'Empire' Season 2 Spoilers: Fox Bares Plan to Further Boost Show's Popularity

"Empire" has become one of TV's biggest hits in years, and Fox wants to capitalize on its Season 1 popularity by bringing a bigger and better Season 2 with the ultimate objective of drawing more viewers.

"Empire" will reportedly return only in the midseason, but Fox is not letting that much time pass before releasing the new season. The drama, created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, will definitely return this fall, in the same time slot it held during spring.

"Fans made 'Empire' an appointment on Wednesday nights all season long. We'd be crazy to move it and we want to thank and reward our fans by keeping it in that time period," Fox's co-CEO and co-chairman Gary Newman said during a press call on Monday.

Season 2 will have more episodes, 18 in all, split between fall and spring, with no repeats. Season 1 only had 12.

"The stories we've heard for Season 2 already is just going to blow away the audience," Newman promised.

There have been many shows that had breakout first seasons and then lost their audiences during the wait for their return. Fox knows this firsthand, having produced the Kevin Bacon serial thriller "The Following," which got cancelled after its third season due to declining ratings. The show's two-hour series finale is slated to air on May 18.

This is one reason why Fox executives admitted that they started working on "a bridge plan" while the first season was still airing. Even as they saw the audience growing, they were apprehensive of the long gap between seasons.

"The requests for this cast are so numerous, we're trying to make it so that they can be out there and still get a little bit of rest prior to an enormous production season with all new music," co-CEO and co-chairman Dana Walden said.

So, how will Fox maintain the momentum of "Empire" while fans wait for Season 2, and even entice new viewers to tune in on the new season?

All 12 episodes of Season 1 are available on On-Demand, Hulu and other platforms, so that new audiences can have a chance to "catch up."Fox chief operating officer Joe Earley said they are already seeing record numbers for viewing on these platforms. He confirmed that the network is not planning to air repeats.

The cast has been and will continue making appearances. The show's young stars Jussie Smollett and Bryshere Y. Gray, who play Jamal and Hakeem, respectively, have been touring and performing music from the show. Taraji P. Henson, who plays mother Cookie, hosted "Saturday Night Live" in April and will appear with co-star Terrence Howard, who plays patriarch Lucious, on "Lip Sync Battle" on Spike TV.

Season 2 will have "amazing guest stars," who Fox hopes will help bring in new viewers. Season 1 guest stars included Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora, Patti LaBelle, Raven Symone, Cuba Gooding Jr., Courtney Love, and Estelle.

Showrunner Ilene Chaiken teased to Deadline on Wednesday that many prominent guest stars are in the works for Season 2. "Some really interesting people who want to come and be on the show," Chaiken said of potential new faces.

Ne-Yo will write new original music for the series.

But of course, there is the story. In an interview with Essence Magazine, via People, Smollett did not share any in-depth details of the highly-anticipated second season. However, he did confirm that the family drama is going to kick up another notch and would "make season 1 look like 'The Brady Bunch.'"

It will not be easy to top Season 1, and at the end of the day, Fox doesn't want to be greedy. "If we came back with the audience that we left off with, we would be thrilled. Based on the creative that we saw from producers the week before last, I don't think that's going to be a problem," Walden said.