The exciting hip hop themed TV show on Fox called "Empire" has received rave reviews and set all kinds of records for a TV show. The ensemble cast featuring Terrence Howard, and Taraji P. Henson have enjoyed one of the most meteoric rises in ratings that frankly, cannot be remembered in a decade of television. Simply put, Empire's ratings increased dramatically each week and it was still increasing when the show went on hiatus for the summer.
Now that the Emmy nominations have been announced, there is even more reasons for black people to be pissed off. Taraji P. Henson received the nomination for best actress in a drama series, and two other awards went to those in the costume department. What? Costumes are extremely important to every TV show and movie but aren't the stars on Empire wearing "everyday clothes" that many Americans already have in their closet?
Empire's co-creator, Lee Daniels, is especially not happy and his very honest and frank response was "buck these mother.............ers" The show is the biggest new series in a decade and its audience grew with each week. The March 18th season finale drew more than 20 million viewers watching within 3 days of DVR viewer playback.
Mad Man actually understood the fact that the song "Glory" was the only award given to the movie and his reasons are quite simple.
How can a movie about the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr., not feature his speeches. Sure there probably were licensing and financial reasons that prevented the use of his speeches however, the lack thereof made this movie seem rather hollow.
But there ain't nothing hollow about Empire. Taraji P. lit up the screen as the estranged but moving back on the scene as Terrence Howard's ex-wife "Cookie". Terrence Howard is very believable as the high powered record executive that is sometimes cool under pressure.
What does this show not have to offer. It features and African American gay son, played by Jussie Smollett, who sings and had a Latin lover. A younger son, featuring Bryshere Y. Gray, who is a rapper who was hittin' an older woman. The leader of this very eclectic group is Terrence Howard who was prepared to marry a white woman. What part of American culture did this show not tap into?
For comic relief and full figured drama is the scene stealing "Becky" played by Gabourey Sidibe, who starred in the hit movie "Precious", Rounding out the cast is Malik Yoba who plays Terrence Howard's right hand man, a cocaine user and the person who is scheming with Howard's older son who should be running the business "Andre", played by Trai Byers, to take control of the label.
Empire has it all. A combination of seasoned and new stars that are performing extremely well in the telling of a story that is current and very topical in all phases of American life. Yet, those who vote for TV shows to receive the nominations for an Emmy award for an outstanding drama series feel that it doesn't quite measure up to the other shows that were nominated which are "Game of Thrones", Better Call Saul", and "Orange is the New Black".
The music of Empire is outstanding and is extremely relevant to today's generation of music lovers and even some in Mad Man's and yet, there was no nomination for the soundtrack either. Rather than get up on his normal "soap box" and talk about the prejudices that created this snub of a great TV show, Mad Man will take the Lee Daniels approach and just shake his head in disbelief and say "buck-em".
Mad Man
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