Who doesn’t love FOX’s mega hip-hopera Empire, complete with leopard-print loving, wig-snatching, read-slangin’ lead matriarch Cookie, the untouchable mogul Luscious Lyon, original music and a story line that robs the attention of audiences every Wednesday? One of those fans is BET’s Stephen G. Hill, who admitted his jealousy of the show’s unprecedented success.
In an interview at UPTOWN‘s magazine event honoring director Lee Daniels, Hill, who serves as BET’s President of Programming, praised the show’s cast, including fan favorite Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard.
“I am more jealous of Empire than any piece of television than I’ve seen in a long time,” he said. “It is wonderfully written, amazingly directed. Within the first 11 minutes you knew what every character on that show what their goal [was] and what they wanted and you just let them on the field and let them play.”
He also commended Daniels on his keen ability to successfully push the envelope.
“He’s been expanding people’s minds, what people accept in theater and television for a very long time,” he said. “I love that it’s come to television. I love that there’s some portrayals on television that we’ve never seen before. Especially for network television, we’ve seen it on cable but no one’s ever had the audacity or make this for network television. I think it’s fantastic I think it’s great for the industry; it’s great for unknown actors and actresses. Everybody wants to have Empire Jr. I think it’s really fantastic.”
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