Upfronts 2014: Fox Orders ‘Empire,’ Red Band Society’

Fox has given series orders to hip-hop drama Empire and hospital drama Red Band Society, the network announced Tuesday. The moves came one day after Fox announced that it had ordered Batman-prequel Gotham to series.

Written and executive-produced by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, who collaborated on The Butler, with Daniels also serving as director, Empire tells the story of a hip-hop family dynasty. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo also serve as executive producers. The series is produced by Imagine Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television.

Red Band Society, a high-school drama set in the pediatric wing of a hospital, is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Margaret Nagle, who also wrote the pilot, Darryl Frank and Sergio Aguero. It is produced by ABC Studios and Amblin Television.

Fox has now ordered five drama series for next season, having previously given straight-to-series pick-ups to Backstrom and Hieroglyph.

The network also announced Tuesday that it has ordered an additional 10 episodes of multi-camera comedy Mulaney, lifting the number of episodes ordered to 16. The series is executive produced by creator and star John Mulaney with Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Dave Becky, Jon Pollack, Andrew Singer and Andy Ackerman.