‘Empire’ season 2 creator casts Queen Latifah in new Fox pilot

Lee Daniels has clearly struck gold on Fox with “Empire,” so should it really come as much of a shock to anyone to learn that he is looking for ways to replicate that success elsewhere? One of these such ways seems to be utilizing the talents of none other than Queen Latifah.

Fox has announced that the actress / rapper / host will be appearing in a new music-based series as Carlotta, a beauty salon owner in Atlanta who helps to support three girls (Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady), even though she is not always the most supportive of their dreams. Its a fairly simple premise, and other than Latifah at the moment this project doesn’t seem to be stuffed to the brim with big-name starts. Then again, neither was “Empire” when it first came on the air.

Replicating the success of that show will prove to be no easy task, mostly because there were so many different reasons why it ended up working so well. It arrived at the right time when there was a craving for this sort of programming, and it also had a scene-stealer like nobody’s business in Taraji P. Henson. Latifah is an equal talent, but she is going to need the same sort of great material to have this show become a smash hit.

We’ll probably learn more one way or another as to this show’s long-term viability in the spring, which is when the majority of the major networks make their decisions for the upcoming season.

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