Empire Cancelled?

[Guest Mores]

I've been reading that "Empire" is being cancelled amid the controversy over Smollett.  I have to admit that I had never even heard of the show until all this hoopla came out on the news.  And I still don't even know what the show is about.  That's fine.  But I'm usually at least plugged in enough to hear about big entertainment items.  But I'd never heard of it.

Now I'm reading that the advertisements are calling it a "groundbreaking cultural phenomenon".  Is this true?  How did I miss out on that?  What is the show about anyway?  I should say that, yes, I could go look it up on imdb and youtube.  But I'm not interested enough to really find out. 

I'd really like to get a feel for just how big a deal this show was and I never even heard of it.  How many here watched the show?

[anatess2]

54 minutes ago, Mores said:

I've been reading that "Empire" is being cancelled amid the controversy over Smollett.  I have to admit that I had never even heard of the show until all this hoopla came out on the news.  And I still don't even know what the show is about.  That's fine.  But I'm usually at least plugged in enough to hear about big entertainment items.  But I'd never heard of it.

Now I'm reading that the advertisements are calling it a "groundbreaking cultural phenomenon".  Is this true?  How did I miss out on that?  What is the show about anyway?  I should say that, yes, I could go look it up on imdb and youtube.  But I'm not interested enough to really find out. 

I'd really like to get a feel for just how big a deal this show was and I never even heard of it.  How many here watched the show?

My husband followed this show for about 3 seasons.  Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson starred in this show which is pretty much why my husband checked it out.  We loved Terrence in Mr. Holland's Opus and also on August Rush.  He was in the first IronMan but he got replaced by Cheadle for succeeding IronMan/Avengers sequels.  We loved Taraji in Karate Kid (the remake with Jackie Chan) and Benjamin Button.

So Empire is about Empire Entertainment - a production company for hip-hop/r&B/rap artists.  Lucius Lyon (Terrence) is a former drug dealer who is the owner of Empire Entertainment, Cookie (Taraji) is his wife.  He has 3 sons - Andre is a banker kind of guy who is power-hungry (he is the CFO of Empire), Jamal (Smollet) is a R&B singer/songwriter  who is quiet and doesn't like the limelight much, and Hakeem, Lucious' favorite son, is a popular hip-hop artist on the rise who chases fame and fortune.  So, Lucious has some kind of illness so he is trying to figure out who to hand over the reigns for Empire Entertainment.  Cookie has been in jail for a long time but she just got released and so now she's trying to take control of her sons and take the reigns of Empire.  Hakeem hates her but she's close with Jamal.  The dynamic of the 3 sons - one, strong on the corporate side of Empire, the other strong on the fame and fortune side of Empire, and the other who is simply dedicated to the music - made for a very interesting story, especially in the backdrop of an ailing father and a manipulative mother.  By the end of Season 1, Jamal ended up being chosen as the successor to Lucious and Cookie ended up creating Lyons Dynasty with Hakeem which is a direct competitor to Empire.  So it was also very interesting the shift from Jamal being Cookie's favorite son and Hakeem being Lucious' favorite son who hated his mother to Jamal staying with Lucious in Empire and Hakeem starting Lyon Dynasty with his mother.

This became a very popular show because it was like Dynasty meets Jay-Z... great actors, big splashy expensive houses, clothes, cars, and great songs... and it's a mostly Black show showcasing the realities of the rich Black culture which is very well-written.  It is considered "ground breaking" in today's socio-political climate in the same manner that Black Panther was considered ground-breaking.

Anyway, Jamal is a central character to the show and because this is a Musical kind of show, it is difficult to just replace the actor because it would be like replacing Freddy Mercury in Queen.  Make sense?

 

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by anatess2

[Guest MormonGator]

2 hours ago, Mores said:

I've been reading that "Empire" is being cancelled amid the controversy over Smollett.  I have to admit that I had never even heard of the show until all this hoopla came out on the news.  And I still don't even know what the show is about.  That's fine.  But I'm usually at least plugged in enough to hear about big entertainment items.  But I'd never heard of it.

Now I'm reading that the advertisements are calling it a "groundbreaking cultural phenomenon".  Is this true?  How did I miss out on that?  What is the show about anyway?  I should say that, yes, I could go look it up on imdb and youtube.  But I'm not interested enough to really find out. 

I'd really like to get a feel for just how big a deal this show was and I never even heard of it.  How many here watched the show?

It was cancelled because it didn't make money or get ratings. That's it. His controversy has nothing to do with it. 

I never saw the show either. 

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

On 5/13/2019 at 3:39 PM, MormonGator said:

It was cancelled because it didn't make money or get ratings. That's it. His controversy has nothing to do with it. 

I never saw the show either. 

My thoughts too, they are blaming his stupid decisions, but it is just not a good show.