One of "Nashville"'s writers, Wendy Calhoun, quit that show so that she could come and work on "Empire" instead; she'd been jokingly pitching a Black "Nashville" spinoff called "Detroit" in the writers' room for quite some time.

To give credit/point the finger where it is due, Lee Daniels actually doesn't contribute much to the writing of the show. He definitely approves storylines and scripts, directed three of their episodes - and randomly adds bizarre and questionable stuff like a Black woman in a cage in a gorilla outfit - but the pilot…

For the last year or so, David Ruffin (not the Temptations, who are #2, but David solo) has been my most played artist, in particular the albums "My Whole World Ended" and "David".

There's literally hundreds - probably thousands - of Motown records that this does not apply to; one just has to venture outside of the 25 or so (overplayed) classics that are replay ad naseum over Muzak.

Even though most of the songs are still in context (that "jam session" between Jamal and Lucious from episode 1.11 was complete musical theater, however), many of the songs (most of Jamal's, some of Hakeem's) are directly related to the narrative in the same way many of the songs in something like "Dreamgirls" are.

"Ice Ice Baby" was an uncredited electronic sample of "Under Pressure", with different added percussion.

This show _really_ bothers people, doesn't it?

I, frankly, don't know what the imitable behavior is that is unique to "Empire" that would be applicable to the average Black American teenager, with the exception of trying to emulate the fashions. Has their been an uptick in kids sleeping with their dad's girlfriends, suplexing basketball racks, or living their…

This is what happens when Lee Daniels directs. The show rises and falls sharply based on who the director of the week is. The John Singleton and Mario Van Peebles episodes from season 1 were the strongest; the Debbie Allen episode, stymied a bit by the script, was the most "solid" (i.e. feeling like it belonged in a…

Re: #6:

That's because Jonny Quest was originally a prime-time show aimed at both kids and adults, airing Friday nights on ABC. Hanna-Barbera only made one season of the original 1960s show because ABC wanted to renew it for a second season at a lower budget and H-B refused - every episode had gone over the larger season 1…

It was United Artists, not MGM, that released the original Pink Panther cartoon shorts from DePatie-Freleng (produced in association with Mirisch Films, the British company that made the Pink Panther film series for release through UA). This was fifteen years or so before UA was forced to merge with MGM to survive…

I love TLC, but let's be clear: when you're listening to group/background vocals on many (perhaps even most) TLC records, you're hearing Debra Killings and (maybe one of T-Boz and Chili, only very rarely both) multi-tracked.

Someone someplace once said Marsha Ambrosius sings like she's running through a haunted house…

LOL

Actually the transition of black people to the Democratic Party began earlier, in the late 1930s, due to many of the "New Deal" plans that FDR put into play that helped black citizens improve their standard of living.

I am in literal tears watching this. Both the A and B stories are perfection.

Yup, and episode 5 as well, I realized in rewatching.

He is. If any given show got 18 million viewers a week (see also, the "Empire" finale), the studio executives would be in such shock and glee that the'd just pass out and faint in the boardroom like Suge Knight did in court the other day.

"While they are among the most voracious and loyal TV viewers, African-Americans still represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population. They were grossly underserved, but now, with shows as Empire, Black-ish,Scandal and HTGAWM on broadcast, Tyler Perry’s fare on OWN and Mara Brock Akil’s series on BET, they have…