Archives For Power

With “Real Time” and “Last Week Tonight” on summer breaks, I have only one television obsession at the moment (not including my beloved Yankees of course): Starz’s hit drama “Power.” Ahead of season five, which is currently airing, I had a chance to cover the show’s junket for DISH Network’s DISH Studio. While interviewing the series creator Courtney A. Kemp along with her co-executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who also plays Kanan on the show, I asked how they describe “Power” now compared to how they described it before the first episode aired. Kemp simply tells friends that if they liked “The Sopranos,” they’ll like her show. Not only did 50 Cent concur, but he previewed the show’s fate and his thought process behind it.

“That’s where I got the number from,” he interjected. “When I said initially how many seasons we would go, I was going ‘seven,’ and I was using it because of the success of ‘The Sopranos.'”

With season six already green-lit, seemingly the only obstacle in the show’s way of going seven seasons is if demand is too high for an eighth.

New episodes of “Power” season five are available every Sunday at midnight on the Starz app.

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Perhaps you’ve seen the ads, including the large one sprawled across Hotel Pennsylvania on 7th Avenue, but in case you haven’t: Starz’s hit drama “Power” is back. I recently screened the first four episodes of season four ahead of the show’s New York press junket. I have to admit, I was hooked from the jump. The storylines are compelling, the acting is fantastic and you can jump in at season four and feel caught up (although I plan to get back to those first three seasons at some point).

On assignment for my friend Shaina’s website The Knockturnal, I had a chance to chat with almost all of the main players in the production: Omari Hardwick (“Ghost”), Lela Loren (“Angela”), Joseph Sikora (“Tommy”), Naturi Naughton (“Tasha”), Rotimi Akinosho (“Dre”) and La La Anthony (“LaKeisha”). We sat down at Langham Place in Midtown East earlier this month, before last weekend’s season four premiere. The cast members talked about working with 50 Cent (he’s on the show and its executive producer), the season four and five renewal of the program and the growing conflict within the show’s various storylines.

I also asked Hardwick, who is the show’s main character, about promoting the new season following the death of Charlie Murphy. The Brooklyn-born comedian passed away in April after a bout with Leukemia; he was cast as a prison guard for the latest installment of the drama.

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The full interviews along with the features I wrote are below. New episodes of “Power” air Sundays at 12:01 am via the Starz app.