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Season 5 of Empire premieres tonight, at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT on the Fox network. For those without a television or who do not have cable subscriptions, there are still options for watching the show online. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of Fox on your computer, phone or streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Fox (available live in select markets, which you can find here) is one of 85 channels included in the main Fubo bundle. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the show on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch new Empire episodes live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch most shows up to three days after they air even if you forgot to record them.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including Fox (available live in select markets, which you can find here). You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the show on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch episodes of Empire live, “Hulu with Live TV” comes with both its extensive on-demand library (which has most shows available after they air) and 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Fox (available live in select markets, which you can find here) is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch the show live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch Empire episodes live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
For those who would like to watch the show on Amazon, the full season 5 of Empire is available for purchase for $29.99. Fans can also watch episodes of the show on the Fox website, though viewers will need to sign in with a TV provider or have a cable subscription to watch the new episodes.
Episode 1 of the new season is titled “Steal From the Thief” and the plot description of the premiere reads, “Two years after losing Empire to Eddie Barker, Cookie and Lucious are still in the midst of picking up the pieces; in an effort to reclaim the Lyons’ position in the music industry, Cookie sets her eyes on a talented new singer and rapper, Treasure.” The second episode is called “Pay for Their Presumptions and the episode 2 synopsis states, “Cookie and Lucious learn the difficulties of launching an artist without Empire Entertainment’s resources and when they receive two offers that will launch them back into power, they make a surprising decision; Jamal decides to move back to New York”.
“Pride” is the title of episode 3 for season 5 of Empire and this episode synopsis states, “Cookie and Lucious push to get back in the music game; Andre finds a risky way to make a name for himself among his fellow inmates.”
In May 2018, it was revealed that the show had been renewed for season 5, as reported by Deadline. And, a new edition to the show this season is singer Mario joining the cast, in the role of Devon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has described the character as “an earnest, up-and-coming R&B singer who supports his ailing sister.”
Another change going on is a ground-breaking storyline, according to Entertainment Weekly. Jussie Smollett recently told Entertainment Weekly, “Pay attention to Jamal’s storyline this year, man, it’s going to be groundbreaking. You ain’t gonna see anything like it. I will say this, it’s never been done on television. You’ve never seen two black men in this way.” He said that the show will execute something that has “never been done on television.”
Smollett also said, “This season is probably the best yet, because it grounds us in a way that we haven’t been able to be since season 1. I think it’s just incredible.”