9 Best Parts Of Jimmy Fallon's "Jimpire" Parody

When Jimmy Fallon knocks one out of the park, he seriously knocks one out of the park. That's what happened on Tuesday night when The Tonight Show did an Empire parody called "Jimpire," and the 10 minute sketch parodied the first season of the phenomenally popular Fox hit with tons of references and jokes that every fan can enjoy. Even better, the sketch also featured appearances from Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, aka Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon themselves. As if aware that the audience is less than fond of villain protagonist Lucious, Howard appeared as a parody of himself, while Henson, in keeping with the audience's adoration for the character, showed up as Cookie to deliver some fists of justice on her double. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Fallon did not rush his way through this epic parody, and neither should we.

The sketch starts with Fallon smoothing out the facial hair glued to his face to complete his Lucious Lyon look, before he addressed a room full of employees — and his three potential heirs — while doing a scarily good imitation of Howard's voice and acting style. In the running to take over the Jimpire were Tariq (Hakeem Lyon), Questlove (Jamal), and Andre... and also Cookie, played to hilarious effect by the irreplaceable Steve Higgins.

Witness the nine greatest moments from the sketch below, and try not to burst out laughing.

1. The Logo

Which is literally the greatest thing I've ever seen.

2. Juicy Jim

I've never felt such a strange combination of fear, loathing, and intense laughter all at once before.

3. Jamal

QuestLove is, of course, hiding a big secret that Jim doesn't want the public to know. Will QuestLove find the courage to be himself?

4. Hakeem

The fact that Tariq has those trademark Hakeem sunglasses is, for me, the best part of this sketch. Forgot what happened to the real Hakeem on Empire last season? Check out our drunk recap video below.

5. Andre

Constantly shifting between happy and angry, as you would expect a parody of Andre's otherwise very realistically portrayed bipolar disorder to do.

6. Cookie

I CAN'T.

7. When The Real Cookie Shows Up

Move over "Boo Boo Kitty." I have a new favorite insult: "Little Debbie."

8. "This Is An Ass."

Well, it most certainly is.

9. And Also This Happened

I'm not even going to explain why or how this happened. I am going to leave this here and leave it as the final proof you need that you need to watch this parody right away.

Check out the full sketch below. Empire, of course, returns to Fox on Wednesday, Sep. 23, 9 p.m.

Image: TheTonightShowStarringJimmyFallon/YouTube (10)