FOX’s “Empire” will come to an end two episodes sooner than expected.
The sixth and final season was to consist of twenty episodes, but due to the coronavirus pandemic the show had to shut down production partway through filming of the nineteenth episode.
Last night a promo for next week’s episodes confirmed that the series will now close out with eighteen episodes in total, with no plans to resume production at a later date to finish off the episodes.
Instead, the eighteenth episode of the Taraji P. Henson and Terrance Howard-led hip hop drama will be re-edited to incorporate footage shot for the nineteenth to provide a more seamless overall ending which will now go to air April 21st.
“Empire” was one of only three broadcast series whose final season shoots were impacted by the mass production shutdown. The other two were The CW’s “The 100” and “Supernatural”.
“The 100” was able to finish up its run by going a few extra days. “Supernatural” completed eighteen episodes of a twenty-episode order, but unlike “Empire” it will shoot those last two episodes when it can and air them with the other five that haven’t yet aired at a later date.
Source: Deadline
