<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

‘Empire’ to return for final season on Fox

Jussie Smollett still question mark, with no plans announced

By LYNN ELBER, Associated Press
Published: May 17, 2019, 6:01am

NEW YORK — “Empire” will return for its final season this fall on Fox — with Jussie Smollett a question mark — and should count itself lucky.

Fox, the lowest-rated network among the big four broadcasters, is hitting the reset button for the 2019-20 season by canceling eight shows and adding 10 new ones.

“Empire” companion drama “Star” is among the goners as the network makes room for an eclectic mix of wrestling, three new animated comedies and a “9-1-1” spinoff starring Rob Lowe.

“We are turning the final season of ‘Empire’ into a large television event,” Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier told a teleconference Monday. “One of the great benefits of announcing a final season is that you actually allow the fans to lean in and have the ending they deserve.”

Collier dodged questions about Smollett’s future with the show. The actor was accused of staging an attack last January in which he said two masked men beat him, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him, doused him with a chemical substance and put a rope around his neck. Criminal charges were dropped but the uproar has yet to subside, making Smollett a continued publicity liability for Fox.

When pressed, Collier said there is an option to include him in the series “but at this point we have no plans for that.”

A spokesman for Smollett didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

As for “Star,” which had been paired on the schedule with “Empire,” it fell victim to Fox’s prime-time schedule, which is an hour shorter per night than the other networks, Collier said. The network also wanted to give “Empire” a strong send-off by pairing it with returning medical drama “The Resident,” he said.

Fox was split from sibling studio 20th Century Fox Television after Walt Disney Co. purchased the studio and other major assets of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. But Collier, in a strenuously upbeat statement, said today “marks a beginning for Fox Entertainment” as it works with a variety of studios for its new shows.

“Fox is not only open for business but we feel like we’re stronger than ever,” Collier said.

THE VOICES ARE FAMILIAR:

Fox has long been known for its animated comedies, most notably “The Simpsons,” and is betting viewers want more. To sweeten the deal, three shows will include actors known for their on-screen work.

“Bless the Harts,” about a Southern family that’s poor but rich in friends and relations, will debut this fall with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Mary Steenburgen in its voice cast. It’s created by Emily Spivey, whose credits include “The Last Man on Earth.”

Loading...