FOX’s “Empire” concludes its immensely successful first season next week, and ABC’s talk show “The View” will function as a significant support vehicle.
The “Empire” brand will be all over this coming week’s “The View” episodes. Cast members will stop by for interviews. They guest co-host. They will even perform.
According to ABC’s listings, Raven-Symoné, who has been guest starring as Olivia on the juggernaut FOX drama, will serve as guest-co-host for all five episodes.
Grace Gealey (Anika) will appear for an interview on the Monday, March 16 show, while Malik Yoba (Vernon) will visit on Thursday.
A particularly notable “Empire” push, meanwhile, will come when Jussie Smollett (Jamal) and Bryshere Gray (Hakeem) perform on Wednesday’s episode. That broadcast airs the day of the big, two-hour “Empire” finale.
The talk show’s “Empire” support is not exclusive to this coming week’s set of episodes. Since the show launched in January, numerous cast members have appeared on “The View.”
As for this coming week’s episodes, official listings follow:
MONDAY, MARCH 16 – Raven Symone guest co-hosts; Nick Cannon (author, Neon Aliens Ate My Homework: And Other Poems); Grace Gealey (“Empire”).
TUESDAY, MARCH 17 – Raven Symone guest co-hosts; Jason Biggs (Broadway’s “The Heidi Chronicles”); Maggie Q (“Stalker”).
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 – Raven Symone guest co-hosts; Bryshere Y. Gray and Jussie Smollett perform (“Empire”); Becky Hammon, the first female coach in the NBA.
THURSDAY, MARCH 19 – Raven Symone and Caroline Rhea guest co-host; Emmy Rossum (“Shameless”); Malik Yoba (“Empire”).
FRIDAY, MARCH 20 – Raven Symone and Tony Award-winner James Monroe Iglehart (Disney’s “Aladdin”) guest co-host; Diane Lane and Tony Shaloub (play, “The Mystery of Love and Sex”).
