stars on screen
End of an ‘Empire’: Musical drama renewed for a final season
By Andrew Warren
TV Media
End of an ‘Empire’: It’s in-
evitable. All empires must even-
tually come to an end. Rome,
Persia and the British Empire all
had their time in the spotlight,
but in the end, the sun set on all
of them. And so must it be for
Fox’s own “Empire.” That’s right
— “Empire,” the musical drama
from Oscar-winning filmmaker
Lee Daniels, is walking into the
sunset. But it isn’t dead yet. The
series has been renewed for one
final season, which is expected
to premiere next fall.
“Empire” has been in the
news a lot lately, but not for the
best of reasons. The story of star
Jussie Smollett’s (“Giants”) le-
gal troubles has been reported
extensively, and because of his
exploits, he was written out
of the show partway through
last season. Showrunners have
given no indication that he’ll
be returning for the final sea-
son, even though the charges
against him have been dropped.
At its heart, “Empire” is a
story about family, power and
how the two clash. Terrence
Howard (“Crash,” 2004) and
Taraji P. Henson (“What Men
Want,” 2019) lead the cast as
Lucious and Cookie Lyon, the
parents of three boys and the
founders of music label Em-
pire Entertainment. Smollett
played one of their sons, while
Bryshere Y. Gray (“The New
Edition Story”) and Trai Byers
(“90210”) play his ambitious
brothers.
Over the span of five seasons,
both the Lyon family and its
business have seen more than
their share of ups and downs,
and last season was no excep-
tion. It opened two years after
Lucious and Cookie lost control
of Empire to a rival, and the
season focused on their at-
tempts to get it back. Of course,
the family drama was front and
center as well, with revelations
about previously unknown
children and close brushes with
death also spending time in the
spotlight.
Overly dramatic? You bet it is,
but that’s what makes “Empire”
such a delicious watch. Watch
24 | Screentime
Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard star in “Empire”
for the sixth and final season to
into gritty modern ones (“River-
premiere this fall on Fox.
dale,” anyone?), it may be the
perfect home for Nancy. The
Sleuth on screen: Why has
show is anticipated to premiere
Nancy Drew never been suc-
this fall, but no firm date has
cessfully adapted for television? been set.
She’s one of the most enduring
Newcomer Kennedy Mc-
and popular literary detectives
Mann has been cast as the
out there, yet, besides “The Har- titular character, an 18-year-
dy Boys/Nancy Drew Myster-
old woman who has recently
ies,” which found mild success
graduated from high school
from 1977 to 1979, audiences
and is preparing to head off to
have just never warmed up to
college when a family tragedy
seeing the sleuth on screen.
forces her to put her education
Well, that could be about
on hold for a year. Instead,
to change. CW has ordered
she finds herself swept up
“Nancy Drew” to series after a
in a ghostly murder mystery,
successful pilot, and with that
and when she sets her wits to
network’s success at turning
cracking the case, she finds
wholesome classic characters
herself uncovering secrets
May 29, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
that probably should have
remained buried.
It sure sounds like classic
Nancy Drew with a modern
twist. After her time sharing the
spotlight with fellow literary
sleuths the Hardy Boys in the
‘70s, Nancy finally got her own
show in 1995 — albeit one
that aired alongside another
Hardy Boys series. That show
was poorly received and was
canceled midway through its
first season, and a made-for-TV
movie in 2002 that was intend-
ed as a backdoor pilot for a new
series fared just as well.
She may not have had much
luck on TV, but Nancy Drew is still
beloved by millions of people
around the world. Watch for CW’s
“Nancy Drew” next TV season.
Smulders sizzles: Cobie
Smulders is returning to network
television. The actress found
fame as Robin Scherbatsky in
CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother,”
and since that show wrapped
up in 2014, she’s been mostly
sticking to movies and streaming
service offerings like “Friends
from College” on Netflix.
That’s about to change.
Smulders has been cast in the
leading role of “Stumptown,”
a new detective series that’s in
the works at ABC. Based on the
comic book series of the same
name, the show had a success-
ful pilot this spring, and was re-
cently picked up for a full series.
Smulders will play Dex Parios,
a former military intelligence of-
ficer who returns to her home-
town of Portland, Oregon, and
finds herself stuck in a rut. She’s
unable to keep a steady job, and
her gambling debts are piling
up. It’s obvious that something
has to give — the question is,
how soon?
The “Stumptown” comics
have been a huge success,
praised for their grit, realism
and the likeability of their
protagonist. Hopefully, the TV
adaptation can share some of
that success. Watch for the new
series next season on ABC.