Season 1
Empire Falls is an American television mini-series written by Richard Russo and based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name which tells the story of a declining New England town and its inhabitants. Directed by Fred Schepisi, it was nominated for and won many awards including various Emmys and Golden Globes.
The mini-series premiered in the USA on HBO on 28 May, 2005. It is 240 minutes (4 hours) long.
Empire Falls originally aired in two parts in South Africa on SABC3 on Sunday 7 and Sunday 14 October 2007, at 20h00. It later aired on TopTV's Top One channel. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Empire Falls premiered on Top One on Friday 17 December 2010, at 21h00. Part 2 will air the following week, on Friday 24 December. Each part is 90 minutes long.
Top One Repeats
Mondays: 00h15
Synopsis
Empire Falls tells the humorous, poignant story of a declining New England town and its inhabitants, whose lives are deeply rooted in and influenced by the Knox River and its vacant mills, their class differences, and ghosts of the past.
At the center of the story is Miles Roby, for whom the promising opportunities of youth have given way to the demands of family obligations, especially those concerning his cantankerous father Max and impressionable daughter Tick.
Unable to escape the town or the dominating shadow of Francine Whiting, who owns the restaurant he runs, Miles copes with a recent divorce from wife Janine while piecing together the shared events that shaped the lives (revealed in flashbacks) of his mother Grace and Francine's late husband C.B..
Through Miles' experiences, Empire Falls pays tribute to the resilience of lifelong friends and neighbours, inextricably bound for generations into a rich and varied social fabric.
Empire Falls stars Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, Paul Newman, Robin Wright Penn, Aidan Quinn and Joanne Woodward.
The cast also includes Kate Burton, Jeffery DeMunn Dennis Farina, William Fichtner, Estelle Parsons and Theresa Russell, as well as rising talents Danielle Panabaker, Lou Taylor Pucci and Trevor Morgan.
Seasons
Season 1
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 7 Oct 2007 | Finale: 14 Oct 2007 | Sundays, 20h00
Channel: Top One | Premiere: 17 Dec 2010 | Finale: 24 Dec 2010 | Fridays, 21h00