By Krizia Dela Cruz
There’s no denying that a shift in the entertainment landscape is happening. Scoring a role on a big-budget movie used to be the definitive sign that our favorite TV actor finally made it to the A-list. But lately, more and more actors are making the jump from the silver screen to TV, which we can attribute to the rise in production value, deeper character development and wider reach. As a result, TV shows are becoming more experimental and embracing diversity with open arms. One such show is FOX’s hottest new series, Empire, which finished its first season run last March. Here are 8 reasons why you should start watching the show:
1. FOX’s most watched TV series in three years made history with its diverse casting and growing ratings
We all know that a show’s ratings go down after the pilot episode. Not with Empire. It premiered at more than 9 million viewers, which grew each week. It ended the season on a high note with a record-breaking 17 million viewers. This is even more impressive if you factor in its primarily African-American cast, something we last saw in the eighties and nineties with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Cosby Show. The latter was an international success and was #1 for five straight seasons. Can it pull off the same feat? One way to find out….
2. Art imitates life
The characters are inspired by musicians IRL. Lucious Lyon, CEO of Empire Entertainment, was loosely based on the story of hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. Tiana is a dead ringer for Rihanna circa Music of the Sun while Jamal Lyon reminds us of Frank Ocean.
3. Take a bite out of that Cookie
For the definitive guide to staging a comeback, look no further than Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P. Henson. Cookie, ex-wife of Lucious, steals the show with her quips. She can go from Heeyyy, sister girl! to literally throwing shade at her ex-husband by hurling a stiletto at his direction. Did I mention she calls her enemies Boo-Boo Kitty?
4. Not your ordinary soap opera
We Filipinos loooove our teleseryes. We love them so much that we keep rehashing the same, formulaic story. It plays out like the classic revenge soap, but with hip-hop music and more drama. Watch as characters try to make it in the music biz while dealing with their dysfunctional family issues.
It’s campy, it’s crazy and it makes for good TV.
5. No one man should have all that power
The show revolves around Lucious Lyon, someone who gained and abused his power to stay in the throne. He even pits his sons Hakeem, Jamal and Andre against each other to find a successor for his company. This starts all the scheming and plotting to one-up the other, ultimately ending with surprising results. (I’m not gonna spoil it for you!)
6. It champions the LGBT cause
Watch Jamal, Lucious’ gay son, as he goes through the struggle of not being accepted in the predominantly patriarchal society of hip-hop. Also, his character isn’t treated like a caricature. That means a lot in a world where the “gay best friend” is a TV trope and supposed role models use “gay” as a derogatory term.
7. Timbaland!
Grammy-Award winner Timbaland, known for producing OneRepublic’s Apologize, Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack and Missy Elliott’s Work It, was in charge of the show’s all-original soundtrack. Take that, Glee.
8. Guest appearances
There’s Courtney Love, Raven Symone, Patti LaBelle and Rita Ora in season 1. Rumored guest stars for the next season include comedian Chris Rock, Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz. What more can you ask for?
Empire will return for its second season this September 2015.