Empire has been a big success for FOX so far this season, consistently rising in the ratings to the point where it might challenge The Walking Dead in the 18-49 demo before it wraps up its first season on March 18th with a two-hour season finale. What’s better than big, though? Bigger, and there is no bigger force of nature than Oprah. Cognizant of that and blessed with a tie to Gayle King’s forever bestie thanks to their collaboration on Precious and The Butler, Empire co-creator Lee Daniels has been working to get Oprah to make an appearance on the show during its second season, according to a wide-ranging THR article about the show’s second season.
Would Oprah play another corporate mogul eager to tangle with Lucious? Maybe a rival, a friend, or both to Cookie? Right now, it’s too early to say since nothing is confirmed, but it feels a bit more like “when” and not “if” since Oprah and Daniels joked about the prospect of a guest spot in the article.
As for when season two is set to debut, there is no real concrete information but Daniels seems to be adamant that Empire will not go beyond 12 episodes, and he seems interested in seeing the show look at the less opulent side of things.
“I think we’ve seen the opulence,” he says, “but now we have to go back to where they come from.”
Does that mean more flashbacks, a hard fall for one of the characters, or an introduction to some up-and-coming artists that aren’t protected by the Lyon family fortune? Obviously time will tell as Daniels, co-creator Danny Strong, and showrunner Ilene Chaiken work that out. Time will also tell if Daniels is able to stick to his guns on the episode count, because it’s hard to believe that FOX will happily settle for just 12 episodes of a show that generates this much buzz and revenue.
(Source: THR)