Midway through its second season, Empire continues its reign, remaining one of the most-watched and talked about shows in recent memory. This week, the show's creator Danny Strong gives us an peek inside the royal Lyon family: revealing how he "discovere

The Sanfords. The Jeffersons. The Cosbys. The Winslows. The Banks's.  And now the Lyons. In this special Thanksgiving episode, we talk about family: specifically, the evolution of the black family on television. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans tells us about 

The first season of Empire pulled no punches when it came to addressing social issues pertaining to black families and hip hop culture. And one of the biggest plot-lines was Jamal’s: the talented middle Lyon child who is spurned by his dad because he's g

Much has been made of the fashion on Empire. But the show's visuals are stunning across the board — not just the costumes, but also the sets, and especially the visual art that decorates seemingly every surface. Walking through the Lyons' world is like t

That scene where Cookie takes Lyon family dinner to-go? Lucious's reaction to Jamal's coming out? Anika's killer dance moves? Tyler Menzel is the guy behind the GIFs. Maybe he didn't make them himself (though he's made plenty), but his company Giphy is r

Empire was pre-empted this week by the World Series. Whether you're a Mets fan or a Royals fan, on this we can agree: Everybody's a fan of Cookie Lyon. So this week, we went in search of someone who could tell us what it's like to walk in Cookie's shoes.

Sure, Episode 5 had some notable developments. Cookie found both a doggie and a lapdog. Andre got right with God. And that dirty hippie photographer...well, the less said about him, the better. But you know who really owned this episode? Michael, that's

Empire is, at its dramatic heart, a show about hip hop culture. So it's about damn time we talk about the music. We dial up super producer Mark Batson, who crafted that anthemic Season Two opener, and also talk to writer and author Shea Serrano about whe

We know … we’re only three episodes in, but we strongly felt the need to hit “pause” this week and acknowledge something fiercely consistent about Season 2 that we can no longer ignore – the threads in the Lyons den. From Cookie’s power ensembles that br

After a bonkers season premiere, episode two of Empire gave us a much needed breather. So the Empire Afterparty had to bring back Kevin Brown, a.k.a. Dot Com from 30 Rock, to talk Blackness.