Empire -is it worth watching?

[Stavros]

The hit tv series Empire begins on E4 this week in the UK (Tuesday, ie tomorrow). It has had rave reviews, but is being shown on a channel that shows drivel like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, and also is compared to Dallas or Dynasty. It also seems to be related to rap, which I don't understand. But I am open to recommendations.

[Ben in LA]

Watch it.

[AshlynCreamher]

Yeah, this looks like a good series to get-into. It kinda reminds me of what a modern version of Downtown Abbey would look like - only better!

[SanDiegoPervySage]

Yes, this show lives up to all the hype.

[youngblood61]

I highly recommend watching.

[Merkurie]

Definitely worth watching.

[LI SEAN08]

Im watching them all ON Demand (reruns) and just got the last 3 left to watch. Id one tonight but got to see game 7 of hockey game, and of course my Yankees. But Ive enjoyed them all thus far!!!!

[flabbybody]

Stavros, knowing you from the quality of your posts I'll predict you find this show sheer drivel. and not in an entertaining way like BREAKING BAD.

[Stavros]

It wasn't sheer drivel, but it was an underwhelming, disappointing experience, or maybe the first show is like that because it has to introduce the characters -because it is a soap opera not a drama. I also wondered whether it would have been better to do a series on Berry Gordy, although he is still alive and was not impressed with the film Dreamgirls allegedly based on Tamla Motown.
The parallels with King Lear are way out, but the main character as Lucius Lyon is a warning, as alliteration is a sign of weakness in writing even in children's stories (as in Harry Potter). I think also that the flashbacks to his younger days were not well done and were lacking in depth. These are stereotypes as expected in a soap -one son is a respectable businessman, the other is a tormented creative genius (and therefore gay), the third, the wild child is closest in character to the father and so the favourite son, even if Hakeem would surely be the name of a Muslim -?query on this. I was not impressed with the brief musical reference to The Godfather shortly before Lucius 'bids goodbye' to the man he has known since they were 14. Maybe I will watch the second episode, but it doesn't so far have the cutting edge of The Wire, it is just too safe, like The Sopranos. and that was dire, six years of stereotypes in search of an execution. I can't comment on Breaking Bad because I have never seen it. But I doubt anything could be as bad as Downton Abbey, except perhaps Triangle, but that for an American audience is so obscure as to be meaningless.
For the record, even with their flaws, in terms of the writing, the acting, and the thought that has gone into them Homeland and The Americans are drama series way, way ahead of anything produced in the UK, even the credits are superior to the tired formulas repeated endlessly this side of the pond, viz The Missing, The Fall, and Broadchurch.

[rodinuk]

... but the main character as Lucius Lyon is a warning, as alliteration is a sign of weakness in writing even in children's stories (as in Harry Potter)...


Somebody should have told Giorgio Gomelsky then (Marmalade Records & BYG )...


... and alliteration is not a sign of weakness in writing

[Stavros]

Somebody should have told Giorgio Gomelsky then (Marmalade Records & BYG )...


... and alliteration is not a sign of weakness in writing


You are right Rod as alliteration in general can be used to great effect; I should have said that I find alliteration in the naming of characters in fiction feeble -I can't help it if in real life it happens, vide your example, but for a creative writer unless for comic purposes I think it is laziness.

[maxpower]

Stavros, if you have the time, you should check out Breaking Bad.

[GroobySteven]

Stavros, if you have the time, you should check out Breaking Bad.

No he shouldn't.

[flabbybody]

LAST WEEK TONIGHT with the amazingly funny and smart John Oliver is something Stavros would love. not sure about availability of HBO across the pond.
Oliver could be the best thing Brits have produced sine the RAF

[Stavros]

LAST WEEK TONIGHT with the amazingly funny and smart John Oliver is something Stavros would love. not sure about availability of HBO across the pond.
Oliver could be the best thing Brits have produced sine the RAF

I had never hear of John Oliver before your post so I googled him and watched a couple of shows on YouTube, over a year old as the more recent ones are not available in the UK -and yes, very funny so thanks for that. Is he the best thing we have produced since 1913? No, but the explanation would be long and tedious...

[livepersona]

I enjoyed it and don't normally watch network TV shows.

[broncofan]

I watched one episode and couldn't get into it. I think a lot of the shows that are lauded are addictive but not necessarily good. Instead of a two hour script with a good plot, they stretch out the suspense over 10 hours of diluted melodrama to keep the viewers locked in.

[youngblood61]

If everybody stopped watching after one episode think of all the great shows you would miss. The Wire started very slow, Game of Thrones. At least for me sometimes you watch and it takes a minute to really get into the show. Bates Motel, hated it. Then watched a few episodes and now I can't get enough of it. It's also the most twisted show on tv imo.

[broncofan]

If everybody stopped watching after one episode think of all the great shows you would miss. The Wire started very slow, Game of Thrones. At least for me sometimes you watch and it takes a minute to really get into the show. Bates Motel, hated it. Then watched a few episodes and now I can't get enough of it. It's also the most twisted show on tv imo.
You're right of course. Some of it depends on the mood you're in when you start watching it and if you give yourself enough chance to get hooked.

I also tend not to like a lot of shows that other people love so it might be my taste. I watched five episodes of House of Cards and thought the characters were mean-spirited and ridiculous. I didn't like True Detective either because I couldn't stand watching McConaughey play an eccentric with mild Asperger's or whatever they were going for. On the other hand, I knew after watching one episode of Homeland I was going to watch them all. Same with the Wire though as you said it was slow to start.

[youngblood61]

I liked True Detective, thought MM and Woody Harrelson were great. But to each his own. Did you like the Broncos Draft last night?