Power is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Courtney A. Kemp in collaboration with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.[1] It aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014, to February 9, 2020.
Power | |
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Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | Courtney A. Kemp |
Starring |
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Opening theme | "Big Rich Town" by 50 Cent and Joe |
Composer | Jeff Russo |
Country of origin | United States |
Original languages |
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No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 63 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 51–82 minutes |
Production companies |
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Distributor | Starz Distribution |
Release | |
Original network | Starz |
Picture format | 1080i (16:9 HDTV) |
Audio format | 5.1 |
Original release | June 7, 2014 (2014-06-07) – February 9, 2020 (2020-02-09) |
Chronology | |
Followed by | Power Book II: Ghost |
Related | Power Book III: Raising Kanan Power Book IV: Force |
Upon release, Power gained positive reviews and it is one of Starz's most highly rated shows and one of cable's most watched shows.[2][3] Prior to the premiere of the fifth season, Starz renewed the show for a sixth and final season, which premiered on August 25, 2019.[4][5]
Power tells the story of James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), an intelligent, smooth, yet, ruthless drug dealer who goes by the alias of "Ghost." He wishes to leave the criminal world to pursue legitimate business interests as a nightclub owner. St. Patrick aims to balance those two lives, while also avoiding police capture, trying to navigate his crumbling marriage and manage shifting economic alliances.
The show also features James' family, which partly consists of his wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton) and son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.). Power also follows James' criminal partner and best friend Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), love interest and criminal prosecutor Angela Valdes (Lela Loren), friend-turned-rival Kanan Stark (50 Cent), protege and rival Andre Coleman (Rotimi Akinosho), and Angela's colleague, Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson). Defense attorney Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara), district attorney John Mak (Sung Kang), and politician Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) also appear in the show's later seasons.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 8 | June 7, 2014 (2014-06-07) | August 2, 2014 (2014-08-02) | |
2 | 10 | June 6, 2015 (2015-06-06) | August 15, 2015 (2015-08-15) | |
3 | 10 | July 17, 2016 (2016-07-17) | September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25) | |
4 | 10 | June 25, 2017 (2017-06-25) | September 3, 2017 (2017-09-03) | |
5 | 10 | July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | September 9, 2018 (2018-09-09) | |
6 | 15 | August 25, 2019 (2019-08-25) | February 9, 2020 (2020-02-09) |
Actor | Character | Seasons | |||||
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
Omari Hardwick | James "Ghost" St. Patrick | Main | |||||
Lela Loren | Angela Valdes | Main | Main[lower-alpha 1] | ||||
Naturi Naughton | Tasha St. Patrick | Main | |||||
Joseph Sikora | Thomas "Tommy" Egan | Main | |||||
Andy Bean | Gregory "Greg" Knox | Main | Does not appear | ||||
Adam Huss | Joshua "Josh" Kantos | Main | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
Kathrine Narducci | Frankie Lavarro | Main | Guest | Does not appear | |||
Luis Antonio Ramos | Carlos Ruiz | Main | Does not appear | ||||
Greg Serano | Juan Julio Medina | Main | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
Sinqua Walls | Shawn Stark | Main | Does not appear | ||||
Lucy Walters | Holly Weaver | Main | Does not appear | ||||
Shane Johnson | Cooper Saxe | Recurring | Main | ||||
J.R. Ramirez | Julio Romano | Recurring | Main | Does not appear | |||
Rotimi Akinosho | Andre "Dre" Coleman | Does not appear | Main | ||||
David Fumero | Miguel "Mike" Sandoval | Does not appear | Main | Does not appear | |||
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson | Kanan Stark | Recurring | Main | Main[lower-alpha 2] | |||
Michael Rainey Jr. | Tariq St. Patrick | Recurring | Main | ||||
Jerry Ferrara | Joseph "Joe" Proctor | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | |||
Callan Mulvey | Dean/Milan | Does not appear | Main | Does not appear | |||
Alani "La La" Anthony | Lakeisha Grant | Recurring | Main | ||||
Matt Cedeño | Diego "Cristobal" Martinez | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | Does not appear | ||
Sung Kang | John Mak | Does not appear | Main | Guest | |||
William Sadler | Anthony "Tony" Teresi | Does not appear | Main | Does not appear | |||
Brandon Victor Dixon | Deleterious "Terry" Silver | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | Does not appear | ||
Larenz Tate | Rashad Tate | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | |||
Michael J. Ferguson | Francis "2-Bit" Johnson | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | |||
Mike Dopud | Jason Micic | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | |||
Monique Gabriela Curnen | Blanca Rodriguez | Does not appear | Recurring | Main | |||
Cynthia Addai-Robinson | Ramona Garrity | Does not appear | Main | ||||
Evan Handler | Jacob Warner | Does not appear | Main |
In Australia, all episodes are available to stream after their US airing on Stan.[6] The show is available weekly after its US airing on Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[7][8][9] In Scandinavia and Finland, all episodes are available to stream on HBO Nordic.[10]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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2015 | Women's Image Network Awards[11] | Actress Drama Series | Naturi Naughton | Nominated |
Outstanding Show Written by a Woman | Courtney A. Kemp | Nominated | ||
2016 | 47th NAACP Image Awards[12] | Outstanding Drama Series | Power | Nominated |
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | Omari Hardwick | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Naturi Naughton | Nominated | ||
NAMIC Vision Awards[13] | Best Performance – Drama | Naturi Naughton | Nominated | |
Best Performance – Drama | Omari Hardwick | Won | ||
Women's Image Network Awards[14] | Actress Drama Series | Naturi Naughton | Nominated | |
2017 | 48th NAACP Image Awards[15] | Outstanding Drama Series | Power | Nominated |
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | Omari Hardwick | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Naturi Naughton | Won | ||
Black Reel Awards for Television[16] | Outstanding Drama Series | Power | Nominated | |
People's Choice Awards[17] | Favorite Premium Drama Series | Power | Nominated | |
2018 | 49th NAACP Image Awards[18] | Outstanding Drama Series | Power | Won |
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | Omari Hardwick | Won | ||
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Naturi Naughton | Won | ||
Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series) | Michael Rainey Jr. | Nominated | ||
Black Reel Awards for Television[19] | Outstanding Actor, Drama Series | Omari Hardwick | Nominated | |
NAMIC Vision Awards[20] | Best Performance – Drama | 50 Cent | Nominated | |
Best Performance – Drama | Michael Rainey Jr. | Nominated | ||
Drama | Power | Nominated | ||
Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA)[21] | Outstanding Music Supervision – Television | Jennifer Ross | Won | |
2019 | 50th NAACP Image Awards[22] | Outstanding Drama Series | Power | Won |
34th Annual Imagen Awards[23] | Best Actress - Television | Lela Loren | Nominated | |
2020 | 51st NAACP Image Awards[24] | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | Omari Hardwick | Won |
Season 1 of Power received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 57 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating a mixed reaction to the series.[25] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 44%, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's consensus states, "Power suffers from excessive plotting and the use of overly familiar by-the-numbers story elements."[26]
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter observed in his review, "Power seemingly wants to be a show that tells a big, complicated, meaningful story about, well, the perils and problems of power and how one man deals with them."[27] The New York Daily News staff writes in their review, "Power hits on all cylinders as it returns for its second season. Throw a couple of great women into Ghost's life—his wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), and his recently resurfaced lifelong flame Angela (Lela Loren)—and you have drama that's hard not to keep watching."[28] Critic Brian Lowry of Variety states in his review, "The three previewed episodes of the show, created by The Good Wife alumna Courtney A. Kemp, move briskly enough, but they're still only moderately compelling. And while 50 Cent's participation provides some promotional heft (he has a cameo in a later episode), the allure of such behind-the-scenes marquee names is usually limited. Mostly, this is undemanding escapism with all the requisite pay-TV trappings, along the lines of what Cinemax is offering in episodic form. While that might be a formula to keep Ghost visible for some time to come, creatively speaking, it leaves Power a touch low on juice.[29]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10.[30] Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 75 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating a generally favorable reaction to the series.[31]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[32]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 83%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.[33]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10.[34]
Series | Seasons | Episodes | Originally released | Status | |||
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First released | Last released | Network | |||||
Power | 6 | 63 | June 7, 2014 (2014-06-07) | February 9, 2020 (2020-02-09) | Starz | Concluded | |
Power Book II: Ghost | 2 | 20 | September 6, 2020 (2020-09-06) | February 6, 2022 (2022-02-06) | Airing | ||
Power Book III: Raising Kanan | 2 | 20 | July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18) | October 23, 2022 (2022-10-23) | |||
Power Book IV: Force | 1 | 10 | February 6, 2022 (2022-02-06) | April 17, 2022 (2022-04-17) |
With the conclusion of the original series, it was announced that Starz had planned four upcoming spin-offs in the same universe as Power. These begin with Power Book II: Ghost, which, following shortly after the events of the original series, focuses on Ghost's son Tariq navigating his new criminal life and intending to shed his father's legacy while dealing with mounting pressure to protect his family, including his mother Tasha. The series co-stars Mary J. Blige and Method Man.[35] The other spin-offs include: Power Book III: Raising Kanan, a prequel into the life of Kanan Stark (50 Cent); Power Book IV: Force, which follows Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) to Los Angeles, California and ending up in the city of Chicago; and Power Book V: Influence, a sequel set in the political world centring on Councilman Tate's (Larenz Tate) ruthless rise to power.[36][37] The development of Power Book V: Influence was cancelled in August 2022 and the series would not be moving forward.[38]
Power Book II: Ghost premiered on September 6, 2020,[39] and has aired two seasons. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan premiered on July 18, 2021.[37] and has aired two seasons. In August 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.
Power Book IV: Force premiered on February 6, 2022.[40] In March 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.
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