets released from prison and strikes out to lay claim to half of their multimillion-dollar record label, which was initially funded by her drug money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamal Lyon</span> Soap opera character

Jamal Joseph Lyon is a fictional character from the American musical drama, Empire on Fox. Portrayed by Jussie Smollett, Jamal is the middle son of hip-hop mogul Lucious and his wife Cookie. Jamal, a talented R&B singer and songwriter, struggles to gain his father's approval, but is able to overcome this adversity with Cookie's support. He initially expresses resentment towards fame and is hesitant to be in the limelight, but he gradually embraces it once Cookie begins to manage his career. Jamal engages in what was once a friendly competition against his younger brother and best friend Hakeem to determine who is more musically gifted, while maintaining a cold distance from his older brother Andre for his perpetual scheming. Jamal struggles with his father's objection to his homosexuality, which was inspired by Empire creator Lee Daniels' own relationship with his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryshere Y. Gray</span> American actor and rapper

Bryshere Yazuan Gray, also known by the stage name Yazz the Greatest or simply Yazz, is an American actor and rapper, best known for his role as Hakeem Lyon in the Fox primetime musical drama television series Empire. He is also known for his portrayal as Michael Bivins in the 2017 BET miniseries The New Edition Story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hakeem Lyon</span> Soap opera character

Hakeem Lyon is a fictional character from the American musical drama Empire on FOX, played by Bryshere Y. Gray. Hakeem, one of the main characters within the series, is the youngest and once-favorite son of hip-hop mogul Lucious and his wife Cookie Lyon. Hakeem has the star quality to become a superstar like his father, but lacks the discipline.

<i>Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1</i> 2015 soundtrack album by Various artists

Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 is the debut soundtrack album by the cast of the musical drama television series Empire, which airs on Fox. The album includes songs that featured during the first season of the show, and performed by various artists. The album was released by Columbia Records. The soundtrack received positive critical reception and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. On September 11, 2015, another soundtrack titled Empire: The Complete Season 1 was released containing every song heard on the show that weren't included on the official soundtrack.

Pilot (<i>Empire</i>) 1st episode of the 1st season of Empire

The pilot episode of the American musical drama television series Empire premiered on Fox on January 7, 2015. The show focuses on Lucious Lyon, the head of a record label who is diagnosed with ALS and given three years to live. While keeping his condition a secret, he decides to find a successor that will take over the company. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Cookie Lyon comes out of jail and demands a part of the company she founded. The episode was directed by Lee Daniels and written by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong. Over 12 original songs, produced by Timbaland, were featured in the episode.

<i>Empire</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American television series Empire premiered on January 7, 2015, and concluded on March 18, 2015, on Fox. The series centers around a hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control. The show aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET. The season consisted of 12 episodes.

<i>Empire</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American television drama series Empire premiered on September 23, 2015, in the United States on Fox. The season was ordered on January 17, 2015. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are Ilene Chaiken, Danny Strong and Lee Daniels. The season aired on Wednesday at 9:00 pm, the same slot as the previous season. The season concluded on May 18, 2016, and consisted of 18 episodes.

<i>Star</i> (TV series) 2016 American music drama television series

Star is an American music drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It revolves around three talented young singers who navigate the music business on their road to success and stars Jude Demorest, Brittany O'Grady and Ryan Destiny. The series, which is set in Atlanta, consists of original music, along with musical fantasy sequences, as dreams of the future. Queen Latifah, Benjamin Bratt, Amiyah Scott and Quincy Brown co-star.

<i>Empire</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of the American television drama series Empire premiered on September 21, 2016, in the United States on Fox. The third season was ordered on January 15, 2016. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are Ilene Chaiken, Danny Strong and Lee Daniels. The season aired on Wednesday at 9:00 pm, the same slot as the previous seasons. The season concluded on May 24, 2017 and consisted of 18 episodes.

<i>Drop the Mic</i> American musical reality competition television series

Drop the Mic is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on October 24, 2017, airing on TBS for its first two seasons before moving to TNT for its third season on January 23, 2019. The show is based on a recurring segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

<i>Empire</i> season 4 Season of television series

The fourth season of the American television drama series Empire premiered on September 27, 2017, in the United States on Fox. The fourth season was ordered on January 11, 2017, consisting of eighteen episodes. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are Ilene Chaiken, Danny Strong and Lee Daniels. The season aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm, a new slot. The premiere of the season also had a crossover with other Lee Daniels-created Fox series Star. The season concluded on May 23, 2018.

<i>Proven Innocent</i> 2019 American legal drama television series

Proven Innocent is an American legal drama television series created by David Elliot, which premiered on February 15, 2019, on Fox. The series follows the employees of a wrongful conviction law firm and stars Rachelle Lefevre, Russell Hornsby, Nikki M. James, Vincent Kartheiser, Riley Smith, Kelsey Grammer, and Clare O'Connor. On May 11, 2019, Fox canceled the series after one season.

<i>Empire</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of the American television drama series Empire premiered on September 26, 2018 and ended on May 8, 2019, in the United States on Fox. The season was ordered on May 2, 2018, consisting of eighteen episodes with Brett Mahoney taking over as showrunner from Ilene Chaiken. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are Mahoney, Danny Strong and Lee Daniels.

<i>Empire</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth and final season of the American television drama series Empire premiered on September 24, 2019, in the United States on Fox. The season was ordered on April 30, 2019. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are Mahoney, Danny Strong and Lee Daniels.

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