As Precious, The Butler and The Paperboy all indicated, Lee Daniels is not a subtle storyteller. He also has an unchecked ego, placing his name before the title of his highest-grossing movie and then enlarging the font size of his name when it appears onscreen for his small screen directorial debut, the new series Empire. Regardless, a towering personality could be just the right touch for a show focused on a hip-hop maven with Jay-Z’s stature.

Unfortunately, Daniels stuffs his pilot with enough plot to give Shonda Rhimes pause, constantly going for big, bold and broad moments when what he needed to do was capture the little things inherent to this story universe. He fails to capture the rhythm of the business and songwriting aspects, instead resigning the characters to stereotypes and the motives behind their relationships to several forced lines of exposition. For a series with such formidable presences on the screen and talent behind the scenes – including Emmy-winning scribe Danny Strong as a co-writer and Timbaland as a music producer – Empire begins in a rather shoddy state of mind.

The drama tells the story of Lucius Lyon (a well-cast Terrence Howard), a magnate of one of music’s biggest labels. His hip-hop prowess, however, will come to an end due to an ALS diagnosis. With around three years to live, Lucius has to figure out which of his three sons will inherit his dynasty and reign as the future CEO on his towering leather throne. The candidates include: business savvy eldest son Andre (Trai Byers), timid but terrific songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett) and fame-hungry, auto-tuned superstar Hakeem (Bryshere Gray).

There are barriers standing in each son’s way. Andre probably has the credentials to sit in for his dad at the head of the ostentatious boardroom table, but Lucius wants a celebrity at the helm. Jamal is the most talented and sensitive of the group, but Lucius has never been comfortable with his middle son’s homosexuality and doubts an industry surrounded by prejudice could respect him in a position of power.