Empire season 1

The first season of the American television series Empire premiered on January 7, 2015, and concluded on March 18, 2015, on Fox. The series centers around a hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control. The show aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET. The season consisted of 12 episodes.

The first episode was watched by 9.90 million viewers and achieved an adult 18-49 rating/share of 3.8/11, making it the biggest series launch for the network since Touch premiered in 2012. The viewership of the series rose every single week, with the season finale, which aired on March 18, 2015, being watched by 17.62 million viewers and achieving an adult 18-49 rating/share of 6.9/21.

Premise
The show centers around a hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control of the company.

Main cast

 * Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon
 * Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon
 * Bryshere Y. Gray as Hakeem Lyon
 * Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon
 * Trai Byers as Andre Lyon
 * Grace Gealey as Anika Calhoun
 * Malik Yoba as Vernon Turner
 * Kaitlin Doubleday as Rhonda Lyon

Recurring cast
• Gabourey Sidibe as Becky Williams

• Rafael de la Fuente as Michael Sanchez

• Tasha Smith as Carol Hardaway

• Serayah as Tiana Brown

• Damon Gupton as Detective Calvin Walker

• Nealla Gordon as Agent Harlow Carter

• Ta'Rhonda Jones as Porsha Taylor

• AzMarie Livingston as Chicken

• Naomi Campbell as Camilla Marks

• Judd Nelson as Billy Baretti

• Derek Luke as Malcolm DeVeaux

• Jennifer Hudson as Michelle

• Courtney Love as Elle Dallas

Guest appearances
• Raven-Symoné as Olivia Lyon

• Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dwayne "Puma" Robinson

• Gladys Knight as herself

• Anthony Hamilton as himself

• Sway Calloway as himself

• DeRay Davis as Jermel

• Estelle as Delphine

• Mary J. Blige as Angie

• Snoop Dogg as himself

• Rita Ora as herself

• Juicy J as himself

• Patti LaBelle as herself

• Charles Hamilton as himself

Casting
Howard was cast in the lead on February 19, 2014. Henson was named as the female lead on February 26, and Jussie Smollett was announced in a starring role. Howard and Henson previously starred together as love interests in the film Hustle & Flow. On March 10, 2014, Sidibe, who had previously worked with Daniels in Precious, was cast in a recurring role as Becky, Lucious' assistant. Trai Byers and Grace Gealey were announced in regular roles, while Bryshere Y. Gray and Malik Yoba were announced in starring roles. Naomi Campbell was announced in a recurring role on September 29. Courtney Love was added to the cast on October 23.

Critical response
Empire was well received by critics, with most praising Taraji's performance as Cookie. On Rotten Tomatoes the show got a rating of 80% fresh based on 49 reviews.