Terrence Howard appeared on the red carpet during Fox’s “upfronts” Monday and reminisced about the impact appearing on The Cosby Show had for him back in 1998. Howard took his reminiscing a step further and said his show Empire has a bigger reach than The Cosby Show ever did.
“Back in 1998, I had the opportunity to go be on The Cosby Show, and I remember walking around the set and watching Bill Cosby. He had the No. 1, the No. 2 show because Roseanne had just taken over at the time, but watching them and thinking, ‘Man, I would love to be a part of something like this, and something that touches so many people,’” Howard stated.
“A year ago, I’m walking around on our set and I realize that this show is touching more people than The Cosby Show ever did because this show is in India, this show is in Pakistan, this show is in all parts of Arabia and all throughout South America, and like, ‘Wow! We did it!’” he continued.
When it comes to cultural impact, I’m not exactly sure if Empire touches people in the same way The Cosby Show did, or if people will still be talking about it in 20 years. Seriously, how many scenes can you recall verbatim from The Cosby Show? And how many can you recall from Empire? But kudos for people in Pakistan being able to see Cookie Lyon go upside Hakeem’s head with a broomstick!