In the battle of the primetime music-based soaps, I’m a noncombatant. So I turned to someone who’s very familiar with both Fox’s “Empire” and ABC’s “Nashville” to see how the sophomore megahit about the hip-hop industry stacks up against the fourth-season melodrama set in the heart of country music.
And she knows a bit about storytelling too. From her website:
A former development executive with a major Hollywood producer, Sara Anne Fox played a vital role in the conception and development of over 25 screenplays, three published novels and three produced films: “My Favorite Year”, “Nosferatu” and “Quest For Fire”. For over 20 years, she has used her skills as a writing coach and story editor with screenwriters and novelists to strengthen character development, clarify motivation and improve story structure and plot. Non-fiction writers also benefit from Sara Anne’s insightful grasp of their material and her practical suggestions on ways to improve their communication style in order to serve their projects’ intentions. Her strong empathetic and intuitive gifts, combined with her editorial talents, serve to provide all her clients with a comfortable creative atmosphere in which to realize their artistic goals and visions.
Here’s her open letter, initially posted on Facebook:
Dear Lee Daniels and Danny Strong (head honchos of TV’s smash hit “Empire”):
I know the show is nighttime soap opera. But you still have to respect the boundaries of reality. If you want me to take Lucious’ criminal case seriously, don’t have the very attractive Asst. D.A. wear outfits in every scene that show the “V” of her cleavage and the tops of her b**bies. This is not acceptable garb for any lawyer in any professional setting, whether it’s making a visit to a perp in jail or pleading a case before a judge. Then the whole thing becomes an SNL skit or the premise of a porn scenario.
And I hate to say this but Cookie is wearing thin on me. And most sadly, I really don’t care very much about the outcomes for the other characters. (Except Lucious). Sophomore slump? Maybe.
“Nashville”, on the other hand, does it right. It’s as ridiculous in its own way as “Empire,” but one gets invested for the hour the show is on (and promptly forgets about it till next week), but it manages to be engrossing. There’s a crisp economy to the show as it unfolds. It’s edited perfectly, they cut away at just the right moment in each scene and I’ve grown fond (or at least invested in for the one hour) several of the main characters..
“Empire”? I really can’t get into any of the three sons — I don’t know if it’s casting, or if they keep recycling the same struggles, or maybe it’s both. (“Nashville” has a gay character who just came out and we see the positive AND negative fallout within the country music industry. “Empire” glosses over the coming-out of the very gifted singing artist, Jamal, the gay son, making Lucious’ objections the main problem. His response is representative of the attitude towards homosexuality that exists in large sections of the black community and is a much more complex issue than the series’ creators choose to portray.)
The end result is this: I just don’t care.
That said, Terrence Howard as Lucious is still the most compelling character, and last season, Cookie was also dynamite in heels. Now she’s becoming a bore, so the scenes where I stop multi-tasking and give the TV my full attention are the ones with Howard.
Meantime, Sara Anne Fox is helping me with a one-hour drama and a movie script — so you can imagine I’m held to a pretty high standard!
BTW, as to the question of whether these shows are family- or faith-friendly … no, not really. They definitely fall into the category of guilty pleasures — not quite Confession-worthy but hardly EWTN. Because they’re both on broadcast networks, they’re not quite as rough as pay-cable dramas, but, don’t say you haven’t been warned!
Image: Courtesy Fox
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