Empire (2015)

:

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

Where To Watch

Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Review this tv show

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling

User Reviews

view
per page
  1. 604G
    Mar 30, 2016
    1
    This show plays to the broadest, basest stereotypes about black America. Combine that with such horrible writing that it makes a great actor (Terrence Howard) sound stilted and wooden. Even when it tries not to take itself seriously, the show misses the mark. Anyone else notice that in every police/FBI raid, every law enforcement official is white? More stereotypes playing to theThis show plays to the broadest, basest stereotypes about black America. Combine that with such horrible writing that it makes a great actor (Terrence Howard) sound stilted and wooden. Even when it tries not to take itself seriously, the show misses the mark. Anyone else notice that in every police/FBI raid, every law enforcement official is white? More stereotypes playing to the lowest common denominator.… Expand
  2. 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 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
  3. 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 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 theI 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.… Expand
  4. 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! 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    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.    … Expand
  5. moonphaz
    Mar 20, 2015
    0
    Awful show ... cannot stand Courtney Love or anything she is associated it. I believe she killed Kurt Cobain and it is just wrong that she has gotten away with it. That isn't why I don't like the show. I hated the show when I watched it. The fact that she is in it made it hard for me to even watch it the times I did, but in all fairness wanted to give it a chance. I watched, I hated it, IAwful show ... cannot stand Courtney Love or anything she is associated it. I believe she killed Kurt Cobain and it is just wrong that she has gotten away with it. That isn't why I don't like the show. I hated the show when I watched it. The fact that she is in it made it hard for me to even watch it the times I did, but in all fairness wanted to give it a chance. I watched, I hated it, I hate her, I'm done. I just wish I could give it negative 100.… Expand

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Steve Macfarlane
    Feb 5, 2015
    88
    Empire coasts with the chutzpah of a series that knows exactly what it wants to say and how to say it, leaving viewers no quarter except to pick their jaws up off the floor between commercial breaks.
    Read full review
  2. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Emily Nussbaum
    Jan 20, 2015
    70
    It is good, or, at least, it’s effective--unapologetic melodramatic fun, to judge from the first two episodes.
    Read full review
  3. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Jan 12, 2015
    80
    Doesn't really matter if hip-hop is your musical genre of choice, because the beat the deliciously entertaining Empire grooves to echoes the more traditional and timeless rhythms of grand soap operas. [5-18 Jan 2015, p.16]
See all critic reviews »