TV Series
The Resume
(January 7, 2015-April 21, 2020)
Aired on Fox
Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong
Starred Terence Howard as Lucious Lyon
Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon
Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon
Trai Byers as Andre Lyon
Bryshere Y. Gray as Hakeem Lyon
Premise: Family musical drama with divorced Cookie and Lucious fighting for control of Empire Entertainment
Why Empire might be annoying
Although set in New York City, the program is filmed in Chicago.
The show is based on Shakespeare's 'King Lear' and James Goldman's 'The Lion in Winter.'
The 'Lucious' character, portrayed as an ex-drug dealer turned rap mogul, is based on a combination of Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
'Cookie,' a drug courier who did a 17-year bid behind bars, took inspiration from villainess 'Alexis Carrington' of 'Dynasty.'
The ratings fell off significantly from season one to season three.
50 Cent claimed the premise was a knock-off of his Starz series 'Power.'
Why Empire might not be annoying
The show's nascent season was the first program in over a decade to increase ratings each week.
Taraji drew universal praise for her charismatic, glamorous portrayal of 'Cookie, ' including the legendary scene where she whipped up her fur coat, exposing her voluptuous booty to a love rival, taunting 'This is an ass!'
Homophobia in the black community, mental illness stigmas, police brutality, colorism and drug addiction were a few of the topics openly tackled.
Top notch guest stars included Naomi Campbell, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Marisa Tomei, Rita Ora, and Snoop.
It proved a drama with an all-black cast can be a ratings winner.
Following its success came a handful of black family dramas, including OWN's 'Greenleaf' and 'Queen Sugar,' and TV One's 'Media.'
Credit: Black Chic
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Year In Review:
For 2021, as of last week, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
Featured in the following Annoying Collections:
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