Empire (2015)

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC , FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 7, 2015
Season #: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 39
  3. Negative: 1 out of 39
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Critic Reviews

  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Steve Johnson
    Jan 7, 2015
    60
    At least at the outset, there's more than just a lot of potential. There's a lot of everything.... Parental beatdowns! Sibling rivalry! Drug money! Terminal illness! Blackmail! Betrayal! Gold chains! It's all so much, so soon.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Jan 6, 2015
    60
    Timbaland produces the original songs that give Empire its real oomph, while the actors try to figure out what kind of characters they’ve agreed to play.
  3. Sioux City Journal
    Reviewed by: Bruce Miller
    Jan 4, 2015
    60
    While parts of this are too broad, it’s crafted in such a way it can’t be ignored. Just when you think you’re ready to move away, Henson pulls you back in and Empire becomes the new song you can’t get out of your head.
  5. Las Vegas Weekly
    Reviewed by: Josh Bell
    Jan 8, 2015
    50
    Having a prominent gay character on a hip-hop drama is still a step in the right direction, though, and Empire’s characters might develop greater nuance as the show progresses. For now, it’s a trashy soap with one entertaining performance.
  6. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Jan 7, 2015
    50
    The script and direction could both use a jolt of crazy energy of the sort that made Precious so thrilling (or, if you didn’t like it, unbearable).
  7. The Huffington Post
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    Jan 7, 2015
    50
    Empire is being marketed as a bold, original show from high-profile artists, but it feels strangely tentative in its first episode.
  8. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Jan 7, 2015
    50
    It's as if Empire had too many antecedents, and--failing to decide upon one--embraced them all. The result is an interesting idea that can't quite figure out what that idea actually is--or where it should go from here.
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Sarah Rodman
    Jan 6, 2015
    50
    Fox’s wildly uneven, but potentially addictive new nighttime soap, Empire, feels like an anachronism.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Jan 6, 2015
    50
    For now, Empire feels more like an opening act than a marquee player, one that will need--even more than a good lead-in--luck and time to find its groove.
  11. The Lincoln Journal Star
    Reviewed by: Jeff Korbelik
    Jan 4, 2015
    50
    Give me a little more music and a little less soap opera, and we may have something here.

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Best TV Season of 2015
44
#44 Most Discussed TV Season of 2015
48
#48 Most Shared TV Season of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 171 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 122 out of 171
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 171
  3. Negative: 34 out of 171
  1. Bgrod
    Jan 9, 2015
    2
    No one does nighttime soaps better than ABC, especially anything attached to Shondaland.. Empire feels more like a throwback to Dynasty andNo one does nighttime soaps better than ABC, especially anything attached to Shondaland.. Empire feels more like a throwback to Dynasty and the original Dallas with cliched characters and story, at least in its pilot episode. The show need more than bling to make it watchable… Full Review »
  2. Troublewalking
    Feb 6, 2015
    0
    I guess it's like Scarface. The original storyline was meant to be about Al Capone, without using his name, as the original movie was done inI guess it's like Scarface. The original storyline was meant to be about Al Capone, without using his name, as the original movie was done in 1932. The remake modernized it by making it Cuban in the 80's. And now Empire tries to "sample" it again. In each version it is supposed to be a warning about how crime as the short cut to the top often leads to disaster. But with each retelling the moral of the story gets swept further and further under the rug. While the lifestyle gets more and more glamorized. And the stereotypes get uglier and uglier. Yet fans of this keep missing the point more and more. No wonder so many young men end up dead or in jail. This show will probably increase that number significantly.… Full Review »
  3. Annlyons
    Jan 27, 2015
    0
    Well,I i am 69 years old I work with 40 senior citizens. I took a poll, on how they like Empire. Some of the words were. HORRIBLE!Well,I i am 69 years old I work with 40 senior citizens. I took a poll, on how they like Empire. Some of the words were. HORRIBLE! DISGRACEFUL! WOULD NEVER WATCH IT AGAIN! TERRANCE HOWARD ALWAYS PLAYS LIKE HE IS HIGH. ON SOMETHING! TARAGE HAS DEGRACE HER CARRIER?

    WORSE OF ALL THEY PUT THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA IN DEGRATING WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT

    HIM? AND THE NERVE ENOUGH THAT YOU COULD CALL SPEAK TO THE PRESIDENT CALL HIM BY HIS FIRST NAME? TO THINK THAT THE PRESIDENT WOULD KNOW SOMEONE LIKE HIM! PLEASE?

    Ann69
    I VOTE THAT FOX CANCEL THE SHOW NOW?
    As I told my granddaughter I do not live in her world, I am very very old school.    … Full Review »
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