‘Empire’ TV Show Scores Big Ratings As Fox Offers Full Episode Of ‘Empire’ Premiere To Watch Online
To say that Fox has a bona fide hit on their hands with their new TV show called Empire is an understatement. According to Entertainment Weekly, Empire is the highest-rated TV series that Fox has enjoyed in the past three years – with the Empire premiere on January 7 garnering nearly 10 million viewers.
Therefore, it’s probably a good thing that Fox decided to upload the Season 1, Episode 1 of the TV-14-rated Empire on the Fox website for viewers who missed the premiere on Wednesday night to catch up on the hip-hop themed drama before the next episode airs. Empire even beat out the much-loved Modern Family on ABC in the ratings game demographics of viewers aged 18 to 49 years, with the show receiving a 3.7 rating among the age group. Recently updated viewership numbers from Nielsen indicate that the Empire TV show had an even stronger showing than initially reported.
“A powerful new drama that follows the head of a music empire whose three sons vie for his throne.”
Sadly, Empire star Jussie Smollett – who is brother of popular actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell – experienced the death of the clan’s father due to cancer on the same day that Empire premiered, as reported by the Inquisitr.
Meanwhile, Empire TV show creator Lee Daniels – known for directing movies like The Butler and Precious – spoke about how the Shakespeare-themed Empire, which was pitched to him as King Lear set in the exciting world of hip-hop music – was cathartic for Daniels. As reported by Time, Daniels had a meltdown when a character named Lucious donned his mother’s scarf and a pair of her high heels in the Empire premiere episode and the little boy pranced into the living room, only wanting to make his father laugh. Instead, Daniels said his father reacted in the same way that Terrence Howard’s Empire patriarch reacted: by effectively discarding his own son for being gay. According to Daniels, that character isn’t the only true-to-life, art-imitates-life person onscreen in Empire.
“There’s nothing in it that’s fake. Every person who’s on that screen is someone I know.”
The reaction to Fox’s Empire has been swift and buzzing on social media – but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Even the Wall Street Journal has published their recap of the enthralling pilot episode of the Empire TV series, proving that Wednesday nights might replace Thursday evenings as the go-to time for good drama.
[Image via Empire on Fox]
